CARLATA BRADLEY

Jefferson Davis died in New Orleans on this day in 1889. He was
the first and only president of the Confederate States of America
and the highest ranking confederate leader of the South.

On this day in 1957, America’s first attempt at putting a satellite into
orbit failed when the Vanguard TV-3 launch vehicle lost thrust after
lift-off and exploded on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral, FL. The
launch was in response to the Soviet Union’s orbiting of Sputnik l.

ED DANAHUE

On this day in 1938, Orson Welles’ "The War of the Worlds" aired on
CBS radio. The belief that the realistic radio dramatization was a live news event about a Martian invasion caused panic among listeners.

Welles takes questions from reporters at a press conference the day
after the broadcast, on October 31, 1938. He told them that no one connected with the broadcast had any idea it would cause panic.

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

TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street
stock market on this day in 1929.

A crowd of people gather outside the New York Stock Exchange following the Crash of 1929.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with
John Glenn on board. Glenn was 77 years old at the time. In 1962
he became the first American to orbit the Earth.

The crew of the Space Shuttle Discovery (front row) Payload
Specialist Chiaki Mukai and Mission Commander Curt Brown;
Payload Specialist John Glenn; (C) and Mission Specialist
Pedro Duque depart the Operations & Checkout building and
head to the Space Shuttle Discovery to begin their mission
into space from the Kennedy Space Center, FL.

John Glenn (left) and Stephen Oswald sitting in the flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery.

CARLATA BRADLEY

In London on this day in 2003, the last commercial supersonic
Concorde flight landed.

"The Last Touchdown." (With British: ‘Union Jack’ Flag & American: ‘Stars & Stripes’ Flag.)

On this day in 2002, The D.C. Sniper suspects were caught at
Myersville rest stop. Law enforcement officers search the car
that John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo were in when
police arrested them at the rest stop along I-70.  

John Allen Muhammad and John Lee Malvo.

"The Bushmaster rifle used by convicted sniper John Allen
Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo is seen at the Montgomery
County Judicial Center after it was entered into evidence
during the murder trial.

The United Nations officially came into existence on this day in 1945, when representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the
United Nations Conference on International Organization to draw
up the United Nations Charter.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik I into orbit around the Earth on
this day in 1957. Sputnik was the first manmade satellite to enter
space. It fell out of orbit on January 4, 1958.

The rocket that carried Sputnik 1, is shown on the launch pad.

The ‘Great Stone Face’ in 1925.

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

Buster Keaton was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark
was physical comedy with a consistent deadpan expression, earning him
the nickname "The Great Stone Face".  Critic Roger Ebert wrote of Keaton’s "extraordinary period from 1920 to 1929, [when] he worked on a series of
films that make him, arguably, the greatest actor–director in the history of
the movies". His career declined with a loss of his artistic independence
when hired by MGM studios, a divorce and alcoholism. He recovered in 
the 1940s, remarried, and revived his career to a degree as an honored
comic performer for the rest of his life, earning an Academy Honorary 
Award.

1924

1926

1928