On this day in 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther Terry (above) released a report that said that smoking cigarettes was a definite health hazard.
Amelia Earhart Putnam became the first woman to fly solo from Wheeler Field in Honolulu, Hawaii to Oakland Airport in Oakland, Californiaon this day in 1935.
Amelia in Oakland, triumphant after the Hawaii-to-California flight.
Amelia Mary Earhart, (born July 24, 1897; disappeared July 2, 1937)
On this day in 1960, U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announced his candidacy for theDemocratic presidential nomination.
On this day in 1935, Bruno Richard Hauptmann went on trial for the kidnap-murder of Charles Lindberghs baby (below). Hauptmann was found guilt and executed.
Aviator Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)
On this day in 1948, Harry S. Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey for the U.S. presidency. The Chicago Tribune published an early edition that had the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." The Truman victory surprised many polls and newspapers.
On this day in 1945, Howard Hughes flew his "Spruce Goose," a huge wooden airplane, for eight minutes in California. It was the plane’s first and only flight and never went into production.
Take-off: Howard Hughes’ H-4, the "Spruce Goose."
Hughes watches engineer Chal Bowen, October 31, 1947, two days before the flight as the radio operator looks on. Thirty-six people were on board for the test flight.
Flight-deck seats, put in for military observers, seven guests from the press corps and an additional seven industry representatives.
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.
Van Doren (at left) faces Herb Stempel (far right) on “Twenty-One,” in 1956, under the eye of the show’s host, Jack Barry. Some fifty million people watched the climax of their rivalry.
On this day in 1947, over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California, pilot Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane and became the first person to break the sound barrier.
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager turned 95 in February.
The Battle of Hastings occurred in England on this day in 1066. The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II of England.
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours.
On this day in 1977, singer Bing Crosby died of a heart attack.
singer and actor Bing Crosby was the first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary’s opposite Ingrid Bergman the following year.
1940
1942
1944
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr.(May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977)
Lieutenant Commander John McCain (right) is welcomed by President Richard Nixon (left) upon McCain’s release from five and one-half- years as a P.O.W. during the Vietnam War in 1973.
John Sidney McCain III(August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018)
Among awards presented to John McCain: Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal (3) with Combat “V”, Purple Heart, Legion of Merit (2) Combat “V”, Distinguished Flying Cross, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2) with Combat “V” and others.
