Henry Kissinger (seated center) signs the Paris Peace Accords on this day in 1973 in Paris. The war ended on April 30, 1975, when Saigon surrendered almost without fighting to the communist forces, ending the United States’ involvement in Vietnam.
Nguyen Duy Trinh (center) heads the delegation from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
At Cape Kennedy, FL, on this day in 1967, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft.
The charred remains of the Apollo 1 cabin interior.
Alton Glenn Miller(March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944)
People magazine recently reported a retired trawlerman from England is “utterly convinced” he pulled up the wreck of the famed American bandleader’s aircraft in his fishing net 32 years ago. And now, U.S.-based historical aircraft researchers from TIGHAR say his account is “totally credible.”
According to TIGHAR, which stands for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, the man was advised to drop his unusual catch back into the English Channel, where it has remained ever since. But he recorded the coordinates and the magazine noted it is this key piece of evidence that may finally lead to the site of Miller’s final resting place.
Miller, recognized as “the hottest recording artist of his era,” dominated the swing music scene during his lifetime and was famous for his self-penned signature tune, 1939’s “Moonlight Serenade.”
A C-64 Norseman aircraft (above) is similar to the one Glenn Miller was traveling to Paris in when it disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944.
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019)
The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm on this day in 1991. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is shown above at ease with his tank troops in Saudi Arabia in January 12, 1991 before the U.S. executed the operation.
On the evening of January 16,1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss the launch of Operation Desert Storm.
Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia was planned to begin on January 11, 2001, but the mission was delayed 18 times and eventually launched on January 16, 2003 (above).
During the lift-off of Columbia’s 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle’s external tank and struck the left wing of the craft. An accident investigation board determined the damage to the wing allowed hot atmospheric gases to inter the heat shield, destroying the internal wing structure and caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on February 1, killing all seven crew members.
