![]() ![]() The disaster killed 2,208 people, making it the largest loss of civilian life in the United States at the time. The dam’s failure released nearly 4 billion gallons of water, quickly flooding the downstream towns with a volumetric flow rate equaling the Mississippi River. On May 31, 1889, the Johnstown Flood occurred in Pennsylvania after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam. “It was David McCullough’s ‘ The Johnstown Flood’ that lit my imagination as to how I might one day go about writing book-length nonfiction, though my favorite of his books is ‘ Mornings on Horseback,’ about the young Teddy Roosevelt.” – Erik Larson Originally called “Decoration Day”, the holiday was always celebrated on May 30 th until the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved it to the last Monday in May starting in 1971. The day honors the military personnel who have died in service to our country and is also considered the unofficial start of summer. ![]() The first official Memorial Day was observed on May 30, 1868. It continues, however, to be run by many top runners as a glamour event.“The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.” – Jeff Miller Because a mile is not a metric measurement, it is not a regular track event nor featured in the Olympics. A “sub-four” is still a notable time, but top international runners now routinely accomplish the feat. His world record in the mile did not stand long, and the record continued to be lowered with increasingly controlled climatic and surface conditions, more accurate timing devices, and improvements in training and running techniques. In 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He later earned a medical degree from Oxford and became a neurologist. At the end of the year, Bannister retired from athletic competition to pursue his medical career full time and in 1955 recounted his experiences in the book The Four Minute Mile. As soon as the first part of his score was announced–“three minutes…”–the crowd erupted in pandemonium.īannister went on to win British and Empire championships in the mile run, and the European title in the 1,500-meter event in 1954. Thereafter, Bannister threw in all his reserves and broke the tape in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds. Bannister took the lead with about 350 yards to go and passed an unofficial timekeeper at the 1,500-meter mark in 3 minutes 43 seconds, thus equaling the world’s record for that distance. For the first half-mile, Brasher led the field, with Bannister close behind, and then another runner took up the lead and reached the three-quarter-mile mark in 3 minutes 0.4 seconds, with Bannister at 3 minutes 0.7 seconds. In a carefully planned race, Bannister was aided by Chris Brasher, a former Cambridge runner who acted as a pacemaker. A considerable crosswind was blowing across the track as the mile race was set to begin.Īt 6 p.m., the starting gun was fired. Conditions were far from ideal it had been windy and raining. On May 6, 1954, he came to the Iffley Road track in Oxford for the annual match between the Amateur Athletic Association and Oxford University. As he prepared himself for his first competitive race of the 1954 season, Bannister researched the mechanics of running and trained using new scientific methods he developed. In 19, he won British championships in the mile run. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London. Roger Bannister, born in Harrow, England, in 1929, was a top mile-runner while a student at the University of Oxford and at St. Despite, or perhaps because of, the psychological mystique surrounding the four-minute barrier, several runners in the early 1950s dedicated themselves to being the first to cross into the three-minute zone. The world record for a mile was 4 minutes and 1.3 seconds, set by Gunder Hagg of Sweden in 1945. Bannister, who was running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds.įor years, so many athletes had tried and failed to run a mile in less than four minutes that people made it out to be a physical impossibility. In Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field’s most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. ![]()
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