ED DANAHUE

The American space probe Ranger 7 transmitted pictures of the
moon’s surface on this day in 1964.

The 19 year old from France began making a name for himself in
the American Revolution on this day in 1777.

Thomas Jefferson commissioned this portrait of
Marquis de Lafayette. (Portrait by Joseph Boze).

Sens. Thomas Eagleton (left) and George McGovern celebrate their candidacy for vice president and president, respectively, at the Democratic National Convention in 1972.

Eighteen days after Eagleton was picked to run with McGovern, Eagleton
arrived in Washington to hold a press conference on this day in 1972.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I will not divide the Democratic Party," Eagleton announced. "Therefore, tomorrow morning I will write to the chairman of
the Democratic Party withdrawing my candidacy." His mental health was
the main issue.

The election was held 99 days later. Richard Nixon would defeat George
McGovern in a landslide — the widest margin of victory in the popular
vote in presidential history.

Novelist Joanne Rowling,writing under the pen names J. K. Rowling
and Robert Galbraith, is 53 years young today.

English author J.K. Rowling wrote the bestselling Harry Potter fantasy
books. Her first novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s
Stone (1997), was followed by six equally popular installments, all of
which were made into feature films. She began writing as a child,
creating stories about a rabbit family for her younger sister’s
enjoyment.

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

CAMILLE BOHANNON

England’s Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married on
this day in 1981.

Italy’s leader of the National Fascist Party, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 – April 28, 1945).

From left: Benito Mussolini with the leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf
Hitler.  

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was authorized by the U.S. Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower
(center) signed an act creating the agency on this day in 1958.

Vincent Van Gogh died on this day in 1890.

Self Portrait of Vincent van Gogh.

           
CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1914, World War I officially began when Austria-
Hungary declared war on Serbia.

On this day in 1932, Federal troops forcibly dispersed the "Bonus
Army" of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington,
DC. They were demanding money they were not scheduled to
receive until 1945.

A U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York City’s Empire State Building on this day in 1945. A total 14 people were
killed and 26 were injured.

President John F. Kennedy and wife Jacqueline.

Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis (Bouvier)
(July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994)

Jacqueline was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John
F. Kennedy, and the First Lady of the United States from 1961 until his
assassination in 1963.

On October 20, 1968, she married Aristotle Onassis, a Greek shipping
magnate.  In 1994 she died in her sleep at age 64 from Non-Hodgkin
lymphoma.

Helen Beatrix Potter
(July 28, 1866 – December 22, 1943) 

Beatrix Potter was an English writer, illustrator,
natural scientist, and conservationist best known
for her children’s books featuring animals, such
as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1948, U.S. President Truman signed executive orders
that prohibited discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

Fidel Castro began his revolt against Fulgencio Batista with an unsuccessful attack on an army barracks in eastern Cuba on
this day in 1953. Castro eventually ousted Batista six years later.

Former Cuban political leader and communist revolutionary, Fidel
Castro (center).

It was on this day in 1952.

Eva María Duarte de Perón (May 7, 1919 – July 26, 1952)

Eva Perón was the wife of Argentine President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and
First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death from cancer in 1952. She
was 33.

Evita and Juan Perón in 1947.

George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) 

Shaw was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist, and political
activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics
extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote
more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man
and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan
(1923).

Sir Michael Philip Jagger is 75 today.

Mick Jagger is one of the most influential figures in the history of rock
and roll as frontman of the Rolling Stones, he was inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame with the Stones in 1989. He met future Rolling
Stones guitarist Keith Richards in primary school.

Mick Jagger with The Rolling Stones.