Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch) is 102 years old today.
Legendary movie actor Kirk Douglas starred in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954), Paths of Glory (1957), Gunfight at the O.K Corral (1957), and Spartacus (1960). Kirk Douglas became a legend on the silver screen, receiving the Academy Honorary Award in 1996. He was a successful competitive wrestler while in college and served in the U.S. Navy.
On this day in 1991, Islamic militants in Lebanon release kidnapped AP Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson after 2,454 days in captivity. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for the Ohio State Senate.
Terry A. Anderson turned 71 in October.
On this day in 1992, President George H. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, a war-torn East African nation where rival warlords were preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid to thousands of starving Somalis. In a military mission he described as “God’s work,” Bush said that America must act to save more than a million Somali lives, but reassured Americans that “this operation is not open-ended” and that “we will not stay one day longer than is absolutely necessary.” Unfortunately, America’s humanitarian troops became embroiled in Somalia’s political conflict, and the controversial mission stretched on for 15 months before being abruptly called off by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
In this Jan. 1, 1993, file photo, U.S. President George H.W. Bush holds a camera, which he borrowed from the Marine to snap the picture,for a self-portrait with Marines at the airport in Baidoa, Somalia.
In October of 1993, President Bill Clinton addressed the nation from the Oval Office concerning the events in Somalia. He outlined a plan for completing the operation.
The funeral procession for President John F. Kennedy is pictured crossing the bridge to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.
On this day in 1963, the body of President John F. Kennedy was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The funeral was attended by heads of state and representatives from more than 100 countries, with untold millions more watching on television.
President Kennedy’s widow, Jacqueline, along with brother’s Bob and Ted Kennedy together lit the “eternal flame”(above) which will forever burn at the gravesite of JFK.
During the Revolutionary War on this day in 1783, British forces evacuated New York, their last military position in the U.S.It was also George Washington’s Triumphal Entry in New York City, as depicted in the above painting. The events marked the cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and its former colonies.
Union Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops began their "March to the Sea" during the U.S. Civil War on this day in 1864. They left the captured city of Atlanta (depicted above). The campaign ended with the capture of the port of Savanna on December 21.
William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891)
Union soldiers destroying telegraph poles and railroads, and freeing slaves, who are assisting Union soldiers in making their way to safety.
GENERAL SHERMAN’S HEADQUARTERS DURING MARCH TO THE SEA.
General Sherman at the port city of Savannah on the Atlantic coast.
Explorer Zebulon Pike (above) spotted the mountaintop that became known as Pikes Peak in Colorado.
Pikes Peak, called America’s Mountain for its summit’s role inspiring Katharine Lee Bates to pen “America the Beautiful.”
