A McDonnell Douglas DC-8 similar to the aircraft that crashed.

United Airlines Flight 173 was a flight from John F. Kennedy International
Airport in New York City, New York to Portland International Airport in
Portland, Oregon, with a scheduled stop in Denver, Colorado. While the
aircraft was approaching Portland it ran out of fuel and crashed in a
suburban Portland neighborhood near NE 158th Avenue and East
Burnside Street.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the following probable cause: “The failure of the captain (Malburn McBroom) to monitor
properly the aircraft’s fuel state and the crewmember’s advisories regarding
the fuel state. This resulted in fuel exhaustion to all engines. The pilots
inattention resulted from preoccupation with a landing gear malfunction 
and the preparations for a possible landing emergency”.   

The crash site as it looks today.

ED DONAHUE

The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time
at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts on this day in 1620.

The Lockerbie, Scotland terrorist attack bombing of Pan Am flight 
103 occurred on this day in 1988. A total of 259 people on board the plane were killed along with 16 on the ground when large sections
of the aircraft crashed onto residential areas of Lockerbie.

Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon on this day in 1968. The craft landed safely in the Pacific Ocean on December 27.

Apollo 8 climbs after liftoff.

Jane Fonda 1955 senior yearbook photo.

Jayne Seymour Fonda is 80 years old today.

Longtime actress Jane Fonda became known for her Oscar-winning performance
in the 1971 film Klute and for vocalizing her opposition to the Vietnam war. She
dropped out of Vassar College to become a fashion model. Her father is legendary
actor Henry Fonda.

JOHN BELMONT

In Oslo, Norway on this day in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
received the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the youngest person
to receive the award.

Women were granted the right to vote in the Wyoming Territory
on this day in 1869.

The first domestic passenger jet flight took place in the U.S. on this
day in 1958 when 111 passengers flew from New York to Miami on
a National Airlines Boeing 707.

Soul singer Otis Redding, at age 26, was killed on this day in 1967 
when his tour plane crashed into a Wisconsin lake. The members
of Redding’s tour band, the "Bar-Kays," were also killed.

Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte died on this day in 2006.

Pinochet was a Chilean general, politician and the dictator of Chile
between 1973 and 1990; he remained the Commander-in-Chief of the 
Chilean Army until 1998. He was also president of the Government
Junta of Chile between 1973 and 1981. He died of congestive heart
failure and pulmonary edema.

CARLATA BRADLEY

On this day in 1962,  U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson (below) presented
photographic evidence to the United Nations Security Council. The photos 
were of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

Adlai Ewing Stevenson II 
(February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965)

The U.N. General Assembly voted to expel Taiwan and admit mainland China
on this day in 1971.

On this day in 1983, U.S. troops and soldiers from six Caribbean nations
invaded Grenada to restore order and provide protection to U.S. citizens
after a recent coup within Grenada’s Communist (pro-Cuban) government.

The Charge of the Light Brigade took place during the Crimean War on this
day in 1854. The British were winning the Battle of Balaclava when Lord
James Cardigan received an order to attack the Russians. He took his troops
into a valley and suffered 40 percent caualties. Later it was revealed that the
order was the result of confusion and was not given intentionally.

Professional Golfer Payne Stewart was the U.S.Open champion in
1991 and 1999. His chartered jet lost pressurization shortly after
takeoff, then crashed several hours later. He was 42.

Learjet 35 N47BA Prior to the crash in a field near Aberdeen, South
Dakota.

Poet and author Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – October 25, 1400)