ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1978, Cult leader Jim Jones and hundreds of his
followers died in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana
in South America. It was the largest mass suicide in modern
history and resulted in the largest single loss of American
civilian life in a non-natural disaster until September 11, 2001.

Shown are bodies of members of the Peoples Temple who died
after their leader Jim Jones ordered them to drink Flav-R-Aid
laced with cyanide. 

Congressman Leo Ryan (above) was among five killed by Temple members at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip (below).

The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon premiered
in New York on this day in 1928. It was Walt Disney’s "Steamboat
Willie," starring Mickey Mouse.

Walt Disney drawing “Steamboat Willie”.

MIKE GRACIA

Communist East Germany opened its borders, allowing its citizens to travel freely to West Germany on this day in 1989.

On this day in 1965, the great Northeast blackout occurred as
several states and parts of Canada were hit by a series of power
failures lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.

   
TIM MAGUIRE

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson won the election 
on this day in 1960, defeating incumbent Vice President and  
Republican nominee Richard Nixon, who would later go on
to be the 37th President of the United States. This was the
first election in which all fifty states participated, and the
last in which the District of Columbia did not.

Newley elected President John F. Kennedy meets
with Richard M. Nixon following the election.

On this day in 1966, Ronald Reagan was elected to his first term as Governor of California with 57.65% of the vote. He left office in 1975, declining to run for a third term.

On this day in 1940, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt (left) was
reelected president of the United States for a record third time, 
handily defeating his Republican challenger, Thomas Dewey
(right), the governor of New York. 
    
     
     
      
     
      
 

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt won an
unprecedented third term in office.

The U.S. presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The Republican nominee, former Vice President Richard Nixon,
defeated the Democratic nominee, incumbent Vice President
Hubert Humphrey.

After more than a year out of the ring, on this day in 1994, George
Foreman took on the new champ, Michael Moorer, and knocked
him out in the 10th round. With the victory, at the age of 45, he
became the oldest fighter ever to win the heavyweight crown
as well as the boxer with the most time between one world
championship and the next. Foreman ultimately retired in 1997
after compiling an amazing 76-5 career record.

George Edward Foreman turned 69 in January.