CAMILLE  BOHANNON

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. He reached the Bahamas on October 12.

Illustration depicting Christopher Columbus’s fleet
departing from Spain.

On the day in 1914, Germany declared war on France. The next
day World War I began when Britain declared war on Germany.

It was on this day in 1948.

Whittaker Chambers holds a newspaper with the Hiss verdict.

Leo Ferris (second from left) and representatives of the NBL and
BAA shake hands.

Tony Bennett (Anthony Dominick Benedetto) is 91 years old today.

Singer 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. Bennett
was a painting and music student at New York’s School of Industrial Art.

ED DANAHUE

It was on this day in 1975.    
    
    

On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (left) signed
into law the Social Security Act that established Medicare and
Medicaid. It went into effect the following year.

Wrecked warehouses and scattered debris after the explosion.

The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was
an act of sabotage by German agents to destroy American-made munitions
that were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I. This incident, which
happened prior to American entry into the war, is also notable for causing
damage to the Statue of Liberty.

The Lehigh Valley pier after the blast.

The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on
this day in 1945. The ship had just delivered key components of the
Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out
of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

The USS Indianapolis in San Diego Harbor prior to the attack.

Ford at age 25.

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)

Founder of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, developed the assembly-
line process for mass production. One of his first cars was the Model T
(below).

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is 70 years old today.

Bodybuilder, actor, and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger served as the governor
of California from 2003 to 2011. His best known films include Conan the Barbarian
(1982) Predator (1987), The Terminator series (beginning in 1984), and Total Recall
(1990). He decided to pursue a career as a bodybuilder at age fourteen, despite demonstrating ability in football. He became the youngest person to win the Mr.
Universe contest when he was 20.

ED DONAHUE

On this day in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously
ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed
White House tape recordings to the Watergate special
prosecutor Leon Jaworski.

Vice President Nixon (far right) and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev
(wearing hat) speak as the press looks on in part of what came to be known as the Kitchen Debate.

Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the
valley of the Great Salt Lake in present-day Utah on this day in
1847. 

Brigham Young
(June 1, 1801 – August 29, 1877)

Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar Palacios Ponte y Blanco
(July 24, 1783 – December 17, 1830)

 
Simon Bolivar,known as El Libertador, was a Venezuelan military and political
leader who played a leading role in the establishment of Venezuela, Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Panama as sovereign states, independent of
Spanish rule.

The Apollo 11 astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific
Ocean on this day in 1969.

The Apollo 11 crew stand next to their spacecraft on the deck of
the recovery ship U.S.S. Hornet.

MIKE GRACIA

On this day in 1971 U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced
he would visit the People’s Republic of China to seek what he
called a “normalization of relations.”

I happened on this day in 1997.

In Seattle, WA, on this day in 1916, Pacific Aero Products was founded
by William Boeing and was later renamed Boeing Co.

William Edward Boeing (1881-1956)

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15, 1606 – October 4, 1669)

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee.

The Abduction of Europa.

Three Trees.

John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848)

John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States who was
also an influential diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. His
skills as a diplomat set many historic precedents, including bringing an end
to the War of 1812 with the Treaty of Ghent and closing off North and South
America to European colonization with the Monroe Doctrine.