Joan of Arc (Jeanne d’Arc)  (January 6, 1412 – May 30, 1431) 

The capture of “The Maid of Orléans”

Samuel Morse publicly demonstrated the telegraph for the first time
on this day in 1838.

         (John T. McCoy’s watercolor depiction of the round-the-world flight.)

The first commercial around-the-world airline flight took place on
this day in 1942. Pan American Airlines was the company that
made history with the feat.

On this day in 1994, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on 
the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four
men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including
Tonya Harding’s ex-husband.

Shown from left: Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993)

Dizzy Gillespie’s Trumpet.

A McDonnell Douglas DC-8 similar to the aircraft that crashed.

United Airlines Flight 173 was a flight from John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York City, New York to Portland International Airport in
Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. While the
aircraft was approaching Portland it ran out of fuel and crashed in a
suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 158th Avenue and East
Burnside Street.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the following probable cause: “The failure of the captain (Malburn McBroom) to monitor
properly the aircraft’s fuel state and the crewmember’s advisories regarding
the fuel state. This resulted in fuel exhaustion to all engines. The pilots
inattention resulted from preoccupation with a landing gear malfunction 
and the preparations for a possible landing emergency”.   

The crash site as it looks today.

ROSS SIMPSON

Romania’s hard-line Communist ruler, Nicolae Ceausescu, was overthrown in a popular uprising on this day in 1989.

The ‘’shoe bomber’’ is sentenced to life in prison by U.S. Federal
Judge William Young.

On this day in 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was
convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide
charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.

Alfred Dreyfus standing before a court-martial at Rennes, France.

Singer Madonna and Guy Ritchie were married on this day in 2000
and were divorced November 21, 2008.   

Madonna Louise Ciccone is referred to as the “Queen of Pop”
turned 59 on August 16.   

ED DONAHUE

The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time
at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts on this day in 1620.

The Lockerbie, Scotland terrorist attack bombing of Pan Am flight 
103 occurred on this day in 1988. A total of 259 people on board the plane were killed along with 16 on the ground when large sections
of the aircraft crashed onto residential areas of Lockerbie.

Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon on this day in 1968. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.

Apollo 8 climbs after liftoff.

Jane Fonda 1955 senior yearbook photo.

Jayne Seymour Fonda is 80 years old today.

Longtime actress Jane Fonda became known for her Oscar-winning performance
in the 1971 film Klute and for vocalizing her opposition to the Vietnam war. She
dropped out of Vassar College to become a fashion model. Her father is legendary
actor Henry Fonda.

JOHN BELMONT

In Oslo, Norway on this day in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person
to receive the award.

Women were granted the right to vote in the Wyoming Territory
on this day in 1869.

The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. on this
day in 1958 when 111 passengers flew from New York to Miami on
a National Airlines Boeing 707.

Soul singer Otis Redding, at age 26, was killed on this day in 1967 
when his tour plane crashed into a Wisconsin lake. The members
of Redding’s tour band, the "Bar-Kays," were also killed.

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte died on this day in 2006.

Pinochet was a Chilean general, politician and the dictator of Chile
between 1973 and 1990; he remained the Commander-in-Chief of the 
Chilean Army until 1998. He was also president of the Government
Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. He died of congestive heart
failure and pulmonary edema.