#Middlebury
On Aug. 24, 1875, Capt. Matthew Webb of Great Britain becomes the first person to successfully swim the English Channel without assistance. Webb reached shore in 21 hours and 45 minutes. In 1883, Webb attempted to swim the Niagara River and drowned in 10 minutes.- On Aug. 23, 1902, pioneering cookbook author Fannie Farmer, who changed the way Americans prepare food, opens Miss Farmer’s School of Cookery in Boston. Farmer later educated medical professionals about the importance of proper nutrition for the sick.
- On Aug. 27, 1938, George E. T. Eyston breaks his own automobile land speed record with a 345.49 mph run at the Bonneville Salt Flats. His Thunderbolt had two 2,000-horsepower Rolls Royce motors geared together.
- On Aug. 29, 1942, the Red Cross reveals that Japan refused free passage of ships carrying food, medicine and other necessities for American POWs held by Japan. Japan allowed just 10% of what POWs elsewhere received.
- On Aug. 25, 1950, in anticipation of a strike by railroad workers, President Harry Truman issues an executive order putting America’s railroads under the control of the U.S. Army, saying it was necessary for the protection of American citizens as well as “essential to the national defense and security of the Nation.” He used the same justification for seizing control of steel plants.
- On Aug. 26, 1974, Charles Lindbergh, the first man to accomplish a solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, dies in Hawaii at age 72. To reduce weight during his famous 1927 flight, everything not essential was left out: radio, gas gauge, night-flying lights, navigation equipment and parachute.
- On Aug. 28, 1988, an airshow at Ramstein Air Base in Germany turns tragic when three military fighter jets collide in mid-air and fall into the crowd. Seventy of some 100,000 spectators died and hundreds more were injured.
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