The 9/11 memorial and ground zero today.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, Japan surrendered to the U.S. aboard the USS
Missouri, ending World War II. The war ended six years and one day
after it began.

Douglas MacArthur signs the Japanese surrender documents.

On this day in 1864, during the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by
Gen. William T. Sherman (below) occupied Atlanta following the
retreat of the Confederates.

On this day in 1944, future President George Herbert Walker Bush
is serving as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific theater of World
War II when his squadron is attacked by Japanese anti-aircraft guns
forcing Bush to bail out of the plane over the ocean. According to
the Navy’s records, Bush’s squadron was conducting a bombing
mission on a Japanese installation on the island of Chi Chi Jima in
the Pacific when they encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire. The engine
on Bush’s plane was set ablaze, yet Bush managed to release his
bombs and head back toward the aircraft carrier San Jacinto before
bailing out over the water.

George H.W. Bush turned 94 in June.

The Great Fire of London broke out on this day in 1666. It burned for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul’s Cathedral
with only six fatalities.        
     
    

It was announced on this day in 1985, the Titanic had been found on 
by a U.S. and French expedition 560 miles off Newfoundland. The
luxury liner had been missing for 73 years.

A photograph of the Titanic believed to have been taken the day
before she left on her ill-fated voyage in 1912.

The last known photo of Titanic heading out for open sea off the
coast of Ireland.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

World War II began when Germany invaded Poland on this day in 1939.

Hitler salutes as he oversees troops during the Nazi occupation of Poland.

It was on this day in 2004.

Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during his
televised address to the nation.

.

It was on this day in 1983.

President Ronald Reagan condemning the Soviet attack on a Korean airliner.

On this day in 1972, America’s Bobby Fischer (right) beats Russia’s
Boris Spassky (left) to become world chess champion. The chess
match took place in Reykjavik, Iceland.

This undated photo provided by Heritage Auctions shows the chess board used by American Bobby Fischer and Soviet champ Boris
Spassky during their historic 1972 “Match of the Century.”

Gloria Estefan (Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo) is 61 years young
today.

Latin pop singer Gloria Estefan has sold more than one hundred million
records over the course of her career. She has released many #1 hits,
including "Don’t Wanna Lose You." Gloria once worked with the Miami
International Airport Customs Department while in college and was
approached by the CIA because of her prowess with language. She
has won seven Grammy Awards, including one for Best Tropical Latin
Album in 1993 for Mi Tierra.

Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in a plane crash near Point
Barrow, AK.on this day in 1935.  Post and American humorist Will
Rogers perished when the aircraft Post was piloting crashed on
takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.

Will Rogers (left) and Wiley Post before taking off for Alaska.

CARLATA BRADLEY

Last U.S. combat troops leave Vietnam on this day in 1972.

It was on this day in 1944 during World War 11.

Lieutenant Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. perished in one of the first American 
fatalities associated with a pilotless aircraft, which we usually know today
as a drone or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The older brother of future
president, John F. Kennedy, was taking part in an extraordinary secret war
being waged across the English Channel with new generations of exotic
weapons.

Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (July 25, 1915 – August 12, 1944)

New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey resigned on this day in 2004,
declaring he’s gay.

James Edward McGreevey turned 61 on August 6th.

The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank and its 118-man
crew died during naval exercises in the Barents Sea on this
day in 2000.

Following salvage operations, analysts concluded that 23 sailors in the
sixth through ninth compartments had survived the two explosions. They
took refuge in the small ninth compartment and survived more than six
hours. When the oxygen ran low, crew members attempted to replace a
volatile potassium superoxide chemical oxygen cartridge when it contacted
oily sea water that had seeped into the compartment. A resulting explosion
killed several crew members and triggered a flash fire that consumed the
remaining oxygen, suffocating the remaining survivors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the monument to the sailors who died in the Kursk disaster.