The "Telstar" communications satellite (above) sent the first live television broadcast to Europe.
The first public images beamed from New York to the Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station in Cornwall (above) on July 23 should have been of President John F Kennedy, but because of a delay in the United States viewers were first treated to footage of a baseball game which was being shown on US television. The satellite was used for several television demonstrations before going out of service on February 21 the following year.
Control staff at the British Goonhilly Earth Station in Cornwall.
On this day in 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. became the first men to walk on the moon.
Neil Alden Armstrong Buzz Aldrin (Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.)
On this day in 1976, America’s Viking I robot spacecraft made a successful landing on Mars.
A Viking lander being tested in the Mojave Desert prior to launch.
On this day in 1944, Nazi Germany’s Adolf Hitler cheats death as a bomb planted in a briefcase goes off, but fails to kill him. Hitler (second from left) Shows Mussolini the Destroyed Barracks at "The Wolfschanze" shortly after the assassination attempt.
Mountaineer Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (July 20, 1919 – January 11, 2008)
Musician Carlos Santana is 71 years old today.
Guitarist Carlos Santana blended rock with Latin American music and fronted Santana. He won the Best Rock Album and the Album of the Year Grammys for Supernatural, two of the eight total Grammys he won in 2000.
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), the official United States policy on gays serving in the military was announced by President Bill Clinton (below). It allowed closeted members of the military to serve, while prohibiting those in the military who were openly gay to serve. Prior to “don’t ask, don’t tell,” there had been an outright ban on gays in the military.
Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit on this day in 1969.
Daedalus Crater was one of the sights seen as Apollo 11’s command module passed over the far side of the moon.
Baseball’s career hit leader Pete Rose (left) was sentenced on this day in 1990 to five months in a Federal correctional institution for filing false income-tax returns. The sentence did not permit parole, so Rose would serve the full term.
Peter Edward Rose Sr. also known by his nickname "Charlie Hustle", turned 77 on April 14.
A total 55 countries joined the boycott of the opening ceremony in Moscow which began on this day in 1980.
A drawing of the execution of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.
The room in the Ipatiev House, Yekaterinburg, where the Russian royal family was brutally murdered.
Disneyland opened in Anaheim, CA. on this day in 1955.
Disneyland theme park is now divided into 8 extravagantly themed lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Mickey’s Toontown, Frontierland, Critter Country, New Orleans Square and Adventureland.
Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966)
Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza resigned and fled to Miami, Florida in exile on this day in 1979.
Somoza talks to the press after fleeing to safety in Miami.
An Apollo spaceship (left) docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit on this day in 1975. It was the first link up between the U.S. and Soviet Union.
It was on this day in 1961.
Coltrane’s first recordings were made when he was a sailor.
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967)
John Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer, also known as "Trane". Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career,Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes and was later at the forefront of free jazz. He died of liver cancer at a Hospital in New York on July 17, 1967, at the age of 40.
On this day in 1789, the French Revolution began when Parisians stormed the Bastille prison and released seven prisoners inside.
Outlaw “Billy The Kid” (William H. Bonney) was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett (below) on this day in 1881.
Richard Benjamin Speck (December 6, 1941 – December 5, 1991)
Richard Speck murdered student nurses in Chicago (below) on the night’s of July 13–14, 1966.
Guarded by detectives, Corazon Amurao arrives at the courthouse in Peoria to testify as the state’s chief witness against mass murderer Richard Speck on April 5, 1967.
The American space probe Mariner 4 flew by Mars, and sent back photographs of the planet (below) on this day in 1965.
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967)
singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie was one of the most significant figures in American folk music; his songs, including social justice songs, such as "This Land Is Your Land", have inspired several generations both politically and musically. He wrote hundreds of political, folk, and children’s songs, along with ballads and improvised works.
Guthrie died of complications of Huntington’s disease on October 3, 1967. By the time of his death, his work had been discovered by a new audience, introduced to them through Dylan, Pete Seeger, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, his ex-wife Marjorie and other new members of the folk revival, and his son Arlo (below).
