CARLATA BRADLEY

On this day in 1986, The Ash-Shiraa, pro-Syrian Lebanese magazine, first
broke the story of U.S. arms sales to Iran to secure the release of seven
American hostages. The story turned into the Iran-Contra affair.

Lt. Col. Oliver North during the ‘Iran Contra Hearings’.

President Reagan (far right) meets with (left to right) Secretary of Defense
Caspar Weinberger, Secretary of State George Shultz, Attorney General
Ed Meese, and Chief of Staff Don Regan in the Oval Office.

Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens was elected
the 30th President of Chile on this day in 1970.

Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun turned 70 in August.

Carol Moseley-Braun became the first African-American woman U.S. senator
on this day in 1992.

Minnesota elected Jesse "The Body" Ventura, a former pro wrestler, as its
governor on this day in 1998.

Jesse Ventura (James George Janos) turned 66 in July.

MIKE GRACIA

Harry S. Truman holding up a copy of the Chicago Tribune with the incorrect headline

Harry S. Truman defeated Thomas E. Dewey for the U.S. presidency on this
day in 1948. The Chicago Tribune published an early edition that had the
headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN (above)." The Truman victory had 
surprised many polls and newspapers.

President Truman (right) on his campaign train whistle-stop.

On this day in 1963, South Vietnamese President Ngo Dihn Diem was
assassinated in a military coup.

Howard Hughes flew his "Spruce Goose," a huge wooden airplane, for eight minutes in California on this day in 1947. It was the plane’s first and only
flight. The "Spruce Goose," nicknamed because of the white-gray color of
the spruce used to build it, never went into production.

The H-4 today is in McMinnville, Oregon, at the Evergreen Air and
Space Museum, about an hour outside of Portland.

On this day in 1959, Charles Van Doren, a game show contestant
on the NBC-TV program "Twenty-One" admitted that he had been
given questions and answers in advance.

Charles Lincoln Van Doren turned 91 in Feb.   

SANDY KOZEL

Martin Luther (left) posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church on this day in 1517. The event marked the start of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.

Martin Luther
(November 10, 1943 – February 18, 1546)

On this day in 1968, in a televised address to the nation five days before the presidential election, President Lyndon Johnson announced on the basis of developments in the Paris peace negotiations, he has ordered the complete cessation of “all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam.” Accordingly, effective November 1, the U.S. Air Force called a halt to the
air raids on North Vietnam known as Operation Rolling Thunder.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated near her residence by
two Sikh security guards on this day in 1984. Her son, Rajiv (below) was
sworn in as prime minister.

Rajiv Gandhi (left) at the funeral of his mother.

Harry Houdini (Erik Weisz)  (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926)

Magician Harry Houdini died of gangrene and peritonitis resulting from a
ruptured appendix on this day in 1926. His appendix had been damaged
twelve days earlier when he had been punched in the stomach by a student unexpectedly. During a lecture Houdini had commented on the strength of
his stomach muscles and their ability to withstand hard blows.

TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street stock
market on this day in 1929.

On this day in 2004, Osama bin Laden (above) addressed the people of the
United States on Al-Jazeera television, excepting responsibility for the
September 11 attacks. Al-Jazeera did not say how it had obtained the tape.

Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the Suez Canal Crisis on this
day in 1956.

Leon Czolgosz (above) the assassin of U.S. President McKinley, was
electrocuted on this day in 1901.

A rendering of President William McKinley (white shirt) being shot by 
anarchist Leon Czolgosz during the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York on September 21, 1901.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with John Glenn
on board. Glenn was 77 years old. In 1962 he became the first American to
orbit the Earth.

ROSS SIMPSON

The first of the Federalist Papers were published in the New York Independent
on this day in 1787. The series of 85 essays, written by Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison and John Jay, were published under the pen name "Publius."

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919)

On this day in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (left) were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize
for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.     

It was on this day in 2004.

John Marwood Cleese 78 years old today.

Monty Python comic actor and writer John Cleese played a role in A Fish
Called Wanda (1988). His most timeless works include Monty Python and
the Holy Grail (1975), The Meaning of Life (1983), and Life of Brian (1979).