MIKE  GRACIA

The 13-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and his army ended 
on this day in 1836. The Mexican army of about four thousand men 
under President General Santa Anna defeated 189 Texas volunteers fighting for independence from Mexico.

Rob Reiner (Robert Norman Reiner) is 72 years-old today.

Actor and director Rob Reiner is known especially for his role as
Michael (“Meathead”) Stivic in the CBS television series All in the
Family (1971–79) and for his direction of such culturally resonant
films as This Is Spinal Tap (1984), The Princess Bride (1987), When
Harry Met Sally… (1989), and A Few Good Men (1992).

MIKE GRACIA

During the Civil War on this day in 1862, about 14,000 Confederate soldiers surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Fort Donelson, TN.

Ulysses S. Grant (Hiram Ulysses Grant)
(April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885)

On this day in 1863, Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation
Proclamation. Attempting to stitch together a nation mired in
a bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln made a last-ditch, but
carefully calculated, decision regarding the institution of
slavery in America. The Proclamation ordered the freedom
of all slaves in ten states.

An African American man reading a newspaper with headline "Presidential Proclamation/Slavery".

CAMILLE BOHANNON

The Battle of Antietam took place during the American Civil War on
this day in 1862. More than 23,000 men were killed, wounded, or
missing. The Rebel advance was ended with heavy losses to both armies.

Dead Confederate soldiers from Starke’s Louisiana Brigade, on
the Hagerstown Turnpike, north of the Dunker Church.

Casualties near the Dunker Church.

On this day in 1972, the series "M*A*S*H" premiered on CBS-TV.

The war comedy-drama television series M*A*S*H aired on CBS from 1972
to 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 feature
film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker‘s 1968 novel
MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The series was produced
with 20th Century Fox Television for CBS. It is one of the highest-
rated shows in American television history.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, Japan surrendered to the U.S. aboard the USS
Missouri, ending World War II. The war ended six years and one day
after it began.

Douglas MacArthur signs the Japanese surrender documents.

On this day in 1864, during the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by
Gen. William T. Sherman (below) occupied Atlanta following the
retreat of the Confederates.

On this day in 1944, future President George Herbert Walker Bush
is serving as a torpedo bomber pilot in the Pacific theater of World
War II when his squadron is attacked by Japanese anti-aircraft guns
forcing Bush to bail out of the plane over the ocean. According to
the Navy’s records, Bush’s squadron was conducting a bombing
mission on a Japanese installation on the island of Chi Chi Jima in
the Pacific when they encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire. The engine
on Bush’s plane was set ablaze, yet Bush managed to release his
bombs and head back toward the aircraft carrier San Jacinto before
bailing out over the water.

George H.W. Bush turned 94 in June.

The Great Fire of London broke out on this day in 1666. It burned for three days destroying 10,000 buildings including St. Paul’s Cathedral
with only six fatalities.        
     
    

It was announced on this day in 1985, the Titanic had been found on 
by a U.S. and French expedition 560 miles off Newfoundland. The
luxury liner had been missing for 73 years.

A photograph of the Titanic believed to have been taken the day
before she left on her ill-fated voyage in 1912.

The last known photo of Titanic heading out for open sea off the
coast of Ireland.