Vulnerable. Reporters are vulnerable. The camera lens and a notepad do not stop bullets. One year ago today a local television news reporter and a cameraman for WDBJ7, a CBS affiliate in Virginia, were shot and killed live on the air.

The reporter was named Alison Parker; she was 24 years old and had recently gotten engaged to be married to another young WDBJ reporter. The cameraman, Adam Ward, was 27. He was engaged to be married as well and today was to be his last day at WDBJ; his fiancee was in the production studio doing her job when she watched her boyfriend get shot.

The shooter ran away and then was shot and killed by authorities himself later the same day.
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The National Park Service Organic Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on this date 100 years ago.

It created the National Park Service and established its jurisdiction in the Department of the Interior. The NPS was mandated “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” In the 1930s, historic sites such as the battlefield at Gettysburg and presidential homes were added to its mandate.
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The execution of the Scottish independence fighter Sir William Wallace (above) was considered so important that even though it took place more than seven centuries ago, we know that it took place on precisely this date in 1305.

Wallace’s main argument in his own defense was that he needed no defense against the charge of treason because he had not committed treason—”I could not be a traitor to [King] Edward, for I was never his subject”—which was considered treasonous in itself. The manner of his execution was brutal and has not been performed in almost two centuries in Great Britain (which means that it was performed for almost five more centuries). Post-execution, Wallace’s body parts were displayed for decades after.
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