The modern United States receives its crowning star when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the
Union as the 50th state (above). The president also issued an order
for an American flag featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows:
five six-star rows and four five-star rows. The new U.S. flag became
official July 4, 1960.

            ROSS SIMPSON

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill
(November 30, 1874 – January 24, 1965)

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the British leader who guided
Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, died in
London at the age of 90.

Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993)

Marshall served as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
of the United States from October 1967 until October 1991
and was the Court’s first African-American justice.

Young Elvis poses for a 1937 family portrait with his parents Vernon
Presley and Gladys Presley in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977)
("THE FINAL SHOW" 26th June 1977 – INDIANAPOLIS)

Known as "The King of Rock n’ Roll," he rose to prominence in
the late 1950s, becoming a legendary presence in cultural history
and the best-selling solo artist in the history of pop. He released
such #1 singles as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," and "Stuck
on You." 

Buddy Holly (Charles Hardin Holley)
(September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959)

Buddy Holly was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who formed The
Crickets and pioneered rock music with the hit "That’ll Be the Day,"
which topped the Billboard U.S. Best Sellers list.

He won a talent contest when he was five years old for singing "Have
You Ever Gone Sailing (Down the River of Memories)."

He died in a plane crash less than two years after his career took off.

Rolling Stone ranked him as the thirteenth "Greatest Artist of All Time."

Buddy Holly & The Crickets on the Ed Sullivan Show, January, 1958.

LTJG Kennedy (standing at far right) with his crew on PT-109 in 1943.

On this day in 1943, future President John F. Kennedy was serving as the
commander of a torpedo boat in the Solomon Islands when his ship was
fired upon by the Japanese navy.   
 

As a young man, Kennedy had desperately wanted to go into the Navy but
was originally rejected because of chronic health problems, particularly a
back injury he had sustained playing football while attending Harvard
University. In 1941, though, his politically connected father used his
influence to get Jack, as he  was called, into the Navy. In 1942,
Kennedy volunteered for PT (motorized torpedo) boat duty in the
Pacific.