On this day in 1947, Howard Hughes flew his "Spruce Goose," a huge wooden airplane, for eight minutes in California. It was the plane’s first and only flight. The "Spruce Goose," nicknamed because of the white-gray color of the spruce used to build it, never went into production.
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)
On this day in 2001, President George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT Act, an anti-terrorism law drawn up in response to the 9/11 attacks. Its intent, in Bush’s words, is to “enhance the penalties that will fall on terrorists or anyone who helps them.”
The "Gunfight at the OK Corral" took place in Tombstone, AZ. The fight was between Wyatt Earp, his two brothers and Doc Holiday and the Ike Clanton Gang. It occurred around 3pm on the afternoon of Wednesday 26 October 1881 and only lasted about 30 seconds.
KILLED IN GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL PHOTO (LEFT TO RIGHT) TOM & FRANK MCLAURY BILLY CLANTON.
The thirteen-day siege of the Alamo by Santa Anna and his army ended on this day in 1836. The Mexican army of three thousand men defeated the 189 Texas volunteers.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dred Scott decision on this day in 1857, ruled that blacks could not sue in federal court to be citizens.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564)
On this day in 1981, Walter Cronkite (above) appeared in the last airing of "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite." He had been on the job 19 years.
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr.(March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009)
Former host of CBS’s Truth or Consequences (1956 to 1974) and The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history. Barker has had some health problems including prostate surgery and several mild bouts with skin cancer.