On this day in 1962, the Soviet Union exchanged captured U.S. U2 pilot Francis Gary Powers (left) for the Soviet spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel (right) being held by the United States.
On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
On this day in 1968, "Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In", debuted on NBC television and aired until March 12, 1973. The program was ranked number 42 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
On this day in 1831, Charles Darwin (above) set out on a voyage to the Pacific aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s discoveries during the voyage helped him form the basis of his theories on evolution.
The British naval vessel HMS Beagle.
James Barrie’s play "Peter Pan" premiered in London on this day in 1904.
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet (May 9, 1860 – June 19, 1937)
Under the Indian Ocean, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake sent 500-mph waves across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal on this day in 2004. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Sumatra, Thailand and India.
On this day in 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, CO. It was reported in September 2016 that the investigation into JonBenét’s death continues to be an active homicide case, per Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa.
Patsy Ramsey and her husband John Ramsey, parents of JonBenet.
John Mark Karr, 41, was being charged by police for child porn in California when out of nowhere, he confessed to killing JonBenet, but his DNA didn’t match the DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey, and he wasn’t charged with her death.
In Cape Town, South Africa on this day in 1967, a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Christian Barnard (above), performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. Washkansky only lived 18 days.
Louis Waskhansky after undergoing the world’s first successful heart transplant.
On this day in 1964 the Free Speech Movement on the Berkeley campus of the University of California culminated with the arrest of some 800 student demonstrators.
Mario Savio, leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, speaks to assembled students on the campus at the University of California, Berkeley.
Effigy of Governor Pat Brown hanging outside an off- campus student resident hall after the December 3rd arrests.
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is 70 years old today.
Rock ‘n’ roll performer “Ozzy” Osbourne gained fame as the lead singer of Black Sabbath and became known as the Prince of Darkness and the Godfather of Heavy Metal.