At 12:51 EDT on July 24, 1969, Apollo 11, the U.S. spacecraft that
had taken the first astronauts to the surface of the moon, safely
returned to Earth.

The American effort to send astronauts to the moon had its origins
in a famous appeal President John F. Kennedy made to a special
joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961: “I believe this nation
should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is
out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to
Earth.”

Ulysses S. Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885)

On July 23, 1885, just after completing his memoirs, Civil War hero
and former president Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer. He
served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877.

Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx
(October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977)

     
MIKE GRACIA

President Nixon shakes hands with Premier Chou En-lai of
the People’s Republic of China. Nixon’s trip to China was
to seek a “normalization of relations.”

On July 12, 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower (left) became the first president to ride in a helicopter.

Although experimental military helicopters had been tested since
1947, it was not until 10 years later that a president considered
using the new machine for short, official trips to and from the
White House. Eisenhower suggested the idea to the Secret
Service, which approved of the new mode of transportation,
seeing it as safer and more efficient than the traditional
limousine motorcade.

 
The Bell H-13J helicopter pictured on Presidents Day,2018.

SANDY KOZEL

Signing of the Declaration of Independence.