DAVID MELENDY
   

African American taxi driver Rodney King was severely beaten by
Los Angeles police officers on this day in 1991 during an arrest 
that followed a pursuit through the streets of Los Angeles. The
scene was captured on amateur video, one of the first police 
brutality videos of its kind. It forever changed the conversation
about police and race in America.

National Guardsmen patrol Los Angeles during the rioting after the acquittal of officers involved in the beating of Rodney King.

The first issue of Time magazine was published on this day in 1923
by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce. It was the first weekly news
magazine in the United States. The distinctive red border for which
the magazine has come to be known was lacking. On the cover
was the now-obscure Joseph G. Cannon, former House Speaker.
.

Texan Colonel William Travis (below) sends a desperate plea for help for the besieged defenders of the Alamo, ending the message with the famous last
words, “Victory or Death.”

The Alamo today still stands in San Antonio, Texas.

Established in 1718 as Mission San Antonio de Valero, for over 300 years the
former mission now known as the Alamo has been a crossroads of history.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1945, the 28th Regiment of the Fifth Marine Division of
the U.S. Marines reached the top of Mount Surabachi. A photograph
of these Marines raising the American flag was taken by American
photographer Joe Rosenthal. He received the Pulitzer Prize for his
iconic World War ll photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. it
became one of the best-known photos of the war and was actually
the second flag raised on that day in 1945.

U.S. Marines with the first flag raised on Iwo 
Jima.The smaller flag was replaced with a
larger one (below). These photos were by
Navy photographer Louis Lowery.

Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006)

ROSS SIMPSON

George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)

George Washington, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States,
served as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the
Revolutionary War, then was inaugurated as the first U.S. President
on April 30, 1789.

Washington’s legacy as a commander at Valley Forge, Yorktown, and
Boston was honored in 1917 when an asteroid was named after him:
the 886 Washingtonia asteroid.

General George Washington (left) and French military leader Marquis
de Lafayette at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777–78 (AP)

Washington praying at Valley Forge.

A reproduction of Emanuel Leutze’s 1851 oil painting ‘Washington Crossing the Delaware." (Associated Press)

BRIAN THOMAS

During World War II on this  day in 1945, about 30,000 United States
Marines landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima 
from the Imperial Japanese Army.  

William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. is 79-years-old today.

Singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive
Smokey Robinson was the founder and front man of the Motown
vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief songwriter
and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as
"The Five Chimes" until 1972 when he announced a retirement
from the group to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president,
but Robinson returned to the music industry as a solo artist the
following year. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame in 1987.