TIM MAGUIRE
    

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas
on this day in 1492. He believed that he had found Asia while attempting to
find a Western ocean route to India. The same day he claimed the land for
Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain.

On this day in 2000

Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev reportedly pounded a shoe on
his desk in protest against a speech critical of Soviet policy at a
U.N. General Assembly on this day in 1960.

On this day in 2002, three bombings shatter the peace in the town of
Kuta on the Indonesian island of Bali. The blasts, the work of militant Islamist terrorists, left 202 people dead and more than 200 others
injured, many with severe burns.

Luciano Pavarotti (October 12, 1935 – September 6, 2007) 

Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti was best known for his performances with
Spanish singers Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Together, they were given
the name The Three Tenors. He debuted as an opera singer in La bohème as
Rodolfo in 1961. Pavarotti was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in
2001. He fought a long, tough battle against pancreatic cancer which eventually
took his life at age 71.

The Three Tenors.

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Henry John Deutschendorf Jr.
(December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997)

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
   

TIM MAGUIRE

It was on this day in 1963.

On this day in 2005, President George W. Bush spoke to the nation
from New Orleans, promising the United States government will pay
most of the costs of rebuilding the Gulf Coast ravaged by Hurricane
Katrina. It would be one of the largest reconstruction projects the
world has ever seen.

Bush acknowledged his administration had failed to adequately
respond to Hurricane Katrina, which killed hundreds of people
across five states.

The Nuremberg Laws were enacted by Nazi Germany on this day in
1935. The act stripped all German Jews of their civil rights and the swastika was made the official symbol of Nazi Germany.

On this day in 1950, U.N. forces landed at Inchon, Korea in an
attempt to relieve South Korean forces and recapture Seoul.

British-Hessian troops under the command of General Howe march
through New York as they took over the city during the American
Revolution on this day in 1776. 

British troops landing at Kip’s Bay, Manhattan, New York.

William Oliver Stone is 71 years old today.

Oliver Stone is a screenwriter, film producer, and director of motion
pictures and documentaries. Stone won an Academy Award for Best
Adapted Screenplay as writer of Midnight Express(1978). He also
wrote the acclaimed gangster movie Scarface (1983). As a director,
Stone achieved prominence as director/writer of the war drama
Platoon (1986).  

2006

1963

TIM MAGUIRE

London received its initial rain of bombs from Nazi Germany during World War II on this day in 1940.

The military dictator and President of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo died on this day in 1997.

The Panama Canal treaties were signed by U.S. President Carter
(left) and General Omar Torrijos Herrera on this day in 1977. The
treaties  called for the U.S. to turn over control of the canal’s
waterway to Panama in the year 2000.       


        
      
      
      
      
   

ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network,
made its debut on cable TV on this day in 1979.

The National Professional Football Hall of Fame was dedicated
in Canton, OH on this day in 1963.

Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley)
(September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959)

Buddy Holly was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist
who along The Crickets pioneered rock with "That’ll
Be the Day," which topped the Billboard Best Sellers.   

   
    
    
    
    
   
     CAMILLE BOHANNON

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

It began on this day in 1969.

India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been under British
about 200 years.

It was on this day in 1998.

On this day in 1914, the Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic 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.
 

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

The Hollywood premiere of the movie was at Grauman’s Chinese
Theatre (above).

Judy Garland performing the song “Over the Rainbow” for the film
The Wizard of Oz.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
  JOHN BELMONT

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

President Johnson (far right) signs the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in
the White House East Room as congressional leaders look on.

On this day in 1964,  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.

The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki, which had carried a six-man crew
4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean, crashed into a reef in a
Polynesian archipelago on this day in 1947. The crew made
successful landfall and all returned safely.

Barry Bonds watches his 756th career home run head for the right- 
center-field bleachers.

Oliver Norvell "Babe" Hardy (Norvell Hardy)
(January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957)

Oliver Hardy was comic actor and one half of Laurel and
Hardy, the classic double act that began in the era of
silent films and lasted 25 years, from 1927-1951.

From left: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

Grave of Oliver Hardy, at Valhalla Memorial Park 
Cemetery in North Hollywood.