William (Billy) Martin Joel is a singer, pianist, and songwriter. He
has had a successful career as a solo artist since the 1970s.

His 1985 compilation album, Greatest Hits – Volume I & Volume II,
is one of the best-selling albums in the United States.

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the
Austro-Hungarian throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo along with his
wife, Duchess Sophie. With tensions already running high among Europe’s
powers, the assassination precipitated a rapid descent into World War I.

Franz Ferdinand, archduke of Austria, and his wife Sophie riding
in an open carriage at Sarajevo shortly before their assassination.

The assassin was Gavrilo Princip, a 19-
year-old peasant.

David Louis Bartholomew (December 24, 1918 – June 23, 2019)

(AP) – Dave Bartholomew, a giant of New Orleans music and a rock n’ roll
pioneer who with Fats Domino co-wrote and produced such classics as
"Ain’t That a Shame," ”I’m Walkin,’" and "Let the Four Winds Blow," has
died.

Bartholomew, a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, died Sunday at a hospital in a New Orleans suburb.

His eldest son, Dave Bartholomew Jr., confirmed the news to AP saying:
"Daddy was 100 years and six months old. It was just that time."

From left: Fats Domino and Dave Bartholomew.

SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1776, Gen. George Washington and his troops crossed
the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at
Trenton, NJ.

At The Battle of Trenton, after a brief struggle, nearly the entire
Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to American
forces.

The above historical marker is near the very spot the Continental
Army soldiers under George Washington’s command would have disembarked from their boats to begin their march to Trenton.

"Silent Night" was performed for the first time, at the Church of St. Nikolaus (above) in Oberndorff, Austria on this day in 1818.

Shown above is the only surviving autograph of the song by Joseph Mohr (below).

Josephus Franciscus Mohr
(December 11, 1792 – December 4, 1848)

Josephus Mohr was an Austrian Roman Catholic
priest and lyricist.  He wrote the lyrics of the
Christmas carol (English: ‘Silent Night’).

ROSS SIMPSON

The Reichstag, Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, was set
afire on this day in 1933. The Nazis accused Communist for the
fire.

Firemen surveying the ruins following the Reichstag fire.

President George H.W. Bush announced live on television on this
day in 1991, "Kuwait is liberated."

    1963

Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor  (27 February 1932 – 23 March 2011)

Better known as Liz Taylor, she was a glamorous movie actress who
starred in numerous films during Hollywood’s Golden Age. She was
in 11 films with Richard Burton, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? (1966). She made her motion picture debut at the age of nine
in Universal’s There’s One Born Every Minute (1942). 

Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003)

Fred Rogers was a popular television personality, musician, puppeteer,
writer, and producer, as well as a Presbyterian minister. He was famous
for creating, hosting, and composing the theme music for the educational preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (1968–2001),
which featured his kind-hearted, grandfatherly personality, and the
directness to his young audiences.