The Battle of Antietam was fought OTD in 1862. It was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War and the most horrific day in U.S. history with nearly 23,000 casualties. The Union victory provided Abraham Lincoln with the opportunity to release the Emancipation Proclamation.

Rachel Carson's hugely important book "Silent Spring" was published OTD in 1962. It prompted the Kennedy administration through its President's Science Advisory Committee to issue a report on pesticide use, which acknowledged Carson's contribution to public awareness.

Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., the Kennedy aide, court historian, and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, was born on this day in 1917. He was only five months younger than John F. Kennedy, whose administration he chronicled in the influential if highly sympathetic book “A Thousand Days.

Today is United Nations Day, which notes the founding of the international organization in 1945. No American had a greater impact on its development than Eleanor Roosevelt, whose work at the U.N. included the drafting of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Fifty-three years ago today: A well-known entertainer and a political figure meet. Credit: Ollie Atkins, National Archives and Records Administration.

Washington, Texas, and Alabama were in major bowl games on January 1, 1964. And here they are again sixty years later.

On Jan. 21, 1961, the day after participating in the presidential inauguration, Robert Frost stopped by the White House. He gave some advice to President Kennedy: "Be more Irish than Harvard. Poetry and power is the formula for another Augustan Age. Don't be afraid of power."

Sergei Eisenstein, the innovative Russian film director, was born on January 22, 1898. Eisenstein was noted for the use of montage, and his masterful "Battleship Potemkin" is one of the great movies of the silent era. He died in 1948.

Thirty-eight years ago today the Challenger space shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff. Among the seven on board who perished was the first teacher-astronaut, Christa McAuliffe. Many of us will always remember that day.

Interesting sidebar on this day: Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on February 12, 1809. Both somewhat late bloomers, they had a tremendous influence on their respective fields in the nineteenth century and beyond.

John Glenn captivated the nation and world with his orbital flight sixty-two years ago today. Instantly, Glenn, the crew-cut Marine pilot, became a national hero. Later, as a U.S. senator, he did an encore in space as a civilian member of the Discovery Shuttle Crew at age 77.

OTD in 1962 Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game. It was done before a small crowd in Hershey, Pa., where his team, the old Philadelphia Warriors, defeated the N.Y. Knicks, 169-147. It was the highest scoring NBA game ever and remained so until 1984.

I am have done a lot of research on J. Robert Oppenheimer. I never expected that more than a half-century after his death this complex man would be the subject of a blockbuster movie.

Today is the 62nd anniversary of the Nobel dinner at the White House. Certainly it was the most significant dinner at the executive mansion in the 20th century, arguably the most important dinner of America’s century, and—maybe even—“the greatest dinner party of all time.”

A distinguished group was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House today. Among the 19 honored were Jim Thorpe and Medgar Evers. I was pleased to see the inclusion of swimming champion Kathy Ledecky, an impressive role model for young athletes.

Yogi Berra, one of the leaders of the glory days of the New York Yankees from 1946 to 1963 and an American original, was born 99 years ago today. In addition to his Hall of Fame baseball career, he is noted for his many humorous statements known as "Yogi-isms."

One of the landmark Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, was handed down 70 years ago today. Striking down separate but equal facilities, the decision had far-reaching effects but implementation was slow, notably in southern states.

George H. W. Bush was born one hundred years ago today. Here is a photo of him and me in 1979.

Julie Esposito is anticipating National Dog Day today. First up, Dogster's pumpkin ice cream.

World War II began 85 years ago today. After years of bullying, grabbing land, and capitalizing on Western appeasement and isolationism, Germany attacked Poland. Within two days, declarations of war shattered the uneasy European peace which had lasted for only two decades.