John Adams Jr. (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)

On September 27, 1779, the Continental Congress appoints John Adams to
travel to France as minister plenipotentiary in charge of negotiating treaties
of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

Adams had traveled to Paris in 1778 to negotiate an alliance with France,
but had been unceremoniously dismissed when Congress chose Benjamin
Franklin as sole commissioner. Soon after returning to Massachusetts in
mid-1779, Adams was elected as a delegate to the state convention to draw
up a new constitution; he was involved in these duties when he learned of
his new diplomatic commission.

The American flag was flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary
War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Patriot General William Maxwell
ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops. The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington’s main force
near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1965, the United States landed about 3,500 Marines in South Vietnam to defend the U.S. air base at Da Nag. They were the
first American combat troops to land in Vietnam. They joined 23,000 American military advisors already in Vietnam.

As American troops fight their first large scale battles against the
North Vietnamese Army, college students march against the war
in Boston, October 16, 1965.

Joseph Paul DiMaggio (November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999)

Joe DiMaggio was a baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year
career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. He is widely
considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and is perhaps
best known for his 56-game hitting streak (May 15 – July 16, 1941), a record
that still stands. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955 and
was voted the sport’s greatest living player in a poll taken during the
baseball centennial year of 1969.

DiMaggio, a heavy smoker for much of his adult life, was admitted to
Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida, on October 12, 1998,
for lung cancer surgery and remained there for 99 days. He returned to
his home in Hollywood, Florida, on January 19, 1999; he died there at
age 84 on March 8.

DiMaggio’s grave at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Colma, CA.

 
  MIKE GRACIA                                                   

On this day in 1770, a deadly riot called "The Boston Massacre" took place on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between
American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated
to a chaotic, bloody slaughter killing five people. Two British troops 
were later convicted of manslaughter. The conflict energized anti-
Britain sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution.

Patsy Cline (Virginia Patterson Hensley)  
(September 8, 1932 – March 5, 1963)

On this day in 1963, country music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in the crash of their plane, a
Piper Comanche, near Camden, Tennessee, along with pilot Randy Hughes (Cline’s manager). The investigation determined that Hughes,
a non-instrument-rated pilot, attempted visual flight in adverse
weather conditions, resulting in disorientation and subsequent loss
of control.

A Piper Comanche PA-24-180, similar to the one that crashed.

Patsy Cline aircraft crash site, Camden, Tennessee.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1945, 24 Nazi leaders went before an international war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany.

The judges panel during testimony at Nuremberg Trials.

Francisco I. Madero (below) led a revolution that broke out in Mexico
on this day in 1910.

The musical Cabaret opened on this day in 1966 at the Broadhurst Theater for a run of 1,166 performances.

Joel Grey, in the role of master of ceremonies during the "Money
Song" with the ensemble in the original Broadway musical Cabaret.