CAMILLE BOHANNON

Eva Marie Saint and Brando in On the Waterfront (1954).

Brando received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden
Globe Awards, one Cannes Film Festival Award, and three British Academy Film Awards. Brando is credited with being one of the
first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method
acting to mainstream audiences.

Brando died of respiratory failure from pulmonary fibrosis with congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center. The cause
of death was initially withheld, with his lawyer citing privacy
concerns. He also suffered from diabetes and liver cancer.

On August 5, 1914, the German army launches its assault on
the city of Liege in Belgium, violating the latter country’s
neutrality and beginning the first battle of World War I.

German troops exploring the ruins of Liege after the city fell
to them in early August 1914.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

During the U.S. Civil War, the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg began
on this day in 1863 between Union and Confederate forces.The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war, often
described as the war’s turning point.

The battle was fought near the southern border of Pennsylvania in
and around the town of Gettysburg.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1963, a bomb explodes during Sunday morning services in
the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young
girls.

With its large African-American congregation, the 16th Street Baptist Church
served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
who once called Birmingham a “symbol of hardcore resistance to integration.” Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, made preserving racial segregation one
of the central goals of his administration. Birmingham had one of the most
violent and lawless chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.

    2001

On this day in 1950 During the Korean War, U.S. Marines land at Inchon on
the west coast of Korea, 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and just 25 miles
from Seoul. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur (below) insisted on carrying out the landing.

General Douglas MacArthur (center) observes the shelling of
lightly defended Incheon from the U.S. Navy amphibious force
command ship USS Mount McKinley.   

CAMILLE BOHANNON

During the American Civil War on this day in 1863, the first day’s
fighting at Gettysburg began. It was the bloodiest battle.

On this day in 1946, the United States exploded a 20-kiloton atomic
bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

During the Spanish-American War on this day in 1898, Theodore Roosevelt and his "Rough Riders" waged a victorious assault on
San Juan Hill in Cuba.

Theodore Roosevelt (center) with his “Rough Riders”.

Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances Spencer)  
(July1, 1961 – August 31, 1997)  

Diana married Charles, the Prince of Wales and the heir to
the throne of 16 Commonwealth realms. She became an
international icon for her beauty and her work with charities.

Her death, which was reportedly caused by her driver’s
drunkenness, sparked widespread media attention and
conspiracy theories.

The sovereignty over Hong Kong was transferred from Great Britain
to China on this day in 1997. Britain had controlled Hong Kong as a colony for 156 years.

Actor Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004)

Brando’s Academy Award-winning performances include Terry
Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954) and Don Vito Corleone in 
The Godfather (1972). Brando was an activist for many causes,
notably the civil rights movement and various Native American
groups.

Marlon Brando was ranked by the American Film Institute as the
fourth-greatest movie star among male movie stars whose screen
debuts occurred in or before 1950. He was one of six professional
actors, along with Charlie Chaplin, Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball,
Frank Sinatra, and Marilyn Monroe, named in 1999 by Time
magazine as one of its 100 Most Important People of the Century.
Brando died of respiratory failure on July 1, 2004, at age 80.

Marlon Brando in a still photo from The Godfather.