Thirty-four years ago today, on August 21, 1991, the people of Latvia reclaimed their freedom. After decades of Soviet control, the Latvian parliament declared independence from the USSR — even as tanks rolled through the streets of Riga.

On the morning of August 7, 1974, the impossible happened in lower Manhattan. At 7:00 a.m., Philippe Petit stepped off the edge of the South Tower of the World Trade Center — and onto a wire.

On July 31, 1964, Ranger 7 became the first American spacecraft to successfully photograph the Moon up close. Just 17 minutes before crashing into the lunar surface, it transmitted over 4,300 stunning images—crystal-clear glimpses of the Moon that helped pave the way for the Apollo missions and, five years later, Neil Armstrong’s famous steps.

On this day in 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in United States v. Nixon that President Richard Nixon had to turn over secret Oval Office recordings to a federal court. The decision would lead directly to his resignation just 16 days later.

Her name was Wisława Szymborska.

She grew up in Poland under fascism and then communism — regimes that demanded loyalty, silence, and propaganda.

On July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was born.
He would go on to change the course of American history.

On July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was born.
He would go on to change the course of American history.

Born from the ashes of World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded on April 4, 1949 to ensure that never again would democracy stand alone against authoritarian aggression.

95 years ago today, Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt, Germany. Thirteen years later, she was in hiding in an Amsterdam attic, writing in the diary that would outlive her and become one of the most powerful personal accounts of the Holocaust.

On June 5, 1919, the world welcomed Richard Scarry, the imaginative mind behind Busytown — a place where cats drove banana cars, pigs directed traffic, and worms wore tiny hats.

May 8, 1980 — a date the world should never forget. On this day, after a decades-long global vaccination campaign, the World Health Organization officially declared smallpox eradicated. It remains one of the greatest public health achievements in human history — and a powerful reminder of what’s possible when the world comes together for the common good.

Established in 1965 under the Social Security Act, Medicaid was born from a national commitment to health justice. It ensures that low-income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities can access essential healthcare—no matter their zip code.

It began with a simple demand: eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will.

May 1, 2004: A New Era for Europe.

Twenty-one years ago this week, ten countries — Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia — officially joined the European Union, marking the largest single expansion in the EU’s history.

On April 24, 1989, the heart of Beijing pulsed with the chants of thousands of students demanding change. What began as mourning for reform-minded leader Hu Yaobang quickly turned into a bold call for democracy, free speech, and government accountability.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), often called the Consumer Protection Agency, was born out of the 2008 financial crisis—a time when millions of Americans lost homes, jobs, and savings due to unchecked lending practices and regulatory gaps. In response, the federal government passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010.

“Houston, we’ve had a problem.”
Those words—calm, understated, and broadcast from 200,000 miles away—sent a chill through NASA’s Mission Control and the world. What was meant to be the third manned mission to the Moon quickly became a desperate struggle to bring three astronauts home alive.

On April 10, 1880, Frances Perkins was born — a woman who would go on to quietly reshape American life as we know it. In 1933, she became the first woman in U.S. history to serve in a presidential cabinet, appointed by Franklin D. Roosevelt as Secretary of Labor during the Great Depression. But she didn’t just make history by being first — she made history by what she did with the role.

April 3, 1968 — On a stormy night in Memphis, Tennessee, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood before a crowd at the Mason Temple and delivered what would be his final public speech: “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.”

As March Madness heats up, we’re taking a time-out to honor a true trailblazer whose legacy defines the spirit of the game—Lusia “Lucy” Harris.