ED DONAHUE

On this day in 1939, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini signed a
military alliance between Germany and Italy known as the "Pact
of Steel."

Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.

President Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit
Russia on this day in 1972. He met with Soviet leader Leonid
Brezhnev.

In Birmingham, AL. on this day in 2002, a jury convicted former Ku
Klux Klansman Bobby Frank Cherry (above) of murder in the 1963
church bombing that killed four girls shown on the memorial below.

Johnny Carson hosted NBC’s "Tonight Show" for the last time on
this day in 1992. He had been host for 30 years.

Laurence Kerr Olivier (Baron Olivier)  (May 22, 1907 – July 11, 1989)

English actor and director Laurence Olivier who, along with his
contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, dominated
the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films
throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late
in his career, he had considerable success in television roles.

1940

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh (below) took off from New
York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit
of St. Louis." The flight took 33 1/2 hours.

On this day in 1932, Amelia Earhart took off to fly solo across the
Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat.

The Lockheed Vega 5B flown by Amelia Earhart as seen on display
at the National Air and Space Museum.

In Spain on this day in 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in
poverty at age 54. He had been in poor health and bedridden for
some time.

Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989)

Gilda Radner was a comedian, writer, actress, and one of seven original
cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Her
SNL work established her as an iconic figure in the history of American
comedy. 

Radner was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on
May 17, 1989, to undergo a CT scan. She was given a sedative and went
into a coma during the scan. She did not regain consciousness and died
three days later, from ovarian cancer and complications due to intestinal perforation on May 20, 1989; husband Gene Wilder was at her side.

Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, January 30, 1989.

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled for school integration in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka. The
ruling declared that racially segregated schools were inherently
unequal.

The U.S. Senate Watergate Committee began its hearings on this day
in 1973. Sen. Sam Ervin (center) was the chairman of the Investigating Committee

On this day in 1792, the New York Stock Exchange was founded at
70 Wall Street by 24 brokers.

The actual Buttonwood Agreement is shown on the right. The New
York Stock Exchange traces its origins to this historic document.

The first Kentucky Derby was held at what would become known as Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. on this day in 1875. 

Winning the race was Oliver Lewis riding the horse named Aristides
with a time of 2 min 37 seconds. The purse at that time was said to
be $2,850.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

The Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students during an
anti-Vietnam war protest at Kent State University on this day in
1970. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded.

Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first woman prime minister on
this day in 1979.

On this day in 1886, a bomb exploded on the fourth day of a workers’ strike in Chicago, IL. Eight people died in the violence during that 
day.

Thirteen civil rights activists, dubbed "Freedom Riders," began a bus
trip through the South on this day in 1961.

After a mob attacked a bus with protesters in Alabama, hundreds
more joined the cause.

The notion of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
began with Louis B. Mayer, head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.The
official Articles of Incorporation for the organization were filed on
this day in 1927.

Samuel Goldwyn Theater (above) Named after filmmaker and studio
head Samuel Goldwyn. Opened in December 1975, and located within
the office building headquarters of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, this is their main state-of-the-art screening room.

MIKE GRACIA

On this day in 1997, Dr. Martin Luther King JR’s son Dexter (left) 
met with James Earl Ray, the accused assassin of his father.

April 1968

It was on this day in 2002.

On this day in 1998, the FDA approved the prescription drug Viagra,
the first pill for male impotence.

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Film director, producer, and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino first received
acclaim for his 1990s crime films Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie
Brown.  He dropped out of High School his freshman year to go to acting
school.