On this day in 1799, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign, a
French soldier discovers a black basalt slab inscribed with ancient writing
near the town of Rosetta, about 35 miles north of Alexandria. The irregularly
shaped stone contained fragments of passages written in 3 different scripts:
Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Egyptian demotic. The ancient Greek on
the Rosetta Stone told archaeologists that it was inscribed by priests
honoring the king of Egypt, Ptolemy V, in the second century B.C. More
startlingly, the Greek passage announced that the three scripts were all of
identical meaning. The artifact thus held the key to solving the riddle of hieroglyphics, a written language that had been “dead” for nearly 2,000
years.

The Rosetta Stone on display in The British Museum.

"Lithograph image depicting a group of scholars inspecting the
Rosetta Stone during the Second International Congress of
Orientalists, 1874.

The United States Postal Service announced that it is issuing a new commemorative stamp honoring the late President George H. W. Bush.

The stamp, which is now available for pre-order, will be available for
delivery following a first-day-of-issue ceremony, which will be held on
Bush’s birthday, June 12, at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library
and Museum (shown below). Bush died November 30, 2018 at the age
of 94.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1968, North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, charging it had intruded into the nation’s territorial waters on a
spying mission. The crew was released 11 months later.

Pueblo on display in North Korea, 2012.

North Koreans raise their fists during a rally in 2010 in front of the
U.S. Navy spy ship Pueblo.

On this day in 1977, the TV mini-series "Roots," began airing on ABC. The show was based on the Alex Haley novel. Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a
Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented
Nielsen ratings for the finale, which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series, and the
second-most watched overall series finale in U.S. television
history.

LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, a warrior of the Mandinka people
in Gambia who is captured by slavers and taken to Annapolis,
Md.

John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005)

Television host, comedian, writer, and producer Johnny Carson was 
best known as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(1962–1992) on NBC. Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television
Academy‘s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was
inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987 awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center
Honor in 1993.

ED DANAHUE

Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy declared war on the United States on
this day in 1941. The U.S in turn declared war on the two countries.

The series Magnum, P.I. ran from this day in 1980 to 1988 during
its first-run broadcast on the CBS television network.  According
to the Nielsen ratings, the series consistently ranked in the top
twenty TV programs during the first five years of its original run.

The cast from left: Tom Selleck, Larry Manetti, John Hillerman, and
Roger E, Mosley.

A 1982 Ferrari 308 GTSi, driven by Tom Selleck and Larry Manetti in
TV series "Magnum P.I." is on display in the Petersen Automotive Museum.

 
Thomas William Selleck turned 73 January 29.

(Fox News) – Fans of “The Wizard of Oz” looking for a glimpse of the ruby
slippers are in for a treat.

The National Museum of American History revealed on Twitter Friday the
famous shoes from the celebrated movie are being put back on display.

The museum said “After their journey to the museum’s Conservation Lab,
they are stabilized, sparkling clean, and ready to be on view for years to
come.”  

Oct. 19 kicks off the “opening weekend of the Ruby Slippers gallery,” as
well as other displays, the museum said on its website, after the shoes
paid a visit to the conservation lab for restoration.