Natalee Holloway

 On the night of May 30, 2005, recent high school graduate Natalee Holloway was at Carlos 'n Charlie's, a restaurant and bar in Oranjestad, Aruba, celebrating one last night of partying with her friends before wrapping up their trip. This is the spot where she was last seen by these friends, and has remained missing since. Countless investigations have yielded no trace of her to this day.  

On January 12, 2012, at the request of her father, Natalee was declared legally dead. 

Hume-Fogg Academic High School

Hume-Fogg Academic High School, located in Nashville, TN, is the nation's oldest operating high school. Opened in 1855 as Hume High School, it was Nashville's first. The city's second high school, Fogg High School, was built directly adjacent to Hume in 1875. In 1912, the two schools merged and continue to this day to provide quality education to its' students.  The school was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places on October 16, 1974.

Max Yasgur

From August 15 thru 18, 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival took place on a Bethel, NY dairy farm. Owner Max Yasgur, pictured above, leased his property to promoters for a reported $10,000. 

Yasgur's dairy farm.

In 1984, this comemorative marker was erected at the Woodstock site.

Mysterious Disappearance

On the evening of January 23, 2006, Jennifer Kesse left her place of employment in Ocoee, FL around 6 pm. Around 10 pm she made several phone calls, the last one being to her boyfriend. He would be the last person to speak to her prior to her disappearance. Despite several leads, Jennifer remains missing to this day.

James Meredith

Born in 1933, James Meredith, pictured here in 1962, was the first African-American admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi. 

Where It All Began

On July 2, 1962, retailer Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store, pictured above, in Rogers, Arkansas.  The company now operates 10,000 stores in 27 countries, serving 200 million customers  weekly.

Operation Crossroads

On July 25, 1946, the United States conducted Operation Crossroads, a nuclear test in the lagoon of tiny Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. Many decommissioned ships from the US Navy fleet were purposely placed in the lagoon for the test in order to study any effects a nuclear bomb would have on them. In preparation for the test, residents of the atoll were relocated to another island, and Bikini remains uninhabited to this day as a result of unsafe radiation levels.

Calling Card

On April 23, 1972, Apollo 16 Lunar Module pilot Charles Duke left his family picture, which was sealed in a clear plastic bag, on the surface of the Moon.

Together For The Last Time

The RMS Olympic is pictured entering dry dock in Belfast on March 6, 1912 for repairs. In order to accommodate Olympic, her sister ship, the RMS Titanic (right) was moved. This would be the last time the vessels would be seen together. The very next month, while on her maiden voyage, Titanic would collide with an iceberg, sending her to the bottom of the North Atlantic.

The Boston Molasses Disaster

On January 15, 1919, a massive storage tank at the Purity Distilling Company in Boston's North End filled with 2,300,000 gallons of molasses exploded, injuring 21 people and killing 150. The high pressure from the explosion created an 8 to 15 foot wave which traveled at 35 miles per hour destroying anyone and anything in its' path. Local folklore states that on a hot summer day one can still smell the molasses.

The Dakota: 1912

The Dakota Park Apartments, located in New York's Central Park West and West 42nd Street, is pictured in 1912. Built in 1880, it is perhaps best remembered today as the place where famed Beatle John Lennon was shot to death on December 8, 1980. In addition to Lennon, other famous celebrities who called The Dakota home included Lauren Bacall, Leonard Bernstein, Judy Garland, and Rex Reed. Today the building is on the National Register of Historic Places and also is a  National Historic Landmark.

Curse of The Bambino

The Bambino

After winning the 1918 World Series, the Boston Red Sox shocked the baseball world by selling their star player Babe Ruth to their arch rivals, the New York Yankees. With this acquisition, the Yankees became a better team over the years, and the Red Sox would go an incredible 86 years without winning another World Series. Many blamed the sale of Ruth to New York for Boston's long lasting post season misfortunes, eventually referring to it as 'The Curse of The Bambino'.

In 2004 the curse would be finally broken, with Boston overcoming an 0-3 deficit and defeating the New York Yankees in four straight games. Boston would face St. Louis in the World Series, winning the series 4-0. Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria, who wore #3, which was Babe Ruth's number with the Yankees, hit into the final out of the game giving the Red Sox the Championship, finally putting 'The Curse of The Bambino' to rest.

Thomas Viaduct

Construction on the Thomas Viaduct began on July 4, 1833 and was completed July 4, 1835. Spanning the Patapsco River between Relay and Elkridge, Maryland, the world's first multi span railroad bridge is also the oldest continuously operational structure of its' kind. Pictured above in 1970, current efforts are underway to preserve this national landmark.

Mystery Castle

After learning he had tuberculosis in the late 1920's, Boyce Luther Gulley left his wife and infant daughter in Seattle, Washington and relocated to Phoenix, Arizona. During the 1930's, he built a castle for his daughter Mary Lou and called it Mystery Castle.

Gulley built the castle with found recycled items and materials he collected over time. The structure is said to be held together by cement, mortar, calcium and goat milk. It features 18 rooms, including a chapel, a cantina, and a dungeon.

After his death in 1945, his family learned thru an attorney that the daughter had inherited the house. Mary Lou and her mother moved in, and in 1992 added electricity and plumbing to the house, which was eventually opened to the public. 

The X in Christmas

(Xmas was used in this 1922 ad in Ladies Home Journal)

The word Xmas is commonly looked upon by many Christians  as the commercial term for Christmas. However, the "X" is the Greek letter CHI which is the first letter if the word "Christ", while "mas" is an Old English word for "Mass".

While opposing the use of the word Xmas during their most sacred of holidays, Christians utilize the  Labarum (Chi-Ro) which is in itself a Christian symbol representing Christ.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, accented by its' many articles of remembrance left daily, is photographed in a seemingly peaceful evening setting with the Washington Monument visible in the distance. Located in Constitution Gardens, adjacent to the National Mall and the Lincoln Monument, the wall was designed by landscape architect Maya Lin. The main section of the Memorial was completed in 1982, and currently lists 58, 627 names of soldiers who died, or were missing in action from the Vietnam War.

Columbine High School Massacre

On April 20, 1999, the deadliest school massacre for an American high school took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. A security camera in the school's cafeteria shows the two assailants, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, in the middle of their rampage. The two seniors would eventually commit suicide, but not before killing 12 students and 1 teacher, in addition to injuring 21 others.

The Lindbergh Kidnapping

On March 1, 1932, 20 month old Charles A. Lindbergh, Jr. was kidnapped from his New Jersey home and held for ransom. Son of world famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne Morrow, Charles Jr. would eventually be found dead in the nearby countryside.

Brunno Hauptmann, a German citizen with a criminal record was arrested, tried, convicted, and eventually executed for the crime. Charles Lindbergh is pictured above during his testimony at Hauptmann's trial in 1935.

The White House

The oldest known picture of the White House taken by John Plumbe in 1846 shows the south front. The official resident of US Presidents, it was built between 1792 and 1800.

Ohio House

In 1876, the United States Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Of all the exhibition buildings erected by individual states, only one remains fully intact and operational today.

The Ohio State Exhibition building in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park as it appeared in 1876.

The Ohio House served as a visitor center during the 1976 Bicentennial, and is now a cafe and eatery.