President Harry S. Truman addressed the nation in the first
live, coast-to-coast television broadcast. (AP)

On September 4, 1951, President Harry S. Truman’s opening speech before a conference in San Francisco was broadcast across the nation, marking the
first time a TV program was broadcast from coast to coast. The speech
focused on Truman’s acceptance of a treaty that officially ended America’s
post-World War II occupation of Japan.

According to the CBS television network, the broadcast, via then-state-of-the-
art microwave technology, was picked up by 87 stations in 47 cities.

U.S. President Truman addresses the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (above), gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at the
March on Washington For Jobs and Freedom. More than 200,000 people
attended the civil rights event.

TIM MAGUIRE

SANDY KOZEL

ED DANAHUE

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a
civil rights rally in Washington, DC. on this day in 1963. Over 200,000
people attended.

It was on this day in 1968.

It was on this day in 1955.

J. W. Milam, 36, and half-brother Roy Bryant, 24, confer with one of
their lawyers J.W. Kellum, right, just before pleading innocent, Sept.
6, 1955 at Sumner, MS. They were charged with kidnapping Emmett
Till, a 14-year-old black youth who they claim “made some remarks”
and whistled at Bryant’s wife.

A divorce decree was issued for Britain’s Charles and Princess Diana
on this day in 1996. This was the official end to the 15-year marriage.