On this day in 1963, Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby (below) shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald live on national television.
The pistol that Jack Ruby used to kill Lee Harvey Oswald.
It was on November 22, two days before the shooting of Oswald.
On this day in 1971, hijacker Dan Cooper, known as D.B. Cooper, parachuted from a Northwest Airlines 727 over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom money.
On this day in 1978, Cult leader Jim Jones and hundreds of his followers died in a mass murder-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana in South America. It was the largest mass suicide in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until September 11, 2001.
REV. JIM JONES
Shown are bodies of members of the Peoples Temple who died after their leader Jim Jones ordered them to drink Flav-R-Aid laced with cyanide.
Congressman Leo Ryan (above) was among five killed by Temple members at the nearby Port Kaituma airstrip (below).
The first successful sound-synchronized animated cartoon premiered in New York on this day in 1928. It was Walt Disney’s "Steamboat Willie," starring Mickey Mouse.
On this day in 1947, over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California, pilot Chuck Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane and became the first person to break the sound barrier.
Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager turned 95 in February.
The Battle of Hastings occurred in England on this day in 1066. The Norman forces of William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II of England.
Battle Abbey is a partially ruined Benedictine abbey in Battle, East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the site of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St Martin of Tours.
On this day in 1977, singer Bing Crosby died of a heart attack.
singer and actor Bing Crosby was the first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. Crosby won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Father Chuck O’Malley in the 1944 motion picture Going My Way and was nominated for his reprise of the role in The Bells of St. Mary’s opposite Ingrid Bergman the following year.
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Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr.(May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977)
On this day in 1914, Germany declared war on Russia at the start of World War I.
‘A Berlin crowd listens as a German officer reads the Kaiser’s order for mobilization on 1st August 1914′.
Adolf Hitler (second from right) presided over the Olympic games as they opened in Berlin on this day in 1936.
African American Jesse Owens was the star of Berlin, becoming the first American in Olympic track and field history to win four gold medals at a single Games. He won the 100-yard dash, the long jump, 200-yard dash and the 4×100-yard relay.
In Warsaw, Poland, an uprising against Nazi occupation began on this day in 1944. The revolt continued until October 2 when Polish forces surrendered.
German Troops set fire to a village in Poland.
Herman Melville (August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891)
Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. His best known works include Typee (1846), a romantic account of his experiences in Polynesian life, and his whaling novel Moby-Dick (1851).
MTV made its debut at 12:01am on this day in 1981. The first video to be shown was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles.
"Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll". Those were the words TV audiences heard on August 1, 1981 when a brand new channel called Music Television launched.
Marilyn Monroe performed a sultry rendition of "Happy Birthday" for President John F. Kennedy (below). The event was a fund-raiser at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Malcolm X (Malcolm Little) (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965)
Iconic Muslim minister, leader of the Nation of Islam, and human rights activist, Malcom X spoke out against disenfranchisement of African Americans and white supremacy. His autobiography, published shortly after his assassination in 1965, is considered one of the most important nonfiction books of the 20th century.
John and Jacqueline Kennedy.
Aristotle and Jacqueline Onassis.
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis (Bouvier) (July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994)
In Massapequa, NY. on this day in 1992, Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded by Amy Fisher. Fisher was her husband Joey’s teen-age lover.
Amy Elizabeth Fisher will be 44 on August 21.
Mary Jo and her husband Joey Buttafuoco.
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is 73 years old today.
Pete Townshend is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Who. His career with the Who spans over 50 years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the 20th century.
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