A piece of aluminum debris recovered in 1991

A fragment of Amelia Earhart’s lost aircraft has been identified to a high degree
of certainty for the first time ever since her plane vanished over the Pacific Ocean
on July 2, 1937, in a record attempt to fly around the world at the equator.

New research strongly suggests that a piece of aluminum aircraft debris recovered
in 1991 (above) from Nikumaroro, an uninhabited atoll in the southwestern Pacific republic of Kiribati, does belong to Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed Electra.

The search for Amelia Earhart is about to continue in the pristine waters of a tiny uninhabited island, Nikumaroro, between Hawaii and Australia.

According to researchers at The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has long been investigating the last, fateful flight taken by Earhart
77 years ago, the aluminum sheet is a patch of metal installed on the Electra during
the aviator’s eight-day stay in Miami, which was the fourth stop on her attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

Amelia Earhart waving from the twin-engine Lockheed Electra before
taking off from LA on March 10, 1937.

Marcia A. Strassman (April 28, 1948 – October 25, 2014)

(AP) – Marcia Strassman, who played Gabe Kaplan’s wife, Julie,
on the 1970s sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter," has died.

Strassman’s sister, Julie, confirmed her death to the Associated
Press.

Strassman died at her Sherman Oaks, California, home on Friday
after battling breast cancer for seven years.

Strassman had numerous roles on television and in film during her
five-decade career.

She played nurse Margie Cutler on the first season of "M.A.S.H."
before her breakout role in "Welcome Back, Kotter."

Marcia Strassman and Gabe Kaplan starred in "Welcome Back, Kotter”
on ABC television from September 1975 to June 1979.

John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014)

(AP) – British musician Jack Bruce, best known as the bass player and
vocalist of the power blues trio Cream, died Saturday of liver disease 
at his home in Suffolk, England.

Bruce was one of the top musicians of the late 1960s, when Cream
played its unique psychedelic blues tunes to packed houses in England
and the United States.

This single peaked for three weeks at #4 on the Billboard pop singles chart
in December 1967. It became the Miracles highest charting popular single
since "Shop Around". The song also topped the Billboard Black Singles
Chart and was a million-selling hit for The Miracles, their sixth overall.

Elizabeth Peña (September 23, 1959 – October 14, 2014)

LOS ANGELES (AP) –  Elizabeth Pena, the versatile actress who
shifted between dramatic roles in such films as "Lone Star" and
comedic parts in TV shows like "Modern Family," has died.

Pena’s manager, Gina Rugolo, said Wednesday the Cuban-
American actress died Tuesday in Los Angeles of natural causes
after a brief illness. No other details were provided. She was a
founding member of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors.

Pena in the 1987 film La Bamba