JFK GIVES HIS VIEWS ON EDUCATION
At his 6th news conference today held in the State Department auditorium, President Kennedy was asked to give his views on the subject of education.
The President said:
"I do not think that there is anything more important than to have good schools & well trained & competent teachers.
When the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established, one of the first acts....was the establishment of a public school.
We are as good....as our schools are....and....I am extremely interested in seeing this country place added emphasis on education."*
*Personal Note:
It was both my deep interest in U.S. History as well as JFK's call to service that led me into the teaching profession so many years ago.
March 8, 2009
SENATOR TED KENNEDY WINS PROFILES IN COURAGE AWARD
Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, (D) Massachusetts, received the "Profiles in Courage Award" today at the JFK Library in Boston.
The brother of the late President Kennedy has served in the United States Senate for 47 years.
He received the award "in recognition of distinguished public service & the example he has set of political courage in public life."
"He carried the nation on his shoulders through the most important struggles of our time for justice, for equality, for opportunity & for freedom."
March 8, 1950
VW BUS GOES INTO PRODUCTION
The Volkswagen micro bus, officially labeled VW Type 2, went into production today in Germany.
The bus was the idea of Dutch businessman Ben Pon, an importer of the VW Beetle in the Netherlands.*
VW Type 2 (photo by Sven Sturbeck)
*The VW Bus became known in the United States as a "Hippie Van" because it was used to transport groups of young people & their camping gear to concerts & war protest rallies in the 1960s. The VW Type 2 was produced to the end of the 1967 model year.
VW "Hippie" Van
March 8, 1965
US MARINES LAND AT DA NANG
3500 American "leathernecks" were landed today north of Da Nang in South Vietnam.
The marines were wearing full battle gear & carried M-14 rifles.
They were greeted by Vietnamese girls with leis.
Their assignment is to secure the US air base & free up the South Vietnamese Army for combat against the communists.
US Marines in Da Nang
March 8, 1983
PRESIDENT REAGAN CALLS USSR AN EVIL EMPIRE.....AGAIN!
President Ronald Reagan, speaking to the National Association of Evangelicals today in Florida, referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire".
This makes the 2nd time in his Presidency he has made this reference. The 1st time was in an address to the British House of Commons in 1982.
Reagan advocates a policy of active intervention against the Soviet buildup of nuclear weapons & Soviet efforts to spread communism into 3rd world countries.
President Reagan Speaking in Florida
March 8, 1957
EGYPT REOPENS SUEZ CANAL
The Suez Canal has been reopened by Egypt today following the "Suez Crisis".
The move comes after Israeli troops withdrew from occupied Egyptian territory.*
*The canal will require several weeks of clean-up in order for large ships to pass through.
Photo from NASA satellite (2001)
