By Michelle Dumas
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Mary Elizabeth Alexander Dole (née Hanford; born July 29, 1936) is an American attorney, author, and politician who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina from 2003 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served in five presidential administrations, including as U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Ronald Reagan from 1983 to 1987 and as U.S. Secretary of Labor under Reagan’s successor, George H. W. Bush, from 1989 until 1990. Dole then left government to serve as president of the American Red Cross from 1991 to 1999; she departed from that position to seek the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election but eventually withdrew from the race.
Dole graduated from Duke University in 1958 and earned a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1965. Throughout her public career, she was the first woman to hold a number of positions, including secretary of transportation, becoming the first woman to serve in two different presidential cabinet positions for two presidents after being appointed secretary of labor, as well as the first female U.S. senator from North Carolina and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. She was also the third female secretary of labor and just the second woman to lead the American Red Cross since its founder, Clara Barton. She is the widow of U.S. Senator Bob Dole from Kansas, who served as the Republican Senate leader and was the party’s presidential nominee in the 1996 election and vice presidential nominee in the 1976 election.
AWARDS
In 1995, Dole was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Dole received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.
In 2014, Dole was inducted into Indiana Wesleyan University‘s Society of World Changers for her humanitarian public service efforts.
In July 2018, Dole was honored with the 4th annual Leo K. Thorsness Leadership Award. Named after the Medal of Honor recipient, the award recognizes outstanding service to veteran communities.
In September 2023, Dole was awarded the United States Military Academies highest civilian award, the Sylvanus Thayer Award. Named after the father of the academy, the award recognizes outstanding selfless service to the nation.
In 2024, Dole was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden.
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
- John Sargent Pillsbury (manufacturer) –
- Booth Tarkington (author) –
- William Powell (actor) –
- Edwin O’Connor (novelist) –
- Norma Lyon (fourth butter cow sculptor of the Iowa State Fair) –
- Paul Taylor (dancer) –
- Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker (politician) –
- Elizabeth Dole (government official) –
- Peter Jennings (journalist) –
- Ken Burns (filmmaker) –
- Martina McBride (singer) –
- Wil Wheaton (actor) –
- Stephen Dorff (actor) –
- Josh Radnor (actor) –
- Allison Mack (actress) –
Died
- Vincent van Gogh (Dutch artist ) –
- Mama Cass Elliot (singer) –
- David Niven (actor) –
- Jerome Robbins (choreographer) –
- Tom Snyder (talk show host) –
Events
- The Spanish Armada was defeated by an English naval force off the coast of Gravelines, France–
- The Pittsburgh Gazette became the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains–
- Annibale de Gasparis discovered asteroid 15 Eunomia–
- First successful transcontinental telephone call–
- Lightning caused a deadly fire in Cochrane and Matheson, Ontario–
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)–
- Schooner Bluenose II was donated to Nova Scotia–
- First Chicken Wing Day, Buffalo, New York–
- Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer married at St. Paul’s in London, England–
- Bill Mueller of the Boston Red Sox became the first baseball player in major league history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in one game–
- 184-pound wahoo caught, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico–
- A 5.4-magnitude earthquake shook Los Angeles, California–
- A pair of Winston Churchill’s wartime dentures sold at auction for approximately $23,750–
- Rare panda triplets born at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou, China–
Weather
- Four inches of rain fell on Tucson, Arizona, causing thousands of dollars in damage–
- Barnet, Vermont, reported a morning low of 33 degrees F, with frost appearing on vegetation–
- St. Johnsbury, Vermont, had a low temperature of 42 degrees F–
- Greeley, Colorado, received 6 to 7.5 inches of rain in eight hours–
- Thermometers in Oymyakon, Eastern Siberia (considered one of the coldest places on Earth) recorded 90 degrees F in the evening–
- Moscow had a record temperature of 100 degrees F–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
