Thorpe Wins Gold

2 September 1912 

On this date in 1912...

 Oklahoma Native American athlete Jim Thorpe won gold medals for the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Summer Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden.  The Olympic Committee would later strip Thorpe of his medals because he had been paid to play several games of semi-pro baseball in college.

Other Years:

• 1864 - Federal troops  led by Gen. William T. Sherman occupied Atlanta following the city's evacuation. 
• 1935 - The third strongest recorded hurricane to strike North America, known as the "Labor Day Hurricane," struck the Florida Keys and tore northward through Georgia and the Carolinas causing $6 million dollars in damage and killing an estimated 600 Southerners.
• 1945 - Japan formally surrendered to Arkansas native, General Douglas McArthur in ceremonies aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, ending World War II.
• 1963 - Alabama Governor George Wallace prevented integration of Tuskegee High School.
• 1991 - The U.S. formally recognized the independence of Lithuania, Lativa and Estonia after they seceded from the Soviet Union.

Read: Why Know Southern History?

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