TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1951, President Harry S.Truman (above) addressed the 
Nation to announce the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur as 
head of United Nations forces in Korea.

From left: President Harry S.Truman shakes hands with General
Douglas MacArthur at the Wake Island Conference in 1950.

Napoleon was forced to abdicate his throne on this day in 1814. The allied European nations had marched into Paris on March 30,

During World War II on this day in 1945, American soldiers liberated
the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald in Germany.

A group of survivors in Buchenwald at liberation.

Free Inmates of the concentration camp Buchenwald near Weimar, Germany, march to receive treatment at an American hospital after
the camp was liberated.

On this day in 1979, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda
as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon
that was disrupted when an explosion crippled the spacecraft. The astronauts did return safely.

From left to right are mission commander Jim Lovell, command
module pilot John Swigert and lunar module pilot Fred W. Haise.

The crewmembers of Apollo 13 step aboard the USS Iwo Jima
following splashdown and recovery operations in the south
Pacific Ocean on April 17, 1970.

SANDY KOZEL

At Appomattox Court House, Virginia on this day in 1865, General Robert E.
Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant
in the parlor of Wilmer McClean’s home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep
their side arms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The
four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops.

On this day in 2003, Saddam Hussein’s statue is toppled in Baghdad.

NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts
on this day in 1959.

On this day in 1939, Marian Anderson sang a landmark 1939
concert at the Lincoln Memorial, and blazed a trail for other
black classical singers.

More than 75,000 people come to the Lincoln Memorial on that
Easter Sunday to hear Anderson. She had been scheduled to
sing at Washington’s Constitution Hall, but the Daughters of
the American Revolution, a political organization that helped
manage the concert hall, denied her the right to perform
because of her race. Instead, and at the urging of Eleanor
Roosevelt who had resigned the DAR in protest of their
decision, Marian performed a free open air-concert at the
Lincoln Memorial.

Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897 – April 8, 1993)

Britain’s Prince Charles with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall acknowledges the crowd at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in England following their wedding on this day in 2005.

The Official Wedding photograph of Prince Charles and Camilla
with Prince Harry, Prince William, Laura and Tom Parker Bowles.

On this day in 1974, Mariner 10, the U.S. space probe became the
first spacecraft to reach the planet Mercury. It had been launched
on November 3, 1973. Mariner 10 was the first spacecraft to return
high-resolution digital color images.

A photomosaic of Mercury images taken by Mariner 10, tinted to approximate the appearance of Mercury.

BRIAN THOMAS

Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), the Big Bopper (28) and pilot
Roger Peterson died in a plane crash in Iowa on this day in 1959.

Crash site memorial north of Clear Lake, Iowa.

The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made
by the Soviet space vehicle Luna 9 (above) on this day in 1966.

Eileen Marie Collins is a retired NASA astronaut and a retired United States
Air Force colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the
first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle on this day
in 1995 aboard STS-63. She was awarded several medals for her work. She
has logged 38 days 8 hours and 20 minutes in outer space. Collins retired
on May 1, 2006, to pursue private interests.

On this day in 2003, Phillip Harvey Spector became notorious for the murder of the actress Lana Clarkson (below). He was convicted of
murder in second degree.

Recently released prison mugshots of Phil Spector (AP).

Hundreds of people were feared drowned in the Red Sea on this day
in 2006 after an Egyptian ferry carrying 1,400 passengers and crew
sank in rough weather in one of the worst shipping disasters in the
world. Rescuers found at least 200 survivors in lifeboats and were
brought ashore.

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978)

Norman Rockwell was a 20th-century American author, painter and illustrator
whose works have a broad popular appeal in the U.S. for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations that
depict everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over
nearly five decades.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
(February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847)

Born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, and the Italian Symphony.

CARLATA BRADLEY

NASA’s space shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the
Earth’s atmosphere on this day in 2003. All seven astronauts on
board were killed.

This picture was taken by Eddie Adams in Saigon on February 1,
1968, the second day of North Vietnam’s Tet offensive. It captures
the summary execution of ­Nguyễn Văn Lém by Brigadier General
Nguyễn Ngoc Loan, chief of the South Vietnam police.

Eddie Adams (June 12, 1933 – September 18, 2004)

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (center) was welcomed in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile on this day in 1979.

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960)

Often referred to as "The King of Hollywood", Clark Gable began his
career as a stage actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between
1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. The following year, he landed his first
leading his first leading Hollywood role and over the next three decades
he became a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures.

1939
 

1961