The space shuttle Discovery took off from Cape Canaveral in Florida on this day in 1988. It was the first manned space flight since the Challenger disaster.
Pope John l was found dead in his Vatican apartment a little over a month in office on this day in 1978. The 65-year-old pontiff, born Albino Lusicni, had apparently died of a heart attack.
Game one on this day in 1954.
Jerry Lee Lewis is 83 today.
Singer-songwriter, and pianist Jerry Lee Lewis, often known by his nickname, The Killer, has been described as "rock & roll’s first great wild man. He was expelled from Southwest Bible Institute for the called “devil’s music”.
Jerry Lee Lewis has been the last living member of the Sun Records Million Dollar Quartet.
The first televised debate between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy took place in Chicago, IL on this day in 1960.
On this day in 1980, the Cuban government abruptly closed Mariel Harbor to end the freedom flotilla of Cuban refugees that began the previous April.
On this day in 1957, the musical "West Side Story" opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on Broadway.
George Jacob Gershwin (September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937)
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin’s compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions Rhapsody in Blue (1924) and An American in Paris (1928) as well as the opera Porgy and Bess (1935).
Thomas Stearns Eliot (September 26, 1888 – January 4, 1965)
T.S. Eliot was a British essayist, publisher, playwright, literary and social critic, and "one of the twentieth century’s major poets".Eliot attracted widespread attention for his poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (1915), which was seen as a masterpiece of the Modernist movement.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2,1973)
On this day in 1970, "NFL Monday Night Football" made its debut on ABC-TV. The game was between the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets. The Browns won 31-21.
The booth team: Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Don Meredith.
Sandra Day O’Connor was confirmed as the first woman to serve as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on this day in 1981. President Ronald (above) made the appointment.
Sandra Day O’Connor turned 87 in March.
Stephen Edwin King is 70 years old today.
Author Stephen King‘s bestselling horror, science fiction, and suspense novels include Carrie, The Shining, Misery, and The Dark Tower series. His numerous literary honors include a Bram Stoker Award, an O. Henry Award, and a National Book Foundation Medal.
William (Bill) James Murray is 67 years old today.
Comedian and actor Bill Murray was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in the 2003 film Lost in Translation. Murray’s best known films include Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day. Prior to his film career, he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1977 to 1980. In his youth, he worked as a golf caddy to fund his high school education. Bill began taking pre-med courses at Regis University in Denver, Colorado, but dropped out.
Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan left Spain on this day in 1519 to find a route to the Spice Islands of Indonesia. Magellan was killed during the trip, but one of his ships eventually made the journey.
On this day in 1958, Martin Luther King, Jr. was signing books at a store in Harlem when a woman stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. The sharp instrument went through his sternum and came close.
King during his hospital stay.
Holocaust survivor and Nazi Hunter Simon Wiesenthal died on this day in 2005. He was 96.
Wiesenthal’s grave marker in Israel.
It was on this day in 1973.
On this day in 1973, singer Jim Croce was killed in a plane crash on his way to Sherman, TX, for a concert. Maury Muehleisen and four others were also killed.
Sophia Loren (Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone) is 83 today.
Italian actress Sophia Loren won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Cesira in the 1962 film Two Women. She voiced the character Mama Topolino in the 2011 Disney feature Cars 2. Before fame, she was a finalist for a beauty pageant in Naples at the age of fourteen.
