ROSS SIMPSON

At 12:18 p.m. et, a terrorist bomb exploded in a parking garage of the World
Trade Center in New York City, leaving a crater 60 feet wide and causing the collapse of several steel-reinforced concrete floors in the vicinity of the blast. Although the terrorist bomb failed to critically damage the main structure of
the skyscrapers, six people were killed, more than 1,000 were injured and
the World Trade Center itself suffered more than $500 million in damage. 

After the attack, authorities evacuated 50,000 people from the buildings,
hundreds of whom were suffering from smoke inhalation. The evacuation
lasted the whole afternoon.

City authorities and the Federal Bureau of Investigation undertook a massive manhunt for suspects, and within days several radical Islamic fundamentalists
were arrested.

On this day in 1987, The Tower Commission rebuked President
Reagan for failing to control his national security staff in the wake
of the Iran-Contra Affair.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1836, Connecticut-born gun manufacturer Samuel
Colt (1814-62) received a U.S. patent for a revolver mechanism
that enabled a gun to be fired multiple times without reloading.

In Hartford, Connecticut, Samuel Colt built the world’s largest private armament factory. The factory was not only the largest, it was the
world’s most advanced manufacturing facility.

On February 25, 1964, underdog Cassius Clay, age 22, defeated champion Sonny Liston in a technical knockout to win the world heavyweight boxing crown. The highly anticipated match took
place in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay, who later became known to
the world as Muhammad Ali, went on to become the first fighter
to capture the heavyweight title three times.

The winners from the 1st Academy Awards.

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 1927 and
1928 and took place on May 16, 1929 during a private dinner held at the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, California. AMPAS president
Douglas Fairbanks hosted the show.

Only 270 guests attended the ceremony that took just 15 minutes.

Douglas Fairbanks presents Janet Gaynor with the
first Academy Award for Best Actress, for her work
in Seventh Heaven. 

Emil Jannings with the first ever Academy Award “Oscar”.

William C. Demille, President Of The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts
And Sciences hands an Oscar to Mary Pickford (with Warner Baxter
and Hans Kraly looking on) at the first ceremony in 1929.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1868, the United States House of Representatives impeached President Andrew Johnson due to his attempt to
dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The U.S. Senate later acquitted Johnson on May 26, 1868.

Edwin McMasters Stanton
(December 19, 1814 – December 24, 1869)

The impeachment trial against President Andrew Johnson opens
in the Senate Chambers.

George T. Brown, sergeant at arms of the Senate (left), serving the summons on President Andrew Johnson.

House Impeachment Managers.

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)