President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs
a declaration of war.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer,
sighted Watling Island in the Bahamas. He believed that he had
found Asia while attempting to find a Western ocean route to
India. The same day he claimed the land for Isabella and
Ferdinand of Spain.

Explorer Christopher Columbus. 

The USS Cole bombing was an attack against the United States Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Cole on 12 October 2000, while it was being refueled in Yemen’s Aden harbor. 17 American sailors were
killed and 39 injured in the deadliest attack against a United States
naval vessel since 1987.

Casualties of the USS Cole being Returned To The United States.

On this day in 1960, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev was reported
to have pounded a shoe on his desk during a dispute at a U.N.
General Assembly.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

U.S. military forces attacked a terrorist camp in Afghanistan and a chemical plant in Sudan on this day in 1998. Both targets were
chosen for cruise missile strikes due to their connection with
Osama bin Laden.

In a speech to the nation, President Bill Clinton detailed strikes
against terrorist-related facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan.

On this day in 1968, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations began invading Czechoslovakia to crush the "Prague Spring" liberalization.

Voyager 2 was launched by the United States on this day in 1977 and
aboard was a copper 12 inch phonograph record containing greetings
in dozens of languages, samples of music and sounds of nature.

A photo of the 12 inch copper record that was sent into
space on both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

Robert Anthony Plant is 70 years old today.

Iconic rock star Robert Plant gained fame as the vocalist and songwriter
of the classic rock band Led Zeppelin, known for such hits as "Stairway
to Heaven" and "When the Levee Breaks." He was named the #1 Lead
Singer of All Time by Rolling Stone Magazine in 2011. Plant was once 
training as a chartered accountant, but quit to become part of the
English Midlands blues scene. 

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

It was on this day in 1923.

Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923)

James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876)

The card hand held by Hickok at his death, now
widely known as the "dead man’s hand".

Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head by Jack McCall
on this day in 1876.

Jack McCall (1852 or 1853 – March 1, 1877) was
also known as "Crooked Nose" or "Broken Nose 
Jack".

Hickok’s star on the Texas Trail of Fame in the Fort Worth Stockyards, Texas.

ED DANAHUE

It was on this day in 1975.

On this day in 1965, U.S. President Johnson (center) signed into law Social Security Act that established Medicare and Medicaid. It went
into effect the following year. Former President Harry S. Truman
is seated on the right. 

A photo of Truman’s application form.

Black Tom pier shortly after the explosion.

The Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916, in Jersey City, New Jersey, was an
act of sabotage by German agents to destroy American-made munitions that
were to be supplied to the Allies in World War I.

The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on
this day in 1945. The ship had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian. Only 316 out
of 1,196 men aboard survived the attack.

An artists illustration of the attack on The USS Indianapolis.

Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)

Henry Ford was an American industrialist and a business
magnate, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and the
sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique
of mass production.

Henry Ford with a Model T in Buffalo, New York, in 1921.

Actor Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is 71 years old today.

Bodybuilder, actor, and politician who served as the governor of California
from 2003 to 2011. His best known films include Conan the Barbarian (1982) 
Predator (1987) The Terminator series (beginning in 1984) and Total Recall
(1990). In 1996 he portrayed Howard Langston in the holiday comedy film 
Jingle All the Way.

                
                   1994