On This Date:

1. "FANTASY ISLAND" TV Premiere (1978) - In 1978 Ricardo Montalban began hisrun as the prescient guide, Mr Roarke, with Hervé Villechaize as his faithful assistant, Tattoo. Each week, guest stars played characters anxious to live out their fantasies in camp splendor. The
show's run of 130 episodes, ending on Aug 18, 1984, was produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg. Best remembered is Tattoo's opening line each week: "De plane, de plane!"

2. CHALLENGER Space Shuttle Explosion (1986) - At 11:39 AM, EST, in 1986 the space shuttle Challenger STS-51L exploded, 74 seconds into its flight and about 10 miles above the earth. Hundreds of millions around the world watched television replays of the horrifying event that killed seven people. The billion-dollar craft was destroyed, all shuttle flights suspended and much of the US manned space flight program temporarily halted. Killed were teacher Christa McAuliffe (who was to have been the first ordinary citizen in space) and six crew members: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ellison S. Onizuka, Ronald E. McNair and Gregory B. Jarvis.