CARLATA BRADLEY

Iranian militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran and took 63 Americans hostage (90 total hostages) on this day in 1979. The
militants, mostly students, demanded that the U.S. send the
former shah back to Iran to stand trial. Many hostages were
later released, but 52 were held for the next 14 months.

Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by right-
wing Israeli Yigal Amir after attending a peace rally on this day
in 1995. He was 73.

Soviet forces enter Hungary on this day in 1956 in order to suppress
the uprising that had begun on October 23, 1956.

It was on this day in 1955.

Denton True "Cy" Young
(March 29, 1867 – November 4, 1955)

MIKE GRACIA

Harry S. Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune with the incorrect headline

Harry S. Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey for the U.S. presidency on this
day in 1948. The Chicago Tribune published an early edition that had the
headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN (above)." The Truman victory had 
surprised many polls and newspapers.

President Truman (right) on his campaign train whistle-stop.

On this day in 1963, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was
assassinated in a military coup.

Howard Hughes flew his "Spruce Goose," a huge wooden airplane, for eight minutes in California on this day in 1947. It was the plane’s first and only
flight. The "Spruce Goose," nicknamed because of the white-gray color of
the spruce used to build it, never went into production.

The H-4 today is in McMinnville, Oregon, at the Evergreen Air and
Space Museum, about an hour outside of Portland.

On this day in 1959, Charles Van Doren, a game show contestant
on the NBC-TV program "Twenty-One" admitted that he had been
given questions and answers in advance.

Charles Lincoln Van Doren turned 91 in Feb.   

SANDY KOZEL

Martin Luther (left) posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church on this day in 1517. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther
(November 10, 1943 – February 18, 1546)

On this day in 1968, in a televised address to the nation five days before the presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson announced on the basis of developments in the Paris peace negotiations, he has ordered the complete cessation of “all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam.” Accordingly, effective November 1, the U.S. Air Force called a halt to the
air raids on North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by
two Sikh security guards on this day in 1984. Her son, Rajiv (below) was
sworn in as prime minister.

Rajiv Gandhi (left) at the funeral of his mother.

Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz)  (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

Magician Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a
ruptured appendix on this day in 1926. His appendix had been damaged
twelve days earlier when he had been punched in the stomach by a student unexpectedly. During a lecture Houdini had commented on the strength of
his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows.

TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street stock
market on this day in 1929.

On this day in 2004, Osama bin Laden (above) addressed the people of the
United States on Al-Jazeera television, excepting responsibility for the
September 11 attacks. Al-Jazeera did not say how it had obtained the tape.

Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the Suez Canal Crisis on this
day in 1956.

Leon Czolgosz (above) the assassin of U.S. President McKinley, was
electrocuted on this day in 1901.

A rendering of President William McKinley (white shirt) being shot by 
anarchist Leon Czolgosz during the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York on September 21, 1901.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with John Glenn
on board. Glenn was 77 years old. In 1962 he became the first American to
orbit the Earth.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1981.

Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in an attempt to win back territory that had
been lost in the third Arab-Israel war. Support for Israel led to a devastating
oil embargo against many nations including the U.S. and Great Britain on
October 17, 1973. The war lasted 2 weeks.

A UN weapons inspector in Iraq looking for WMD’s. The findings
were reported on this day in 2004 by chief weapons inspector
David Kay (below) told the senate there were,in fact, no weapons
of mass destruction. 

On this day in 1989.

On this day in 1927 "The Jazz Singer" opened in New York starring Al
Jolson. The film, the first ‘talkie,’ was based on the short story "The
Day of Atonement" by Sampson Raphaelson.