1. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather joined Matt and Savannah to talk about where they were the day the president was shot.
When we opened the discussion up to viewers on Facebook and Twitter, the response was extremely moving.
2. Al got the chance to interview a lifelong icon of his, Bill Cosby, and then — quite wonderfully — open for Cos in Vegas.
"You are just gonna go out there and you're going to forget about who's following you," Cosby encouraged Al backstage.
"So forget about the fact that Bill Cosby is following me?" Al asked.
3. Norma Patricia Esparza, who faces charges for the 1995 murder of Gonzalo Ramirez, a man she alleges raped her, rejected a plea deal and is now behind bars.
“She’s not a victim on this case,” Susan Kang Schroeder, chief of staff for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, told TODAY. “She’s a defendant on this case.”
4. Kate Snow talked to two mothers who survived September’s Nairobi mall shooting about the traumatic event — and how they protected their children.
5. Let the wild rumpus start!
For the 50th anniversary of Maurice Sendak's “Where the Wild Things Are,” the TODAY family celebrated with a reading of the timeless tale.
6. Illustrator Heather Willems drew her interpretation of the broadcast this morning from the Orange Room, and viewers had the chance to follow along in real time via livestream.
What do you think of the final product? Tweet us using the hashtag #OrangeRoom.
And that’s TODAY’s Takeaway!