SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had
been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case
(Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion. The Court ruled, in a 7-2 decision, that
a woman’s right to choose an abortion was protected by the privacy rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

This is a 1972 photo of the United States Supreme court who decided on Roe
V. Wade. From left, front row : Associate Justice Potter Stewart; William O. Douglas;Chief Justice Warren Berger, Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
and Byron A. White. Back row: Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.;Thurgood 
Marshall; Harry A. Blackmun; and William H. Rehnquist. (AP)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973)

Lyndon Johnson, often referred to by the initials LBJ, was an American
politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from
1963 to 1969. Formerly the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963, he
assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy.

TIM MAGUIRE

Shortly after midnight on August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales (above)—
affectionately known as "the People’s Princess"—died in a car crash in Paris
at the age  of 36.  Her boyfriend, the Egyptian-born socialite Dodi Fayed, and
the driver of the car, Henri Paul, died as well.

Princess Diana was one of the most popular public figures in the world. Her
death was met with a massive outpouring of grief. Mourners began visiting Kensington Palace immediately, leaving bouquets at the home where the
princess, also known as Lady Di, would never return. Piles of flowers
reached some 30 feet from the palace’s gate (below).

CAMILLE
BOHANNON

On this day in 1984 ~

Democratic presidential candidate Walter F. Mondale (right) named U.S. Rep.
Geraldine A. Ferraro of New York (left) to be his running mate. Ferraro was
the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket.

Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale turned 91 in January.

Geraldine Anne "Gerry" Ferraro (August 26, 1935 – March 26, 2011)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

During the U.S. Civil War, the first day’s fighting at Gettysburg began
on this day in 1863 between Union and Confederate forces.The battle involved the largest number of casualties of the entire war, often
described as the war’s turning point.

The battle was fought near the southern border of Pennsylvania in
and around the town of Gettysburg.