CAMILLE BOHANNON

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into orbit around the Earth on
this day in 1957. Sputnik was the first manmade satellite to enter
space. Sputnik I fell out of orbit on January 4, 1958.

On this day in 1993, dozens of Somalis dragged an American soldier through
the streets of Mogadishu. A videotape showed Michael Durant being taken
prisoner by Somali militants.

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966)

Buster Keaton was an American actor, comedian, film director, producer, screenwriter, and stunt performer who  was best known for his silent films,
in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic,
deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face."

On this day in 1970.

Janis Lyn Joplin  (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970)

TIM MAGUIRE

An international military tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany,
found 22 top Nazi leaders guilty of war crimes on this day
in 1946.

The Berlin Airlift came to an end on this day in 1949. The airlift had taken
2.3 million tons of food into the western sector despite the Soviet blockade.

African-American James Meredith James Meredith succeeded in registering
at the University of Mississippi on this day in 1962. It was his fourth attempt
to register.

James Meredith is escorted by U.S. Marshals.

James Howard Meredith turned 84 in June.

The Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart opera The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflote)
premiered in Vienna, Austria on this day in 1791.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791)

James Byron Dean (February 8, 1931 – September 30, 1955)

(March 2003)

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed turned 53 in March.

"I was responsible for the 9/11 operation from A to Z," Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed said in a statement read during a Combatant
Status Review Tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

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

It happened on this day in 1983.

Korean Air Lines 747, Flight 007, was shot down over the Sahakin Islands.

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

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008)

Young Gloria and her mother.

      
      
      
      
      
      
Gloria Estefan (Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García) is 60 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." She once worked with the Miami International Airport Customs Department while in college. She was approached by the CIA for the job because
of her prowess with language. Gloria has won seven Grammy Awards, including
one for Best Tropical Latin Album in 1993 for Mi Tierra.
 

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Soviet hard-liners announced on this day in 1991, President Mikhail Gorbachev had been removed from power. Gorbachev returned to
power two days later.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev turned 86 in March.

On this day in 1934, Adolf Hitler was approved for sole executive
power in Germany as Fuehrer.

Francis Gary Powers (center), an American U-2 pilot, was convicted
of espionage in Moscow on this day in 1960.

Inventor and television pioneer, Philo Farnsworth made many contributions that were crucial to the early development of all-
electronic television. He was also the first person to demonstrate
such a system to the public.

Philo Taylor Farnsworth
(August 19, 1906 – March 11, 1971)

On this day in 1977.