Apollo 8 astronauts, James A. Lovell, William Anders and Frank Borman, reached the moon on this day in 1968. They orbited the moon 10 times before coming back to Earth. Seven months later man first landed on the moon.
Apollo 8 crew members (from left) James A. Lovell Jr., William A. Anders and Frank Borman.
On this day in 1901, President William McKinley was shot and mortally wounded (he died eight days later) by Leon Czolgosz, an American anarchist, was executed the following October.
Leon Czolgosz
The funeral for Britain’s Princess Diana was on this day in 1997.
Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the U.S. The first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable for having been the first true self-servicegrocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts. The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire. Currently, more than 600 independently owned Piggly Wiggly stores operate in 17 states, primarily in smaller cities and towns.
Bass player, composer, vocalist Roger Waters was co-founder, and front man of the English rock band Pink Floyd, the group known for songs like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."
Christopher Columbus left Palos, Spain with three ships on this day in 1492. The voyage led him to what is now known as the Americas.
On this day in 1914, Germany declared war on France. The next day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.
Alger Hiss (above)was a government official who was accused of being a Soviet spy on this day in 1948. His case became one of the defining – and still highly controversial – episodes of the Cold War.
Whittaker Chambers is seated on the left in the above photo.
On this day in 1981, U.S. traffic controllers with the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO), went on strike. They were fired just as President Ronald Reagan had warned.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded on this day in 1949.
Singer Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) is 92 today.
Tony Bennett is known for his renditions of show tunes, jazz, and popular songs like "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and "Rags to Riches."
He dropped out of school to work as a copy boy in order to help support his family. He was a painting and music student at New York’s School of Industrial Art.
Charles A. Lindberg completed the first solo nonstop airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean on this day in 1927. The trip began May 20.
The American branch of the Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton on this day in 1881.
Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton(December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912)
Fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks (above) was murdered in a "thrill killing" committed by Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard Loeb (below) on this day in 1924. The killers were students at the University of Chicago.
On this day in 1959, the musical "Gypsy" opened on Broadway and played 702 performances, closing on March 25, 1961 at the Imperial Theatre.
From left: Sandra Church as Louise, Ethel Merman starred as Rose, and Jack Klugman as Herbie.
An expedition led by Captain Christopher Newport went ashore at Jamestown, Virginia on this day in 1607. The group had arrived at the location the day before. This became the first permanent English colony in America.
William Clark set off the famous expedition from Camp Dubois on this day in 1804. A few days later, in St. Louis, Meriwether Lewis joined the group. The group was known as the "Corps of Discovery."
On this day in 1948, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion (R) proclaimed the independent State of Israel as British rule in Palestine came to an end. U.S. President Harry S. Truman is on his left.
Skylab One was launched into orbit around Earth as the first U.S. manned space station on this day in 1973.
George Walton Lucas Jr. is 74 years old today. He was born in Modesto, California.
Sinatra died with his wife at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 14, 1998, aged 82, after a heart attack. Sinatra was in ill health during the last few years of his life, and was frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He was further diagnosed as having dementia. He had made no public appearances following a heart attack in February 1997