ED DANAHUE

After fire destroyed his well two months after it found oil along
Oil Creek, Pennsylvania, Edwin L. Drake rebuilt at the original
site. Drake, right, stands with his friend Peter Wilson of Titusville.

The modern United States receives its crowning star when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the
Union as the 50th state (above). The president also issued an order
for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows:
five six-star rows and four five-star rows. The new U.S. flag became
official July 4, 1960.

Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. is 78 today.

On August 13, 1981, at his California home Rancho del Cielo (above),
Ronald Reagan signs the Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA), a
package of tax and budget reductions that set the tone for his
administration’s trickle-down economic policy.

During his campaign for the White House in 1980, Reagan argued
on behalf of “supply-side economics,” the theory of using tax
cuts as incentives for individuals and businesses to work and
produce goods (supply) rather than as an incentive for consumers
to buy goods (demand)..

CAMILLE BOHANNON