CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1987, U.S, President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet
Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. It was 29
months later when Gorbachev allowed Berliners to destroy the wall.

On September 12,1990, now-former President Reagan returned
to Berlin with wife Nancy, where he personally took a few
symbolic hammer swings at a remnant of the Berlin Wall.

On this day in 1963, Civil rights leader Medgar Evers was fatally
shot in front of his home in Jackson, MS.

Medgar Wiley Evers (July 2, 1925 – June 12, 1963)

Byron De La Beckwith was accused of killing civil rights activist
Medgar Evers in 1963. After two trials had hung juries in 1964,
he was finally convicted of the crime in 1994. He received a life
sentence in prison where he died on January 21, 2001 at the age
of 80.

On 12 June 1978, Berkowitz was sentenced to 25 years to life in
prison for each murder, to be served consecutively. The Serial
killer had terrorized the streets of New York City for over a year.
killing six people and leaving seven others severely injured. He
was being called the .44 Caliber Killer at the time.
 

David Richard Berkowitz turned 65 on June 1.

In 1987, Berkowitz claimed to have become an evangelical Christian while
in prison. According to his personal testimony, his moment of conversion
occurred after reading Psalm 34:6 from a Bible given to him by a fellow
inmate. He says he is no longer to be referred to as the "Son of Sam"
but the "Son of Hope".  

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum was dedicated in Cooperstown, New York on this day in 1939.

This famous photo from the 1939 Hall of Fame dedication ceremony
is missing Ty Cobb, who received more votes than any other player
in the first election.

TIM MAGUIRE

Alabama Gov. George Wallace allowed two black
students to enroll at the University of Alabama
on this day in 1963.

Vivian Malone entering Foster Auditorium to register for classes at
the University of Alabama. Vivian Malone, one of the first African Americans to attend the university, walks through a crowd that
includes photographers, National Guard members, and Deputy
U.S. Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach.

Protesting the persecution of Buddhist, a Vietnamese monk burned himself to death in a Saigon intersection on this day in 1963. He reportedly didn’t make a sound or even move during the incident.

The execution room at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, IN.

The U.S. government executed Timothy McVeigh (above) by chemical injection 
on this day in 2001. He was accused of taking the lives of 168 people when he
blew up the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995. He died silently, with his
eyes open. Instead of making an oral statement, McVeigh, 33, issued a copy
of the 1875 poem "Invictus," which concludes with the lines: "I am the master
of my fate; I am the captain of my soul."

Oklahoma City fire Captain Chris Fields carries Baylee Almon from
the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City
following the 1995 bombing. Little Baylee died a short time later.

Sir Barton became the first horse to capture the Triple Crown when
he won the Belmont Stakes in New York City on this day in 1919.

The 1919 Belmont Stakes Trophy Silver Tray Presented to the Owner of Sir
Barton.

Marion Mitchell Morrison (Marion Robert Morrison) Born in Winterset, Iowa. (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979)

Between 1926 and 1976, John Wayne (nicknamed Duke) appeared in
over 170 motion pictures, and became one of America’s biggest box office stars, only Clark Gable sold more tickets than Wayne.

TIM MAGUIRE

John William King

Jasper County Assistant District Attorney Pat Hardy displays the
chain allegedly used to drag James Byrd.

The Communists completed their takeover of Czechoslovakia on
this day in 1948.

Czechoslovakian Communist Party leader Klement Gottwald,
addressing the crowds in Wenceslas Square, Prague, on 25
February 1948.

Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers destroyed Iraq’s only nuclear reactor on
this day in 1981.

On this  day in 1972, the musical “Grease” opened
on Broadway. It had been playing off-Broadway for
about 4 months.

Prince Rogers Nelson (June 7, 1958 – April 21, 2016)

Prince released ten platinum-selling albums and won multiple Grammy
Awards for Purple Rain (1984), including Best Performance and Best
Soundtrack. He became known for releasing over thirty Top Forty single
hits.  He suffered from epilepsy as a child, and began writing music at
age seven. One of the first groups he worked with was 94 East.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Edward White became the first American astronaut to do a "space
walk" when he left the Gemini 4 capsule on this day in 1965.

Ed White floats beside Gemini IV, with the Gulf of California behind
him.

Edward Higgins White II (November 14, 1930 – January 27, 1967)

Ayatollah (Sayyid Ruhollah Mūsavi) Khomeini
(September 24, 1902 – June 3, 1989)

Pope John XXIII  (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli)
(November 25, 1881 – June 3, 1963)  

The Duke of Windsor, who had abdicated the British throne, married Wallis Warfield Simpson on this day in 1937. The Duke died on May
28, 1972 at age 77.

Irwin Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997)

Allen Ginsberg was an American poet, philosopher, and
writer. He is considered to be one of the leading figures
of both the Beat Generation during the 1950s and the
counterculture that soon followed. Ginsberg vigorously
opposed militarism, economic materialism and sexual
repression.

Josephine Baker (Freda Josephine McDonald)
(June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975)  

Dancer and entertainer Josephine Baker was known as "Black
Pearl" and "Creole Goddess" and widely recognized by her
Danse banana costume. She was activist in the Civil Rights
Movement, and adopted a "Rainbow Tribe" of orphans from
various races.
 

Vanport was dramatically destroyed at 4:05 p.m. on May 30, 1948,
when a 200-foot section of the dike holding back the Columbia
River collapsed during a flood, killing 15. The city was underwater
by nightfall leaving its inhabitants homeless.

Vanport, sometimes referred to as Vanport City or Kaiserville, was built as
a city for wartime public housing in Multnomah County, Oregon between the Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. It is currently the site
of Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway. Vanport construction
began in August 1942 to house the workers at the wartime Kaiser Shipyards
in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. The Vanport name was a blending
of "Vancouver" and "Portland". The city home to 40,000 people, about 40 
percent of them African-American, making it Oregon’s second-largest city
at the time, and the largest public housing project in the nation.

Art by Henk Pander, Vanport Mosaic Festival.

The Delta Park area today.

Portland International Raceway.