Ransom Eli Olds (June 3, 1864 – August 26, 1950)

Olds of Lansing, Michigan was a pioneer of the American
automotive industry who founded Olds Motors Works—
which would later become Oldsmobile—on August 21, 1897.

 He claimed to have built his first steam car as early as 1887
and his first gasoline-powered car in 1896.

The modern assembly line and its basic concept is credited
to Olds, who used it to build the first mass-produced auto, 
the Oldsmobile Curved Dash, beginning in 1901. 

The modern United States receives its crowning star when
President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation
admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. The
president also issued an order for an American flag
featuring 50 stars arranged in staggered rows: five six-
star rows and four five-star rows. The new flag became
official July 4, 1960.

President Dwight Eisenhower helps unfurl the new 50-star
flag on Aug. 21, 1959 after signing a proclamation making
Hawaii the 50th state of the union. At right is Daniel K.
Inouye, Democratic congressman-elect from Hawaii.

KENT COUNTY, Mich. (WWMT) — A construction project turned
into a dig site after road crews uncovered mastodon bones last
week in Michigan.

Crews were working on the Geers Intercounty drain construction
project in Newaygo when Drain Commissioner Ken Yonker said
an orange tint in the soupy mud had the team growing suspicious
that it could be bones.

Dr. Redman said the bones are expected to be on view at the
Grand  Rapids Public Museum, but the conservation process
could take up to 1 1/2 years until they’re ready for display.

The museum is working with the University of Michigan’s
Museum of Paleontology to continue studying the bones.

Grand Rapids Public Museum Science Curator Dr. Cory
Redman.

On August 20, 1920, seven men, including legendary all-around
athlete and football star Jim Thorpe, met to organize a professional football league at the Jordan and Hupmobile Auto Showroom in
Canton, Ohio. The meeting led to the creation of the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), the forerunner to the
hugely successful National Football League.

James Francis Thorpe
(May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953)

On August 20, 1619, “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrived in the British colony of Virginia and were
then bought by English colonists. The arrival of the enslaved
Africans in the New World marked the beginning of two and a
half centuries of slavery in North America.