CAMILLE
BOHANNON

In 1904, more than 1,000 people died when fire erupted aboard
the steamboat General Slocum in New York’s East River. In
1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an act making
the National Guard part of the U.S. Army in the event of war
or national emergency.

The excursion boat General Slocum lies beached off Hell
Gate in New York City’s East River, following a fire and
resulting panic. The disaster cost the lives of 1,030
mostly German immigrants, June 15, 1904. (AP)

Jim Seals was a one-half member of the American soft rock band
Seals and Crofts who are world-famous for their hits like summer
Breeze and Diamond girl. Jim Seals, half of the 1970s band Seals
and Crofts, died at the age of 80. Seals, half of the ‘Summer
Breeze’ duo Seals & Crofts (below). 

Ray Charles Robinson Sr. 
(September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004)

Singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer Ray Charles is regarded
as one of the most iconic and influential singers ever, and he was
often referred to by contemporaries as "The Genius". Among
friends and fellow musicians he preferred being called "Brother
Ray". Charles was blinded during childhood, possibly due to
glaucoma.

Charles pioneered the soul music genre during the 1950s by
combining blues, jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel styles
into the music he recorded for Atlantic Records

Tom Jones (Sir Thomas Jones Woodward)

The singing career of Tom Jones began with a string of top-ten
hits in the mid-1960s. He has toured regularly, with appearances
in Las Vegas (1967–2011). Jones’s voice has been described by
AllMusic as a "full-throated, robust baritone"

Gladys Maria Knight is a singer/songwriter,actress,
businesswoman,  and author. A seven-time Grammy
Award–winner. Knight is known  for the hits she
recorded during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with       
her group The Pips, which also included her brother
Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins William Guest
and Edward Patten.