SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door
of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther statue in Wittenberg, Germany.

President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of
North Vietnam on this day in 1968. He also announced his intention
not to run for re-election.

Above — a B-52 bomber drops a load of conventional bombs on
North Vietnam.

CARLATA BRADLEY

The Beirut barracks bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on 
this day in 1983, in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War. It
involved two truck bombs striking buildings housing Multinational
Force in Lebanon (MNF) peacekeepers, specifically against United
States and French service members, killing 241 U.S. and 58 French peacekeepers, 6 civilians and the 2 suicide attackers. A group
called Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombings
and said that the attacks were to get the MNF out of Lebanon.       

President Ronald Reagan, first lady Nancy Reagan and Marine Commandant P.X. Kelley honor those killed in Beirut during a
Nov. 5, 1983, memorial service.

On this day in 1973, President Richard M. Nixon agreed to turn over
the subpoenaed White House tapes concerning the Watergate affair
to Judge Sirica and the House Judiciary Committee.

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Richard Nixon leaves the White House following his resignation over
the Watergate scandal.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1963, a bomb explodes during Sunday morning services in
the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young
girls.

With its large African-American congregation, the 16th Street Baptist Church
served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
who once called Birmingham a “symbol of hardcore resistance to integration.” Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, made preserving racial segregation one
of the central goals of his administration. Birmingham had one of the most
violent and lawless chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.

    2001

On this day in 1950 During the Korean War, U.S. Marines land at Inchon on
the west coast of Korea, 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and just 25 miles
from Seoul. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur (below) insisted on carrying out the landing.

General Douglas MacArthur (center) observes the shelling of
lightly defended Incheon from the U.S. Navy amphibious force
command ship USS Mount McKinley.   

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, the Allies proclaimed V-J Day, victory over
Japan, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

Woodstock began on this day in 1969 at Max Yasqur’s
dairy farm in upstate New York.

Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Napoleon was the Emperor of France who rose to power in the aftermath of
the French Revolution in 1799 and waged war with every major European
power in a series of wars known as the Napoleonic Wars. After a series
of military failures he was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in
1815 and spent the last 6 years of his life in exile on the island of St.
Helena. 

On this day in 1947, India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been
under British rule for about 200 years.

The Omagh bombing was a car bombing that took place on this day
in 1998 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried
out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army,
a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who
opposed the IRA’s ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement.

An aerial view of the devastation caused in Omagh after the bombing.

The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic on
this day in 1914, as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to pass through the canal was
the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon.

A newly expanded Panama Canal in 1016.

"The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. on this day
in 1939. Judy Garland became famous for the movie’s song
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm) (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969)

JOHN BELMONT

On this day in 1964, the U.S. Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, which gave President Johnson broad powers in dealing
with reported North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

U.S. forces landed at Guadalcanal on this day in 1942, marking the
start of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific during World
War II.

U.S. Marines rest in the field during the Guadalcanal campaign.

On this day in 1947, the balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried
a six-man crew (below) 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean,crashed
into a reef in a Polynesian archipelago.

On this day in 2007, at the Giants home AT&T Park in San Francisco, Berry Bonds hit a 435 foot (133 m) home run, his 756th, off a pitch
from Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals, breaking the all-
time career home run record, formerly held by Hank Aaron. Bonds,
was indicted later that year on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying under oath to a federal grand jury looking
into steroid use among pro athletes.   

    
    
    
    
   

Barry Lamar Bonds turned 54 in July.