SANDY KOZEL

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression treaty
on this day in 1939.

It was on this day in 1927, despite worldwide demonstrations in
support of their innocence, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco
and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed for murder.

On April 15, 1920, a paymaster for a shoe company in South
Braintree, Massachusetts, was shot and killed along with his
guard.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti.

Former priest John Geoghan, a notorious pedophile
whose case sparked the clergy molestation scandal 
for 18 months, died on this day in 2003 after being
attacked at the state prison in Shirley.

It was on this day in 1926.

1921

Rudolph Valentino
(Rodolfo Alfonso Raffaello Pierre Filibert Guglielmi)
(May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926)

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

It was on this day in 2005.

On this day in 1996, President Bill Clinton signed legislation that
ended guaranteed cash payments to the poor and demanded work
from recipients.

It was on this day in 1989.

Boris Yeltsin (right) with Mikhail Gorbachev after the failure of the
August 21, 1991 coup.

Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev returns to Moscow from the
Crimea on August 22, 1991 after a hardline coup failed.

It was on this day in 1940.

Nat Turner, a former slave, led a violent insurrection in Virginia on
this day in 1831. He was later executed.

Hawaii became the 50th state on this day in 1959. President Dwight
D. Eisenhower (second from left) also issued the order for the 50
star flag.

After signing Executive Order adding 50th star to US flag, for Hawaii, President Eisenhower (third from left) holds up the new flag.

Kenneth Ray Rogers is 80 years old today. He was born in Houston,
TX.

Country icon Kenny Rogers has sold more than 100 million albums over
the course of his career. His 1970s albums The Gambler and Kenny went
5x platinum and 3x platinum, respectively. In 2013, he was inducted into
the Country Music Hall of Fame.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, the Allies proclaimed V-J Day, victory over
Japan, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

Woodstock began on this day in 1969 at Max Yasqur’s
dairy farm in upstate New York.

Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Napoleon was the Emperor of France who rose to power in the aftermath of
the French Revolution in 1799 and waged war with every major European
power in a series of wars known as the Napoleonic Wars. After a series
of military failures he was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in
1815 and spent the last 6 years of his life in exile on the island of St.
Helena. 

On this day in 1947, India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been
under British rule for about 200 years.

The Omagh bombing was a car bombing that took place on this day
in 1998 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried
out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army,
a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who
opposed the IRA’s ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement.

An aerial view of the devastation caused in Omagh after the bombing.

The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic on
this day in 1914, as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to pass through the canal was
the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon.

A newly expanded Panama Canal in 1016.

"The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. on this day
in 1939. Judy Garland became famous for the movie’s song
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm) (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

It was announced by President Truman on this day in 1945, Japan
had surrendered unconditionally. The surrender ended World War II.

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the 
their  Instrument of Surrender on board USS Missouri as General
Richard K. Sutherland watches, September 2, 1945.

It was on this day in 2003.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into
law on this day in 1935. The act created unemployment insurance
and pension plans for the elderly.

On this day in 1969, British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to
intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman
Catholics.

Lech Walesa

Stephen Glenn Martin is 73 years old today. Born in Waco, Texas.

Comedian, actor and musician Steve Martin is best known films include 
The Jerk (1979), Father of the Bride (1991), Roxanne (1987), Three Amigos
(1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 
(1987). He hosted the Academy Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2010 and he has
hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live on a number of occasions. 

While he has played banjo since an early age, and included music in his
comedy routines from the beginning of his professional career, he has
increasingly dedicated his career to music since the 2000s, acting less
and spending much of his professional life playing banjo, recording,
and touring with various bluegrass acts, including Earl Scruggs.