By Mona Hatfield
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Arthur Rose Eldred (August 16, 1895 – January 4, 1951) was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). As a 16-year-old candidate for the highest rank bestowed by the BSA, he was personally interviewed by a panel composed of the youth organization’s founders, including Ernest Thompson Seton and Daniel Carter Beard. Eldred was presented the coveted distinction of Eagle Scout on September 2, 1912, becoming the first of more than two million scouts in the U.S. since then to earn Scouting’s most vaunted rank. Eldred also received the Bronze Honor Medal for lifesaving, and was the first of four generations of Eagle Scouts in his family.
A graduate of Cornell University, Eldred enlisted at age 22 in the United States Navy in January 1918, nine months after the U.S. entry into World War I. After serving aboard various Navy vessels and seeing combat in that conflict, he then worked in the agriculture and produce transportation industries, serving as a railroad industry official. Eldred continued as an active Scout leader and school board member throughout much of his adult life.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Asher Brown Durand (American painter) –
- Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator) –
- Count Basie (bandleader) –
- Christopher Robin Milne (A. A. Milne’s son who he modeled Christopher Robin after in the Winnie the Pooh stories) –
- Princess Margaret (younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II) –
- Wilt Chamberlain (basketball player) –
- Kenny Rogers (singer) –
- Clarence Williams, III (actor) –
- Kim Cattrall (actress) –
- Jim McMahon (football player) –
- Carrie-Anne Moss (actress) –
- Hayden Panettiere (actress) –
Died
- Ernest Lawrence Thayer (poet) –
- Charles Eames (designer & architect) –
- Ray-Bernice Eames (designer) –
Events
- Nat Turner, a deeply religious enslaved man, led a violent rebellion of enslaved people in Southampton County, Virginia –
- The American Bar Association was founded–
- William S. Burroughs received a patent for an adding machine–
- Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa was stolen by a Louvre employee, Vincenzo Peruggia–
- Arthur R. Eldred became the first Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America–
- United Nations building opened in New York City–
- Family claimed home invaded by goblin-like space creatures, Kelly, KY–
- Hawaii became the U.S.’s fiftieth state–
- Executive Order for a 50-star U.S. flag issued–
- Gemini 5 was launched and went on to break a record, spending eight days in space–
- Four men possibly abducted by UFO, Allagash waterway, Maine–
- The Young and the Restless shot its 10,000th episode–
Weather
- Deadly tornado hit Wilmington Delaware–
- Tornado hit Tyler, Michigan–
- The temperature in Fayetteville, North Carolina, reached a record high 110 degrees F–
- Hurricane Dean hit the Caribbean coast of Mexico as a Category 5 hurricane–
- Tropical Storm Fay made landfall in Florida for the third time in a week. Fay was the fourth storm in history to make landfall as a tropical storm three times.–
- Deadly tornado struck Goderich, Ontario–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
