CARLATA BRADLEY

John Glenn made space history on this day in 1962 when he orbited
the world three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes. He became the first American to orbit the Earth. He was aboard the Friendship 7
Mercury capsule. Glenn witnessed the Devil’s Cigarette Lighter
while in flight.

In West Warwick, RI on this day in 2003, 100 people were killed
and more than 230 were injured when fire destroyed the nightclub,
The Station. The fire started with sparks from a pyrotechnic display
being used by Jack Russel’s Great White. Ty Longley, guitarist for 
the band, was one of the victims in the fire.

American Tara Lipinski, at age 15, became the youngest gold
medalist in winter Olympics history when she won the ladies’
figure skating title at Nagano, Japan on this day in 1998.
 

Tara Kristen Lipinski will be 36 on June 10.

Actor Sidney Poitier is 91 years old today.

1963

1967

BRIAN THOMAS

Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), the Big Bopper (28) and pilot
Roger Peterson died in a plane crash in Iowa on this day in 1959.

Crash site memorial north of Clear Lake, Iowa.

The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made
by the Soviet space vehicle Luna 9 (above) on this day in 1966.

Eileen Marie Collins is a retired NASA astronaut and a retired United States
Air Force colonel. A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins was the
first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle on this day
in 1995 aboard STS-63. She was awarded several medals for her work. She
has logged 38 days 8 hours and 20 minutes in outer space. Collins retired
on May 1, 2006, to pursue private interests.

On this day in 2003, Phillip Harvey Spector became notorious for the murder of the actress Lana Clarkson (below). He was convicted of
murder in second degree.

Recently released prison mugshots of Phil Spector (AP).

Hundreds of people were feared drowned in the Red Sea on this day
in 2006 after an Egyptian ferry carrying 1,400 passengers and crew
sank in rough weather in one of the worst shipping disasters in the
world. Rescuers found at least 200 survivors in lifeboats and were
brought ashore.

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978)

Norman Rockwell was a 20th-century American author, painter and illustrator
whose works have a broad popular appeal in the U.S. for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations that
depict everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over
nearly five decades.

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
(February 3, 1809 – November 4, 1847)

Born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. His best-known works include his Overture and incidental music for A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, and the Italian Symphony.

MIKE GRACIA

Explorer I was put into orbit around the earth on this day in 1958. It
was the first U.S. earth satellite.

From left: William Picketing, James Van Allen, and German scientist Wernher von Braun hold a model of Explorer 1.

On this day in 2001, a Scottish court in the Netherlands convicted
one Libyan )above) and acquitted a second in the bombing of Pan
Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that occurred in 1988.

On this day in 1945, Private Eddie Slovik became the only U.S.
soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion.

Norman Kingsley Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007)

Norman Mailer was a novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film-maker,
actor, and political activist. His novel The Naked and the Dead, published
in 1948 brought him fame. His best-known work is widely considered to
be The Executioner’s Song (1979) winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction
and Armies of the Night won the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction and the
National Book Award.

Franz Peter Schubert (January 31, 1797 – November 19, 1828)

Austrian composer was extremely prolific during his lifetime, which was only
31 years. His work consists of over 600 secular vocal works, seven complete
symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large amount of
chamber and piano music. Schubert is ranked among the greatest composers
of the late Classical and early Romantic eras and is one of the most frequently
performed composers of the early 19th century.

Franz Schubert at the piano by Rudolf Klingsbögl.

Buzz Aldrin (Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.) was born in Glen Ridge,
New Jersey.

As the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, he was one of the first two
humans to land on the Moon, and the second person to walk on 
it. He set foot on the Moon, on July 21, 1969,  following mission
commander Neil Armstrong.

ED DONAHUE

From the White House, President George H.W. Bush announced the
start of Operation Desert Storm on this day in 1991. The operation
was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.

Space Shuttle Columbia was launched on this day in 2003. It was
destroyed during re-entry on February 1 and all seven astronauts
on board were killed.

Prohibition went into effect in the United States on this day in 1920.

The Shah of Iran and his family fled Iran for Egypt on this day in 1979.

On this day in 1964, the musical "Hello Dolly!" opened at the St.
James Theatre in New York City.