In Flemington, New Jersey on t his day in 1935, a jury found Bruno Richard Hauptmann guilty of the kidnapping and death of the infant son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. Hauptmann was later executed for the crimes (below).
Charles Lindbergh, Jr (1930 – 1932)
During World War II on this day in 1945, allied aircraft began bombing the German city of Dresden. It was almost completely destroyed and became a symbol of the “terror bombing” campaign against Germany, which was one of the most controversial allied actions of the war.
On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela was freed by South Africa after 27 years in captivity.
A bronze statue depicting former South African president Nelson Mandela as he walked to freedom outside the Groot Drakenstein prison in Paarl.
On this day in 1945, during World War II, the Yalta Agreement was signed by U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt (center) British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (left) and Soviet leader Josef Stalin.
The leaders agreed to demand Germany’s unconditional surrender and began plans for a post-war world. Most of the agreements were initially kept secret, but the revelations of the conference particulars became controversial after Soviet-American wartime cooperation degenerated into the Cold War.
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.
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019)
The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm on this day in 1991. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is shown above at ease with his tank troops in Saudi Arabia in January 12, 1991 before the U.S. executed the operation.
On the evening of January 16,1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss the launch of Operation Desert Storm.
Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia was planned to begin on January 11, 2001, but the mission was delayed 18 times and eventually launched on January 16, 2003 (above).
During the lift-off of Columbia’s 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle’s external tank and struck the left wing of the craft. An accident investigation board determined the damage to the wing allowed hot atmospheric gases to inter the heat shield, destroying the internal wing structure and caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on February 1, killing all seven crew members.
On this day in 1777, the Battle of Princeton in New Jersey took place during the War of Independence. George Washington defeated the British forces, led by Cornwallis. The Battle is the climax of a period known as the “10 Crucial Days.”
A 1784 portrait of Washington by Charles Willson Peale depicting him at the Battle of Princeton.
