On October 4, 1927, sculpting began on the face of Mount
Rushmore in the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota.

It would take another 12 years for the granite images of four
of America’s most revered presidents—George Washington,
Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt 
to be completed.

The monument was the brainchild of a South Dakota historian
named Doane Robinson, who was looking for a way to attract
more tourists to his state. He hired a sculptor named Gutzon
Borglum to carve the faces into the mountain.

The Lakota Sioux people, who consider the Black Hills to be
sacred ground, strongly opposed the project. 
    
    
    
    
    
   

Jonah LeRoy "Doane" Robinson
(October 19, 1856 – November 27, 1946)

John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum
(March 25, 1867 – March 6, 1941)

 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

At the end of a sensational trial, former football star O.J. Simpson 
was acquitted of the brutal 1994 double murder of his estranged
wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson (July 9, 1947 – April 10, 2024)

In May 2023, Simpson reported that he had been diagnosed with
prostate cancer and expressed confidence that he would beat it. 

He died of the disease at the age of 76.

On October 2, 1965, during a football game between
the University of Florida Gators and the Louisiana
State University Tigers, UF players test a newly
concocted sports drink to help them regain the
essential chemicals their bodies lose from profuse
sweating.

Developed in their own school’s science labs, the
drink is designed to fight dehydration, rebalance
their bodies’ electrolytes and restore blood sugar,
potassium and body salts so they can continue to
perform at a high level through their games.

The Gators go on to win the match, after the heavily
favored Tigers wilt in Florida’s muggy, 102-degree
heat.

The drink, nicknamed "Gatorade," eventually became
a mass-market phenomenon and made its inventors
wealthy.

James Robert Cade (1927 – 2007)

Cade was a physician, university professor,
research scientist and inventor.

"American Pie" singer Don McLean — who is still performing
and touring — was born on this day in history, Oct. 2, 1945,
in New Rochelle, New York.

He is forever associated with his iconic hit "American Pie" —
named one of the Top 5 Songs of the 20th Century in a poll
by the Recording Industry Association of America and the
National Endowment for the Arts.