A 1935 aerial photo shows Navy ships arriving at the Portland waterfront for the Rose Festival. (From Vintage Portland)

“Fleet Week” is the perfect time to thank the men and women who dedicate
their lives to protecting our city, state, and country.

Taken during Portland’s first "Fleet Week", this picture shows the destroyer Reuben James and other Navy ships in front of the
City’s downtown business district. A total of 18 Naval ships a
attended for what has become a key part of the annual Rose
Festival.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Around 12:15 a.m. PDT on June 5, 1968, Sirhan Sirhan fired a .22
caliber Iver-Johnson Cadet revolver at Senator Robert Kennedy
and the crowd surrounding him in the Ambassador Hotel in Los
Angeles shortly after Kennedy had finished addressing supporters
in the hotel’s main ballroom (above).

Sirhan Sirhan (center) is led away from the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles moments after the shooting of Robert F. Kennedy

Rose Festival Parade at NW corner of 10th & Madison in Portland, Oregon (1908).

In 1905, when Portland Mayor Harry Lane addressed a crowd at
the Lewis and Clark Exposition, one memorable phrase emerged
from his otherwise-forgotten speech. Lane, who served as mayor
from 1905 to 1909, told the audience that Portland needed an
annual "festival of roses."

Two years later, Portland hosted its first Rose Festival, and in
1908 local businessmen, including C.E.S. Wood, organized the
Portland Rose Festival as a nonprofit civic organization (now
called the Portland Rose Festival Foundation) to plan and fund
the annual event.
(From The Oregon Historical Society)

Harry Lane (1855 – 1917)

Portland Rose Festival float entry in 1910.

The Rosarians made their first appearance at the 1912 Rose Festival, wearing their signature white wool suits and straw
hats.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

The Battle of Midway began on this day in 1942. It was the first major victory for America over Japan and a turning point in the Pacific
during World War II. The battle ended on June 6 and prevented
further Japanese expansion in the Pacific.

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

Edward White (above) became the first American astronaut to do a "space walk" when he left the Gemini 4 capsule on this day in 1965.

Gemini IV astronauts Ed White, left, and Jim McDivitt, pose at Cape Kennedy’s Launch Pad.