On November 23, 1936, the first issue of the pictorial magazine
Life was published, featuring a cover photo of the Fort Peck
Dam’s spillway by Margaret Bourke-White.

Life actually had its start earlier in the 20th century as a different
kind of magazine: a weekly humor publication, not unlike today’s
The New Yorker in its use of tart cartoons, humorous pieces and
cultural reporting.

When the original Life folded during the Great Depression, the
influential American publisher Henry Luce bought the name 
and re-launched the magazine as a picture-based periodical.

A look inside that first issue of LIFE.

On November 21, 1980, 350 million people around the world
tuned in to television’s popular primetime drama “Dallas” to
find out who shot J.R. Ewing, the character fans loved to hate.
J.R. had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous
March 21, which now stands as one of television’s most famous cliffhangers.

The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left
America wondering “Who shot J.R.?” for the next eight
months.

The November 21 episode solved the mystery, identifying Kristin Shepard, J.R.’s wife’s sister-in-law and his former mistress, as
the culprit.

Jessica McClure Morales (37) today.

TIM MAGUIRE

On May 27, 1995, Reeve broke his neck when he was thrown
from a horse during an equestrian competition in Culpeper,
Virginia. The injury paralyzed him from the shoulders down,
and he used a wheelchair and ventilator for the rest of his life.

    
Tim Maguire

The 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike was the eighth and
longest work stoppage in baseball history, as well as the fourth
in-season work stoppage in 22 years. The strike began on
August 12, 1994, and resulted in the remainder of that season,
including the postseason and the World Series, being canceled.

This was the first time in ninety years, since 1904, that a World
Series was not played. The strike was suspended on April 2,
1995, after 232 days, making it the longest such stoppage in
MLB history and the longest work stoppage in major league.