On April 8, 1993, the space shuttle Discovery lifted off from
the Kennedy Space Center. On board was astronaut Ellen
Ochoa, soon to become the first Hispanic woman in space.

Ochoa started at NASA in 1988 after receiving a doctorate
in electrical engineering from Stanford University. Two
years later, she was selected as an astronaut.

 
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)
(Last known authenticated photo of Howard Hughes alive in 1954)

Hughes, one of the richest men to emerge from the American
West during the 20th century, dies while flying from Acapulco
to Houston.

Born in Houston, Texas, in 1905, he inherited an estate of nearly
a million dollars when his father died in 1923. Hughes’ father
also left him the business that had created this fortune, the
Hughes Tool Company, which controlled the rights to a new
oil drill technology that was in high demand.        

The Hughes H-4 Hercules with Hughes at the controls.

 
MIKE  GRACIA

Ronnie Howard & Gig Young in "Walking
Distance", Twilight Zone Episode #5 (10/30/59)

(1960 – 1968)

(1974 – 1984)

1995

Director, producer and screenwriter Ron Howard is
71 years old today.

Howard has received two Academy Awards, four Emmy
Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award.

He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 2003 and
was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2013.

Howard has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
for his contributions in film and television.

Lt. Edward O’Hare takes off from the aircraft carrier Lexington
in a raid against the Japanese position at Rabaul—and minutes
later became America’s first WWII flying ace, shooting down five
enemy bombers.       
      
      
      
      
      
      
     
USS Lexington
     

Edward "Butch" O’Hare waves during a parade
held in his honor in his hometown of St. Louis,
Missouri. Flanking him are his mother Selma
O’Hare, left, and his wife Rita.

World War II fighter pilot Lt. Cmdr. Edward "Butch" O’Hare,
right, is congratulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt
as O’Hare’s wife Rita places the Medal of Honor around his
neck on April 21, 1942, during a White House ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel         Francis Gary Powers
                                                    

On February 10, 1962, American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers 
was released by the Soviets in exchange for Soviet Colonel
Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United
States five years earlier.

The Glienicke bridge (known as the Bridge of Spies) just
after the Powers swap.

Francis Gary Powers
(August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977)

Powers later worked as a helicopter pilot
for KNBC in Los Angeles and died in a
1977 helicopter crash.