Motown singer Diana Ross gained fame as a member of The Supremes and who later won a Golden Globe for her role as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues in 1972. She starred in the 1978 film The Wiz with Michael Jackson.
On this day in 1993, U.S. Federal agents raided the compound of an armed religious cult in Waco, TX. The ATF had planned to arrest the leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh (below) on firearms charges. Four agents and six Davidians were killed and a 51-day standoff followed.
David Koresh (Vernon Wayne Howel) (August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993)
The religious community at Mount Carmel burns to the ground at the end of a 51 day standoff between David Koresh, Branch Davidians and the FBI on the property located 10 miles west of Waco, Texas.
On this day in 1978, Cult leader Jim Jones and hundreds of his followers died in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana in South America. It was the largest mass suicide in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until September 11, 2001.
REV. JIM JONES
Shown are bodies of members of the Peoples Temple who died after their leader Jim Jones ordered them to drink Flav-R-Aid laced with cyanide.
Congressman Leo Ryan (above) was among five killed by Temple members at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip (below).
The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon premiered in New York on this day in 1928. It was Walt Disney’s "Steamboat Willie," starring Mickey Mouse.
On this day in 1945, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. It came three days after the bombing of Hiroshima. An estimated 74,000 people were killed. Japan surrendered August 14.
On this day in 1974, President Richard Nixon formally resigned and Gerald R. Ford (below) took his place, becoming the 38th president of the United States.
President and Mrs. Nixon left the White House after his resignation.
It was on this day in 1969.
From left: Charles Manson and his cult family.
Charles Milles Manson (Maddox) (November 12, 1934 – November 19, 2017)
"Walden" was published by Henry David Thoreau on this day in 1854.
Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)
Jerome John Garcia(August 1, 1942 – August 9, 1995)
As one of its founders, Jerry Garcia performed with the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career (1965–1995). He was well known for his distinctive guitar playing and was ranked 13th in Rolling Stone‘s "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Garcia was staying in a drug rehabilitation facility when he died of a heart attack at the age of 53.
The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb on this day in 1995. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Timothy McVeigh (below) was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997.
The American Revolution began on this day in 1775 as fighting broke out at Lexington, MA.
The Branch-Davidian’s compound in Waco, TX, burned to the ground on this day in 1993. It was the end of a 51-day standoff between the cult and U.S. federal agents. A total of 86 people were killed including 17 children. Nine of the Branch Davidians escaped the fire.
Cult leader David Koresh.
Actress Grace Kelly became Princess Grace of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco on this day in 1956.
The musical debuted on Broadway on this day in 2001.