LTJG Kennedy (standing at far right) with his crew on PT-109 in 1943.

On this day in 1943, future President John F. Kennedy was serving as the
commander of a torpedo boat in the Solomon Islands when his ship was
fired upon by the Japanese navy.   
 

As a young man, Kennedy had desperately wanted to go into the Navy but
was originally rejected because of chronic health problems, particularly a
back injury he had sustained playing football while attending Harvard
University. In 1941, though, his politically connected father used his
influence to get Jack, as he  was called, into the Navy. In 1942,
Kennedy volunteered for PT (motorized torpedo) boat duty in the
Pacific.   

TIM MAGUIRE

Mickey Mantle delivering his speech the day his number was retired.

Mickey Mantle’s retired uniform No. 7 at Yankee Stadium.

ROSS SIMPSON

In New York on this day in 2002, a ceremony was held to officially
mark the end of the clean up from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

ED DONAHUE

On this day in 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing was a
domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Buildingin downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the
bombing happened at 9:02 am and killed at least 168 people, 
injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one – third of
the building.

One of the many injured in the bombing attack.

A firefighter holding a dying toddler in his arms.

Bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh (center) is escorted from
the courthouse in Perry, Oklahoma.

MIKE  GRACIA

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945)

Often referred to by his initials FDR, Roosevelt was a political leader who
served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death
in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and became
a central figure in world events during the first half of the 20th century.

Franklin Roosevelt directed the federal government during most of the Great
Depression, implementing his New Deal domestic agenda in response to the
worst economic crisis in U.S. history.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Timberline 
Lodge at Mt. Hood in Oregon on Sept. 28, 1937.
(The Oregonian)