On This Day

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Let's take a look back at what happened on this day. 1492 Setting sail was Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. He sailed with 3 ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina in an attempt to find a new sea route to China, India, Japan and the Spice Islands. 1914 Germany invaded Belgium, declaring war on France just 2 days after declaring war on Russia, thrusting the world into WW1. 1923 US Vice President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as 30th President following the death of President Warren G Harding. He died of a heart attack while in San Fransico while visiting some of our western states. 1934 Calling himself Fuhrer, or leader, Adolf Hitler combined the offices of German Chancellor and President into one. 1936 Winning the first of 4 gold medals in the Berlin Olympic games was USA sprinter Jessie Owens. He won the 100m in 10.3 seconds in front of Adolf Hitler. 1949 The National Basketball Association (NBA) was formed on this day when the Basketball Association of America (BAA) & National Basketball League (NBL) merged into one. 1975 Tragedy in the Atlas Mountain range near Agadir, Morocco. A Boeing 707 crashed killing all 188 on board. Happy birthday to American lawyer, Revolutionary War soldier, and politician (1st Governor of North Carolina, Richard Caswell American founder of the Otis Elevator Company and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails, Elisha Otis British WW I poet (The Soldier), Rupert Brooke American teacher convicted for teaching evolution (Scopes "monkey trial" 1925), John T Scopes American Grammy and Emmy Award-winning pop and jazz singer, Tony Bennett American actor (Badlands, The West Wing), Martin Sheen American businesswoman and tv personality, Martha Stewart American NFL quarterback, Tom Brady We said goodbye to Polish political writer and Catholic priest who influenced education reform in Poland, Stanislaw Konarski, age 72 English industrialist and inventor (created the spinning frame), Richard Arkwright, age 59 Dutch director-general of East Indies Company, Sebastiaan C. Nederburgh, age 49 French author, novelist (Gigi) actress, Colette, age 81 American comedian, Lenny Bruce, age 39 American actress (Morticia-Addams Family), Carolyn Jones, age 53