Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy.
Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United
States and the Soviet Union finally resulted in a plan to end the
two-week-old Cuban Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which
nuclear holocaust seemed imminent began to come to an end.
Scene on the Erie Canal, 1842; wash drawing.
The canal was a major achievement that improved the nation’s transportation infrastructure and provided great economic
benefit for much of the country.
The Erie Canal opened, connecting the Great Lakes with the
Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Governor DeWitt Clinton
of New York, the driving force behind the project, led the
opening ceremonies and rode the canal boat Seneca Chief
from Buffalo to New York City.
Work began on the waterway in 1817. Teams of oxen plowed
the ground, but for the most part the work was done by
immigrants, among them Irish diggers who had to rely on
primitive tools. They were paid $10 a month, and barrels of
whisky were placed along the canal route as encouragement.
Erie Canal Opening with Governor Clinton (1769-1828).
CARLATA BRADLEY
Before Wheel of Fortune, Pat Sajak
served as a disc jockey during the
Vietnam War in Vietnam on the
Armed Forces Radio.
TV game show host Patrick Leonard
Sajak is 78 today.
In an event alternately described as one of the most heroic or
disastrous episodes in British military history, Lord James
Cardigan leads a charge of the Light Brigade cavalry against
well-defended Russian artillery during the Crimean War.
The British were winning the Battle of Balaklava when Cardigan
received his order to attack the Russians. His cavalry gallantly
charged down the valley and were decimated by the heavy
Russian guns, suffering 40 percent casualties. It was later
revealed that the order was the result of confusion and was
not given intentionally.
Lord Cardigan, who survived the battle, was hailed as a national
hero in Britain.
James Thomas Brudenell, 7th earl of Cardigan
(1797 – 1868)
CARLATA BRADLEY
FROM LEFT: JOHN ALLEN MUHAMMAD, LEE BOYD MALVO
