CARLATA BRADLEY

NASA’s space shuttle Columbia exploded while re-entering the
Earth’s atmosphere on this day in 2003. All seven astronauts on
board were killed.

This picture was taken by Eddie Adams in Saigon on February 1,
1968, the second day of North Vietnam’s Tet offensive. It captures
the summary execution of ­Nguyễn Văn Lém by Brigadier General
Nguyễn Ngoc Loan, chief of the South Vietnam police.

Eddie Adams (June 12, 1933 – September 18, 2004)

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (center) was welcomed in Tehran as he ended nearly 15 years of exile on this day in 1979.

William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960)

Often referred to as "The King of Hollywood", Clark Gable began his
career as a stage actor and appeared as an extra in silent films between
1924 and 1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1931. The following year, he landed his first
leading his first leading Hollywood role and over the next three decades
he became a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures.

1939
 

1961

Apollo 17 was the final mission of NASA‘s Apollo program. Launched at
12:33 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on December 7, 1972, with a crew made
up of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans,
and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, it was the last use of Apollo
hardware for its original purpose; after Apollo 17, extra Apollo spacecraft
were used in the Skylab and Apollo–Soyuz programs.

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SANDY KOZEL

The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect on
this day in 1920. The amendment prohibited discrimination on the
basis of sex in the voting booth.

The cause of the Space Shuttle disaster was announced on this day
in 2003.

It was on this day in 1974.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty
could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment." The ruling prompted
states to revise their capital punishment laws.

Israel removed barricades, re-unifying Jerusalem on this day in
1967.

The shuttle Atlantis (bottom) and the Russian space station Mir docked,
forming the largest man-made satellite ever to orbit the Earth on this
day in 1995.

Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002)

Singer Rosemary Clooney came to prominence in the
early 1950s with the song "Come On-a My House". She
received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in
2002.

Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003)

Actress Katharine Hepburn was a leading lady in Hollywood for
more than 60 years. She received four Academy Awards for Best
Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named
by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star of Classic
Hollywood Cinema.

The lift-off of Mercury-Atlas 5 carrying space chimp "Enos" from
Kennedy Space Center.

The NASA Public Affairs Office issued a press release stating "The men in
charge of Project Mercury have insisted on orbiting the chimpanzee as a
necessary preliminary checkout of the entire Mercury program before risking
a human astronaut." prior to the flight.

The craft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down about 200 miles south of
Bermuda.

Enos in his flight couch prior to being put into Mercury capsule.