MIKE GRACIA

On this day in 1948, Harry S. Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey for
the U.S. presidency. The Chicago Tribune published an early edition
that had the headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." The Truman
victory surprised many polls and newspapers.

On this day in 1945, Howard Hughes flew his "Spruce Goose," a huge wooden airplane, for eight minutes in California. It was the plane’s
first and only flight and never went into production.

Take-off: Howard Hughes’ H-4, the "Spruce Goose." 

Hughes watches engineer Chal Bowen, October 31, 1947, two days before the flight as the radio operator looks on. Thirty-six people
were on board for the test flight.

Flight-deck seats, put in for military observers, seven guests from
the press corps and an additional seven industry representatives. 

On this day in 1959, Charles Van Doren, a game show contestant
on the NBC-TV program "Twenty-One" admitted that he had been
given questions and answers in advance.

Van Doren (at left) faces Herb Stempel (far right) on “Twenty-One,”
in 1956, under the eye of the show’s host, Jack Barry. Some fifty
million people watched the climax of their rivalry.

Charles Lincoln Van Doren turned 92 in February.

The British Parliament enacted The Stamp Act in the American
colonies on this day in 1765. The act was repealed in March of
1766 on the same day that the Parliament passed the Declaratory
Acts which asserted that the British government had free and
total legislative power of the colonies.

On this day in 1952, the United States exploded the first hydrogen
bomb on Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door
of the Wittenberg Palace Church. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther statue in Wittenberg, Germany.

President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered a halt to all U.S. bombing of
North Vietnam on this day in 1968. He also announced his intention
not to run for re-election.

Above — a B-52 bomber drops a load of conventional bombs on
North Vietnam.

ED DANAHUE

On this day in 1938, Orson Welles’ "The War of the Worlds" aired on
CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.

Welles takes questions from reporters at a press conference the day
after the broadcast, on October 31, 1938. He told them that no one connected with the broadcast had any idea it would cause panic.

George Orson Welles
(May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)

TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street
stock market on this day in 1929.

A crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with
John Glenn on board. Glenn was 77 years old at the time. In 1962
he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery (front row) Payload
Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Mission Commander Curt Brown;
Payload Specialist John Glenn; (C) and Mission Specialist
Pedro Duque depart the Operations & Checkout building and
head to the Space Shuttle Discovery to begin their mission
into space from the Kennedy Space Center, FL.

John Glenn (left) and Stephen Oswald sitting in the flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery.