In 1962, President Kennedy proclaimed May 15 as National
Peace Officers Memorial Day and the calendar week in which
May 15 falls, as National Police Week.
Established by a joint resolution of Congress in 1962,
National Police Week pays special recognition to
those law enforcement officers who have lost their
lives in the line of duty for the safety and protection
of others. Over one hundred officers are killed in the line of
duty each year. We vow to never forget their
sacrifice and their families sacrifice.
BOULDER, Colo. – A procession was held Monday evening to honor a fallen Boulder police officer who was among 10 killed in a mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers earlier in the day. Eric Talley,
51, was identified during an evening press conference as the police
officer killed in the shooting. Talley was a father of seven and joined
the force in 2010. The suspect, who was not identified, is receiving
medical treatment.
It was on this day in 1968 when a South Carolina civil rights protest turned deadly.
Businessman William Dickson Boyce (1858 – 1929) incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on this day in 1910. According to Scouting magazine, Boyce was completely lost in a thick London fog in 1909 when a boy came up to him and led him to where he wanted to go.
On this day in 2003, NASA’s space shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. All seven astronauts on board were killed.
Helmet found in a field after the space shuttle Columbia disaster.
Memorial at the Columbia Debris Site.
During the Vietnam War on this day in 1968, South Vietnamese National Police Chief Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan executed a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head. The scene was captured in a news photograph shown above.
Vietcong officer Nguyen Van Lem minutes prior to his execution.
Alexander Graham Bell places the first New York to Chicago call in 1892.
The "Star Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key, was adopted as the American national anthem on this day in 1931. The song was originally a poem known as "Defense of Fort McHenry."
The first issue of Time magazine was published on this day in 1923 and featured Speaker Joseph G. Cannon on the cover. The magazine was founded and originally run by Henry Luce (below).
Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967)