1908 Pennsylvania, Education: Anna Jeanes bequeathed $1 million to Swarthmore on the condition that it become all female. She was a Quaker whose family had made a fortune in coal. She gave other millions to schools and hospitals, earmarked for Negroes or women. She thought college sports distorted education. To free Swarthmore of sports she proposed ridding it of men.
1914 Washington, D.C., History: Construction began on the Lincoln Memorial.
1924 New York City, Music. Paul Whiteman’s band performed George Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ for the first time to a sold out house. Gershwin played the piano. The crowd and the reviewers had never hear anything like and both swooned.
1935 Daventry (England), Technology: Robert Watson-Watt gave a secret demonstration using radio signals to detect aircraft. This effort was so successful that a public demonstration followed in a fortnight. This technology was quickly refined into radar. There is a film which I have not seen about the struggle to get the means to do it.
1947 Paris, Fashion: Christian Dior presented his first influential collection called ‘The New Look.’ It contrasted to the Old Look of the war years when fabric was scarce and clothes were drab, rough, boxy, and worn out.
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