George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985)

“The War of the Worlds”, Orson Welles’s realistic radio drama
of a Martian invasion of Earth, was originally broadcast live on
the CBS network, Sunday evening, October 30, 1938.

Welles was only 23 years old when his Mercury Theater company
decided to update H.G. Wells’ 19th-century science fiction novel
The War of the Worlds for national radio. Despite his age, Welles
had been in radio for several years, most notably as the voice of
“The Shadow” in the hit mystery program of the same name. “War
of the Worlds” was not planned as a radio hoax, and Welles had
little idea of how legendary it would eventually become.

Orson Welles as he was interviewed after the “War of the Worlds” broadcast in 1938. (Daily News)

TIM MIGUIRE

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Buster (Joseph Frank) Keaton
(October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966)

1926…Filmed in Oregon

CAMILLE BOHANNON

Singer Robert Anthony Plant is 73 today.

Plant is best known as the lead singer and lyricist
of the English rock band Led Zeppelin.

The U.S. Congress passed legislation establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency
responsible for coordinating America’s activities in space, on July 29,
1958. NASA has since sponsored space expeditions, both human and
mechanical, that have yielded vital information about the solar system
and universe. It has also launched numerous earth-orbiting satellites
that have been instrumental in everything from weather forecasting to
navigation to global communications.