On February 23, 1954, a group of children from Arsenal
Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, received
the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by
Dr. Jonas Salk. Thanks to the vaccine, by the 21st century
polio cases were reduced by 99 percent worldwide.

According to the World Health Organization, polio cases
have been reduced by 99 percent and survives only among
the world’s poorest and most marginalized communities.

Dr. Jonas Salk, the scientist who created the polio vaccine, administers an injection to an unidentified boy at Arsenal Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1954.

SANDY KOZEL

John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005)

A fire at a grade school in Chicago killed 87 children and three
nuns on December 1, 1958; five more children later died as a
result of their injuries.

The fire originated in the basement near the foot of a stairway.

The Our Lady of Angels School was operated by the Sisters
of Charity in Chicago.

The disaster led to major improvements in standards for school
design and fire safety codes.

School memorial.

Hector Vincent “Heck Harper” Flateau (1919 – 1998)