BRIAN THOMAS

It was on this day in 1959.

(NOTE) Holly’s mother and his widow both learned he had died from
the news. Ever since, police departments have made it a policy not
to release a victim’s name until their family has been notified.
 

A 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza (Model 35), similar to the aircraft that crashed.

Gull Avenue, Crash site is located west of intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue., Clear Lake, IA.

Former KGW radio D.J. Red Robinson (left) and Buddy Holly.

MIKE GRACIA

Henry Kissinger (seated center) signs the Paris Peace Accords on
this day in 1973 in Paris. The war ended on April 30, 1975, when
Saigon surrendered almost without fighting to the communist
forces, ending the United States’ involvement in Vietnam.

Nguyen Duy Trinh (center) heads the delegation from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.

At Cape Kennedy, FL, on this day in 1967, astronauts Virgil I.
"Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died
in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo I spacecraft.

The charred remains of the Apollo 1 cabin interior.

MIKE GRACIA

CAMILLE BOHANNON

During World War II on this day in 1940, German war planes bombed
most of the English town of Coventry when about 500 Luftwaffe
bombers attacked.

Coventry Cathedral in ruins following the German attack.

The ruins of the old Coventry Cathedral today, a visible modern-day
reminder of the Blitz of 1940.

Herman Melville’s novel "Moby Dick" was first published in the U.S.
on this day in 1851. 

Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)

TIM MAGUIRE

The Edmund Fitzgerald, an ore-hauling freighter and its crew of 29
vanished during a storm in Lake Superior on this day in 1975. It was
the largest ship to sail on the Great Lakes.

Edmund Fitzgerald in its watery grave.

On this day in 1969, the children’s TV series "Sesame Street" made
its debut on PBS.

Shown above is an early cast and crew photo. (click to enlarge)