Moments in Time – July 13, 2022

#Middlebury

• On July 31, 1715, a hurricane strikes the East Coast of Florida, sinking 10 Spanish treasure ships carrying tons of gold and silver coins and killing nearly 1,000 people. About 80% of the treasures had been recovered by April 1716, but the rest remained lost until the 1960s.
• On July 25, 1832, the first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history occurs when four people are thrown off a vacant car near Quincy, Massachusetts. The victims had been invited to view the process of transporting loads of stone when a cable on a vacant car snapped, throwing them off the train and over a 34-foot cliff.
• On July 28, 1868, following its ratification by the necessary three-quarters of U.S. states, the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing African Americans citizenship and all its privileges, is officially adopted into the U.S. Constitution.
• On July 29, 1921, Adolf Hitler becomes the leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ (Nazi) Party. Under Hitler, the Nazi Party grew into a mass movement and ruled Germany as a totalitarian state from 1933 to 1945. The Nazis controlled every aspect of German life, and all other political parties were banned.
• On July 26, 1931, a swarm of grasshoppers descends on crops throughout Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, devastating millions of acres. The swarm was said to be so thick that it blocked out the sun and one could shovel the grasshoppers with a scoop. Cornstalks were eaten to the ground and fields left completely bare.
• On July 30, 1976, American Bruce Jenner wins gold in the decathlon at the Montreal Olympics and sets a world record in the event. After his win, Jenner was voted the 1976 AP Male Athlete of the Year. The 1976 Olympics was his last decathlon. In 2015, he became Caitlyn Jenner and is an American media personality.
• On July 27, 1981, Adam John Walsh, age 6, is abducted from a mall in Hollywood, Florida, and later found murdered. Adam’s father, John Walsh, became a leading victims’ rights activist and host of the long-running television show “America’s Most Wanted.”

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