1. 1933: USS Sequoia becomes the Presidential Yaucht
PHOTO: wiki
The USS Sequoia served as Presidential Yacht from 1933 till it was sold to a private firm in 1977. It was first commissioned by President Hoover on this day in 1933 mainly to be used for official gatherings but most of the eight presidents that served while the boat was in action also used it for the occasional recreational outing. Some more than others, Hoover loved using the Sequoia for his favorite pastime, Fishing. Allegedly Lyndon B Johnson liked to sit up on the top deck and watch movies projected on to the white smoke stacks, JFK spent his last Birthday aboard the ship. It was also said that Nixon broke the news to his family that he would be resigning versus getting impeached aboard the boat. There has been man attempts at restoration on the ship and its currently under the ownership of a non-profit organizations that use it for historic charters on the Potomac river.
2. 1982: Racing Superstar Danica Patrick is born
PHOTO: NASCAR
PHOTO: The FamousPeople
Danica Patrick became the first woman to win an open wheel Indy car race. The open wheel form of racing is one of the highest levels a racing driver can achieve, and being the first women to do it must have been an amazing feeling. Danica was born on this day in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1982 and she took to racing at just a young girl. When she was a teenager she went to England to pursue better training opportunists. In 2002 when she returned to the states she started driving for the Rahal/Letterman race team owned by Indy 500 champ Bobby Rahal and late night Television host David Letterman. Later in 2005 she made her IndyCar series debut which meant that she would be competing in that years Indy 500 , one of the most recognizable races in the history of racing. In that debut race Patrick finished a very respectable 4th place for her first Indy 500 outing. In 2008, at just 26 years old, Danica won the Indy Japan 300 making her the first woman to win an open wheeled Indycar racing event. She now competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.
3. 1911: The Triangle Shirtwaist Company burns down in New York Killing 145 workers.
PHOTO: wiki
PHOTO: Wnyc
On this day in 1911 one of the most horrible moments in the industrial movement takes place when a fire breaks out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company starts on fire. The company occupied the top three floors of the 10-story Asch Building in downtown Manhattan and was more or less a sweat shop. With too many workers cramped in a dark place with very few exits in the building there was nowhere for the employees to go and within 18 minutes of the fire starting as many as 145 people lay dead due to smoke inhalation. This started a major change in factory safety conditions for all future businesses.