BRIAN THOMAS

It was on this day in 1959.

(NOTE) Holly’s mother and his widow both learned he had died from
the news. Ever since, police departments have made it a policy not
to release a victim’s name until their family has been notified.
 

A 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza (Model 35), similar to the aircraft that crashed.

Gull Avenue, Crash site is located west of intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue., Clear Lake, IA.

Former KGW radio D.J. Red Robinson (left) and Buddy Holly.

The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional football, known retroactively as Super Bowl I and referred to in some reports, including the
game’s radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl, was played on January 15, 1967
at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, CA. The National
Football League (NFL) champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs by the score of 35–10.

Groundhog Day is a popular tradition celebrated in Canada and the United
States on February 2. It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition
that if a groundhog (Marmota monax), also called "woodchuck";  emerging
from its burrow on this day sees a shadow due to clear weather, it will
retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks, and if it does
not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.

CARLATA BRADLEY

During World War II on this day in1943, the remainder of Nazi forces
from the Battle of Stalingrad surrendered to the Soviets. Stalingrad
has since been renamed Volgograd.

On this day in 1971, Idi Amin assumed power in Uganda after a coup
that ousted President Milton Obote.

Often portrayed as a “monster in disguise”, Idi Amin was the third President of Uganda.

CARLATA BRADLEY

On this day in 2003, NASA’s space shuttle Columbia exploded while
re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board
were killed.

Helmet found in a field after the space shuttle Columbia disaster.

Memorial at the Columbia Debris Site.

During the Vietnam War on this day in 1968, South Vietnamese
National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a
Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. The scene was
captured in a news photograph shown above.

Vietcong officer Nguyen Van Lem minutes prior to his execution.