On this day in 1986, the Ash-Shiraa, pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran to secure the release of seven American hostages. The story turned into the Iran-Contra affair.
Reagan meets with aides on the Iran-Contra affair.
President Ronald Reagan holds up a copy of the Tower Commission report on the Iran-Contra affair.
One of the 52 United States hostages is displayed to the crowd outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by his captors, a few days into their ordeal.
On this day in 1992, Carol Moseley-Braun became the first African-American woman U.S. senator.
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun turned 71 August 16.
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.
The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 508 points on this day in 1987. It was called Black Monday, the worst one-day percentage decline, 22.6%, in history.
The supersonic Concorde made its first landing at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City on this day in 1977.
On this day in 1946, Hermann Goering, a Nazi war criminal and founder of the Gestapo, poisoned himself just hours before his scheduled execution.
On this day in 1951, "I Love Lucy" premiered on CBS-TV. It ran until May 6, 1957 with a total of 180 (including the ‘lost’ original pilot and Christmas episode) half-hour episodes spanning 6 seasons. “I Love Lucy” became the most watched show in the United States in four of its six seasons, and was the first to end its run at the top of the Nielsen ratings. In 2012, “I Love Lucy” was voted the ‘Best TV Show of All Time’ in a survey conducted by ABC News and People Magazine.
Anthrax-laced letters were sent to Capitol Hill on this day in 2001.
On Oct. 7, 1985, the Italian cruise ship MS Achille Lauro was hijacked by four members of the Palestine Liberation Front off the coast of Egypt in the Mediterranean. The hijackers took the more than 400 passengers and crew members hostage and demanded the release of 50 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
On this day in 1985, the hijackers surrendered on the condition that they and the hijacking mastermind Abu Abbas be given a plane to escape. However, on Oct. 10, the plane was intercepted by United States military aircraft and forced to land at a NATO base in Sicily, where Mr. Abbas and the hijackers were arrested.
The four Palestinian terrorists who hijacked the cruise ship.
Released hostages of the Achille Lauro liner hijacking are shown being taken ashore.
Palestinian militant Abu Abbas, mastermind of the 1985 Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking was captured in Iraq April 2003. He died in US custody from a heart attack in 2004.
John Winston Ono Lennon (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980)
John Lennon became one of the most influential songwriters in the history of popular music after co-founding The Beatles with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. In 2008, Rolling Stone ranked John Lennon the fifth- greatest singer of all time. In 1987, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and twice posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: first in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and again in 1994 as a solo artist.
One of the last photos of John Lennon before he was killed.
