During the War of 1812 between the United States and England, British troops
enter Washington, D.C. and burn the White House in retaliation for the
American attack on the city of York in Ontario, Canada, in June 1812.

When the British arrived at the White House, they found that President James Madison and his first lady Dolley had already fled to safety in Maryland.

Soldiers reportedly sat down to eat a meal made of leftover food from the
White House scullery using White House dishes and silver before ransacking
the presidential mansion and setting it ablaze.

James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751– June 28, 1836)

Remains of the White House after the fire of 1814.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor
of New York City’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people and
injuring 26 others. The freak accident was caused by heavy fog. The
B-25  Mitchell bomber, with two pilots and one passenger aboard,
was flying from New Bedford, Massachusetts, to LaGuardia Airport
in New York City.

A fire that was started by the crash and was put out in 40 minutes. It
is the only fire at such a height that has been successfully put out.

An elevator operator, Betty Lou Oliver, survived a fall of 75 floors, a
Guinness World Record for the longest fall survived in an elevator.

B-25 Mitchell like the one that crashed into the Empire State Building.

ED DONAHUE

On this day in 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing was a
domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Buildingin downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the
bombing happened at 9:02 am and killed at least 168 people, 
injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one – third of
the building.

One of the many injured in the bombing attack.

A firefighter holding a dying toddler in his arms.

Bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh (center) is escorted from
the courthouse in Perry, Oklahoma.

    
    
   

MIKE GRACIA

Sir Elton Hercules John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight) is 72.

Rock and roll legend Elton John has sold over 250 million albums in a career
that’s spanned over 50 years. He is best known for such hit songs as "Rocket
Man," "Tiny Dancer," "Bennie and the Jets" and "Candle in the Wind."Elton
began playing the piano at age three and won a junior scholarship to the
Royal Academy of Music.

CARLATA BRADLEY

John Glenn made space history on this day in 1962 when he orbited
the Earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first
American to do so. He was aboard the Friendship 7 Mercury
capsule (above).

Here’s what John Glenn saw while orbiting the Earth. 

Friendship 7 capsule after splashdown.

The successful mission concluded with a splashdown and recovery
in the Atlantic Ocean, 800 miles southeast of Bermuda.

Sir Sidney Poitier is 92-years-old today.

Actor, director, and diplomat Sidney Poitier became the first
African American to win an Oscar after performing in Lilies
of the Field (1963). The films Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
(1967) To Sir, with Love (1967) and In the Heat of the Night
(1967), additionally bolstered his fame. The American Film
Institute called him one of the 25 Greatest Male Stars of All
Time in 1999.

1961

TV movie, 2001