MIKE GRACIA

On this day in 2001, the U.S. and Great Britain began airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to that state’s support of terrorism and
Osama bin Laden. The act was the first military action taken in
response to the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11,
2001.

A cross marked the fence where 21-year-old Matthew Shepard
was robbed, beaten and left to die on this day in 1998. He was
lured by two men pretending to also be gay. Shepard was taken
to a hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he died six days
later from severe head injuries. The fence has since been torn
down.

Matthew Wayne "Matt" Shepard
(December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998)

Shepard’s death inspired the play The Laramie Project, later
turned into a television movie, countless songs, a foundation
devoted to his memory along with a political lobbying effort
that pressed for, and eventually obtained, a new federal hate
crimes statute named after him. 

From left: Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney
were charged with the murder of Matthew Shepard
and are both serving long prison terms.

John J Mellencamp (previously known as John Cougar Mellencamp)
is 67 years old today.

Singer-songwriter John Mellencamp is best known for his #1 hit song, "Jack
& Diane." He has been nominated for more than ten Grammy Awards and
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

During the Revolutionary War on this day in 1781, American forces
began the siege on Yorktown, VA. as the last battle of the war begins.  

    
    
   

Storming of Redoubt #10.

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis by John Trumbull, depicts the British surrendering to Benjamin Lincoln, flanked by French (left) and American troops.        

The first around-the-world flight was completed by two U.S. Army
planes when they landed in Seattle, WA. on this day in 19244. The
trip took 175 days.

 
    TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1957, 300 U.S. Army troops stood guard as nine black students were escorted to class at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. The children had been forced to withdraw 2 days earlier because
of unruly white mobs.

Michael Kirk Douglas is 74 today.

Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for
Best Actor for his role in the 1987 film Wall
Street. He reprised his role in the 2010 sequel
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. His other
notable film credits include The Game (1997),
Traffic (2000), Basic Instinct (1992) and Falling
Down (1993).  He is the son of legendary actor
Kirk Douglas.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford announced a conditional amnesty program for draft-evaders and deserters during the Vietnam War.

In west Beirut on this day in 1982, the massacre of hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children began in refugee camps
of the Lebanese Christian militiamen.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1963, a bomb explodes during Sunday morning services in
the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four young
girls.

With its large African-American congregation, the 16th Street Baptist Church
served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr.,
who once called Birmingham a “symbol of hardcore resistance to integration.” Alabama’s governor, George Wallace, made preserving racial segregation one
of the central goals of his administration. Birmingham had one of the most
violent and lawless chapters of the Ku Klux Klan.

    2001

On this day in 1950 During the Korean War, U.S. Marines land at Inchon on
the west coast of Korea, 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and just 25 miles
from Seoul. The location had been criticized as too risky, but U.N. Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur (below) insisted on carrying out the landing.

General Douglas MacArthur (center) observes the shelling of
lightly defended Incheon from the U.S. Navy amphibious force
command ship USS Mount McKinley.