The second person to ever walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin was the pilot of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission and was a member of the third group of astronauts ever selected by NASA. He served as an astronaut from his selection in 1963 until his retirement in 1971. Aldrin served as an U.S. Air Force officer and had a Command Pilot rating. Appropriately enough, his mother’s maiden name was Moon.
Aldrin walks on the surface of the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969.
On this day in 2001, President Bill Clinton escaped indictment by surrendering his Arkansas law license for five years and admitting that he made false statements under oath about his affair with Monica Lewinsky.
A twelve-year-old Dolly Parton.
Dolly Parton at Sevier High School.
Dolly Rebecca Parton is 73 years young today.
Country singer Dolly Parton has released twenty-six #1 Billboard hits, including "Jolene," "Coat of Many Colors," and "9 to 5." Parton’s music includes 25 Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards.
She grew up alongside eleven brothers and sisters in a one-room cabin in Appalachia, Tennessee where she learned to sing at church.
She received the nickname The Queen of Country Music after releasing more #1 hits than any other country singer in U.S. history. Dolly is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award and has received 47 Grammy nominations.
Alton Glenn Miller(March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944)
People magazine recently reported a retired trawlerman from England is “utterly convinced” he pulled up the wreck of the famed American bandleader’s aircraft in his fishing net 32 years ago. And now, U.S.-based historical aircraft researchers from TIGHAR say his account is “totally credible.”
According to TIGHAR, which stands for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, the man was advised to drop his unusual catch back into the English Channel, where it has remained ever since. But he recorded the coordinates and the magazine noted it is this key piece of evidence that may finally lead to the site of Miller’s final resting place.
Miller, recognized as “the hottest recording artist of his era,” dominated the swing music scene during his lifetime and was famous for his self-penned signature tune, 1939’s “Moonlight Serenade.”
A C-64 Norseman aircraft (above) is similar to the one Glenn Miller was traveling to Paris in when it disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944.
Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019)
The White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm on this day in 1991. The operation was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf is shown above at ease with his tank troops in Saudi Arabia in January 12, 1991 before the U.S. executed the operation.
On the evening of January 16,1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to discuss the launch of Operation Desert Storm.
Coalition troops from Egypt, Syria, Oman, France and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm.
The launch of Space Shuttle Columbia was planned to begin on January 11, 2001, but the mission was delayed 18 times and eventually launched on January 16, 2003 (above).
During the lift-off of Columbia’s 28th mission, a piece of foam insulation broke off from the Space Shuttle’s external tank and struck the left wing of the craft. An accident investigation board determined the damage to the wing allowed hot atmospheric gases to inter the heat shield, destroying the internal wing structure and caused the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere on February 1, killing all seven crew members.
Young Elvis with parents Vernon and Gladys Presley in 1938.
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)
(Note: Photo taken during the last concert before his death!)
Known as "The King of Rock n’ Roll," Elvis Presley rose to prominence in the late 1950s, becoming a legend in cultural history and the best-selling solo artist in the history of pop with such #1 singles as "Hound Dog," and "Jailhouse Rock.
He appeared in over 30 movies, with his big screen debut coming in the 1956 film Love Me Tender, named after one of his many songs.
