July 24, 2023
QUOTE
The beauty of the trees, the softness of the air, the fragrance of the grass, they speak to me. The summit of the mountain, the thunder of the sky, the rhythm of the sea, speaks to me. The faintness of the stars, the freshness of the morning, the dewdrop on the flower, speaks to me. The strength of the fire, the taste of the salmon, the trail of the sun, and the life that never goes away, they speak to me. And my heart soars.
--Chief Dan George
BIRTHDAYS
1802 – Alexandre Dumas, French novelist and playwright
1897 – Amelia Earhart, American pilot and author
1899 – Chief Dan George, Canadian actor
1916 – John D. MacDonald, American colonel and author
IN MEMORY
759 – Oswulf, king of Northumbria
1862 – Martin Van Buren, Lawyer and politician, eighth President of the United States
1980 – Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian
2021 – Dale Snodgrass, United States Naval Aviator and air show performer
IN ON THIS DAY
1866 – Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to Congress following the American Civil War.
1901 – O. Henry is released from prison in Columbus, Ohio, after serving three years for embezzlement from a bank.
1915 – The passenger ship SS Eastland capsizes while tied to a dock in the Chicago River. A total of 844 passengers and crew are killed.
1935 – The Dust Bowl heat wave reaches its peak, sending temperatures to 109 °F in Chicago and 104 °F in Milwaukee.
1950 – Cape Canaveral Air Force Station begins operations with the launch of a Bumper rocket.
1969 – Apollo 11 splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean.