In the aftermath of World War II, the General Assembly
of the United Nations voted to establish the United
Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund
(UNICEF), an organization to help provide relief and
support to children living in countries devastated by
the war.
President Harry S. Truman (third from left) in the Oval Office, receiving a report on the work of the United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund.
TIM MAGUIRE
JOHN BELMONT
The first airplane flight over the South Pole was made by U.S. Navy Lt. Comdr. Richard E. Byrd on this day in 1929.
Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr.
(October 25, 1888 – March 11, 1957)
A 1930 documentary film about Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd
and his 1st quest to the South Pole.
TIM MAGUIRE
On this day in 1936, the first issue of the pictorial magazine Life
was published, featuring a cover photo of the Fort Peck Dam’s
spillway by Margaret Bourke-White.
Life actually had its start earlier in the 20th century as a different
kind of magazine: a weekly humor publication, not unlike today’s
The New Yorker in its use of tart cartoons, humorous pieces and
cultural reporting. When the original Life folded during the Great
Depression, the influential American publisher Henry Luce
bought the name and re-launched the magazine as a picture-
based periodical on this day in 1936. By this time, Luce had
already enjoyed great success as the publisher of Time, a
weekly news magazine.
Henry Robinson Luce (April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967)
President John F. Kennedy addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 20, 1963. Kennedy spoke for what
would be his last address to that body.
An optimistic and upbeat President John F. Kennedy suggests that the
Soviet Union and the United States cooperate on a mission to mount an
expedition to the moon. The proposal caught both the Soviets and many
Americans off guard.
In 1961, shortly after his election as president, John F. Kennedy announced
that he was determined to win the “space race” with the Soviets. Since 1957,
when the Soviet Union sent a small satellite–Sputnik–into orbit around the
earth, Russian and and American scientists had been competing to see who
could make the next breakthrough in space travel.
President Kennedy closed his speech by urging, “Let us do the big things together.”
