CARLATA BRADLEY

On July 18, 1940, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who first took office
in 1933 as America’s 32nd president, was nominated for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelt, a Democrat, would
eventually be elected to a record four terms in office, the
only U.S. president to serve more than two terms.

Thanks to President Reagan, we celebrate National Ice Cream
Day every third Sunday in July, meaning July 18 this year. The
President wanted to commemorate a treat enjoyed by over 90
percent of the US population. In 1984, he decreed a day for ice
cream, and his proclamation actually glorified the dairy industry
in America. In fact, Americans still lead the world when it comes
to eating this frozen delight: 23 gallons a year to be precise.

Ron & Nancy Reagan enjoy ice cream cones in the Summer
of 1967.

President Abraham Lincoln signed into law a
measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army
Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to
such noncommissioned officers and privates
as shall most distinguish themselves by their
gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities
during the present insurrection.” The previous
December, Lincoln had approved a provision
creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was
the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by
Congress in July 1862.

The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would
become the nation’s highest military honor were
six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862
penetrated Confederate territory to destroy bridges, 
and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, 
and Atlanta, Georgia.

On July 7, 1930, construction of the Hoover Dam began. Over the
next five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to
produce what would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one
of the largest manmade structures in the world.

Although the dam took only five years to build, its construction
was nearly 30 years in the making. Arthur Powell Davis, an
engineer from the Bureau of Reclamation, originally had his
vision for the Hoover Dam back in 1902, and his engineering
report on the topic became the guiding document when plans
were finally made to begin the dam in 1922.

Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964)