ROSS SIMPSON

The Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, was set
afire on this day in 1933. The Nazis accused Communist for the
fire.

Firemen surveying the ruins following the Reichstag fire.

President George H.W. Bush announced live on television on this
day in 1991, "Kuwait is liberated."

    1963

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor  (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011)

Better known as Liz Taylor, she was a glamorous movie actress who
starred in numerous films during Hollywood’s Golden Age. She was
in 11 films with Richard Burton, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? (1966). She made her motion picture debut at the age of nine
in Universal’s There’s One Born Every Minute (1942). 

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003)

Fred Rogers was a popular television personality, musician, puppeteer,
writer, and producer, as well as a Presbyterian minister. He was famous
for creating, hosting, and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968–2001),
which featured his kind-hearted, grandfatherly personality, and the
directness to his young audiences.

SANDY KOZEL

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

Martin Luther
(November 10, 1943 – February 18, 1546)

On this day in 1968, in a televised address to the nation five days before the presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson announced on the basis of developments in the Paris peace negotiations, he has ordered the complete cessation of “all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam.” Accordingly, effective November 1, the U.S. Air Force called a halt to the
air raids on North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by
two Sikh security guards on this day in 1984. Her son, Rajiv (below) was
sworn in as prime minister.

Rajiv Gandhi (left) at the funeral of his mother.

Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz)  (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

Magician Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a
ruptured appendix on this day in 1926. His appendix had been damaged
twelve days earlier when he had been punched in the stomach by a student unexpectedly. During a lecture Houdini had commented on the strength of
his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows.

Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz/Harry Weiss)
(March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

Houdini was a magician and escape artist whose most difficult stunt entailed
escaping from handcuffs that took a locksmith five years to build.

In his youth, he took a job as a trapeze artist under the name Ehrich, the
Prince of the Air, and was a successful cross-country runner. Houdini made
several movies, but quit acting when it failed to bring in money. He was also
was an accomplished aviator (below), and aimed to become the first man to
fly a plane in Australia.