DIANE KEPLEY

Beyoncé (Giselle Knowles-Carter) is 44 years young today.

Beyoncé is widely regarded as one of the most culturally
significant figures of the 21st century.

Credited with revolutionizing the music industry, Beyoncé
is often deemed one of the greatest entertainers
and most influential artists in history..

CIA reference photograph of a Soviet medium-range ballistic missile in Red Square, Moscow.

The Cuban Missile Crisis was a 13-day confrontation between
the United States and the Soviet Union, when American
deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were
matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba.

The crisis lasted from October 16 to October 28, 1962. The
confrontation is widely considered the closest the
the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear
war.

Cuban Missile Crisis, map of immediate-threat areas.

Complicated and tension-filled negotiations between the United States and
the Soviet Union finally result in a plan to end the two-week-old Cuban
Missile Crisis. A frightening period in which nuclear holocaust seemed
imminent began to come to an end. 

Since President John F. Kennedy’s October 22 address warning the Soviets
to cease their reckless program to put nuclear weapons in Cuba and
announcing a naval “quarantine” against additional weapons shipments
into Cuba, the world held its breath waiting to see whether the two
superpowers would come to blows. U.S. armed forces went on alert and
the Strategic Air Command went to a Stage 4 alert (one step away from
nuclear attack). On October 24, millions waited to see whether Soviet
ships bound for Cuba carrying additional missiles would try to break
the U.S. naval blockade around the island. At the last minute, the vessels
turned around and returned to the Soviet Union.

Khrushchev                Castro                                 Kennedy

TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street
stock market on this day in 1929.

A crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with
John Glenn on board. Glenn was 77 years old at the time. In 1962
he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery (front row) Payload
Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Mission Commander Curt Brown;
Payload Specialist John Glenn; (C) and Mission Specialist
Pedro Duque depart the Operations & Checkout building and
head to the Space Shuttle Discovery to begin their mission
into space from the Kennedy Space Center, FL.

John Glenn (left) and Stephen Oswald sitting in the flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery.

TIM MAGUIRE

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Cleveland on this day in 1886. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 152
feet tall. It was originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World."

William Henry Gates III is 63 years old today.

Business magnate, investor, author, philanthropist, humanitarian, and
principal founder of Microsoft Corporation. During his career at Microsoft,
Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect,
while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014. He
stepped down as chairman of Microsoft in February 2014 and assumed
a new post as technology adviser to support the newly appointed CEO
Satya Nadella.

Julia Fiona Roberts is 51 years young today.

Julia Roberts gained fame after starring in Pretty Woman 1990 and went
on to win an Oscar for her leading role in Erin Brockovich in 2000.