SANDY KOZEL

The Mount Vesuvius eruption killed approximately 20,000 people
and much of the area was buried in volcanic ash. 

It happened on this day in 1814.

On this day in 2006.

The planet Pluto was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Pluto’s status was changed due to the IAU’s
new rules for an object qualifying as a planet. Pluto met two of the three
rules because it orbits the sun and is large enough to assume a nearly
round shape. However, since Pluto has an oblong orbit and overlaps the
orbit of Neptune it disqualified Pluto as a planet.
 

On this day in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly
across the U.S. non-stop. The trip from Los Angeles, CA to Newark,
NJ, took about 19 hours in her Lockheed Vega (above).

Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 5B Vega, NR7952, on display at
the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.

On this day in 1989, Pete Rose, the manager of the Cincinnati Reds,
was banned from baseball for life after being accused of gambling
on baseball.

Former Cincinnati Reds manager Pete Rose at the start of a
news conference at Riverfront Stadium after being given his 
lifetime suspension from baseball.

On this day in 1998, President Clinton admitted to having an
improper relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House
intern.

The Klondike gold rush was set off by George Carmack (below) who
discovered gold on Rabbit Creek in Alaska.

George Washington Carmack,
from California.

Robert Fulton’s "North River Steam Boat" (known as the "Clermont") began heading up New York’s Hudson River on its successful round-
trip to Albany on this day in 1807.

Robert Fulton 
(11-14-1765 – 2-24-1815

It happened on this day in 1987.

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess 
(April 26, 1894 – August 17, 1987) 

Robert Anthony De Niro is 74 years old today.

Legendary actor Robert De Niro won an Academy Award for Best Actor for
his role as Jake LaMotta in the 1980 boxing film Raging Bull and an Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in the 1974
classic The Godfather Part II.

2001

ROSS SIMPSON

The destruction along Main Street in Johnstown, Pa., following the collapse of the South Fork Dam killing 2,209 people on this day in
1889.

 Walter "Walt" Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) 

American poet Walt Whitman is best known for his collections Leaves of Grass
and Drum-Taps. His 1865 poem "O Captain! My Captain!" was written on the
occasion of the death of Abraham Lincoln. He dropped out of school at the
age of eleven and, to support his family, worked as a law office assistant and
a newspaper apprentice.

It was on this day in 2003.

Serial bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph (C) is escorted from
the Cherokee County Jail for a hearing in federal court.

Clinton Eastwood Jr. is 87 years old today. He was born in San
Francisco, California.

Clint Eastwood from The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (1966).

Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry (1971).

Clint Eastwood worked as a lifeguard, a caddy, and a grocery clerk while growing
up. He became a household name after playing Rowdy Yates on the long-running
CBS-TV Western series Rawhide (1959 – 1965).

The newly developed 648-acre complex called Vanport before the
flood. It was the largest public housing project in the United States.

It was on this day, Memorial Day in 1948, the Columbia River forced it’s way
through an embankment that had served as a dike and rushed into a local
shipbuilding housing project called Vanport. The flood killed 15 people and 
left 18,000 homeless when the community vanished in just one day. 

The area today is called Delta Park, along the Columbia River in Portland,
Oregon’s northern edge, a location of public parks, nature preserves and
sports complexes.

Vanport, Oregon                                                     (Oregon Historical Society)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

                           
                             Harry Randall Truman
                             (October 30, 1896 – May 18, 1980)

U.S. Supreme Court of 1896.

Pope Saint John Paul II (Karol Józef Wojtyła)
(May 18, 1920 – April 2, 20005)

Pope Paul II was the second longest-serving pope in history who
was the leader of the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. He was
one of the most travelled world leaders in history, visiting 129
countries during his pontificate and helping end Communist rule
in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. He was one of
the most influential leaders of the 20th century.