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© Copyright 2003 EPICS TCHA Team at Purdue University, All Rights Reserved.
Ferdinand Dryfus, packing company president, bank officer, native of Bavaria, died at 75.
About 4,000 high school basketball fans surviving weeks of bitter cold and snow enjoyed a "doubleheader" in the Jefferson High School gym. Jeff defeated Indianapolis Tech 37-24 and West Lafayette beat Veedersburg 35-16.
Amid numerous Depression-era relief programs already in progress, the WPA announced plans to build a circular concrete swimming pool in Columbian Park. Another prospective job that never materialized would have employed 550 men relocated Monon and Wabash railroad tracks on concrete overpasses with major streets underpassing them. The Chamber of Commerce and City Council approved plans using special WPA funds and no expense to the city.
A Lafayette committee took its railroad relocation plans to the Indiana State Highway Commission, the next step being federal approval and funding - about $1.2 million.
Manager John Rosser's Lafayette Red Sox joined the Indiana-Ohio League and played their first league game in Columbian Park before 2,000 fans.
Eleanor Roosevelt visited Purdue University to learn about low-cost housing research, and spoke about the issue of housing to 6,000 in the Purdue Armory.
The hottest weather ever recorded at Lafayette struck between July 5 and 27. There were 15 days in which temperature reached 100 dgrees or more. The all-time record high of 111 degrees occurred on July 14. People coped with it; but the heat damaged paved streets. The Wabash River reached its lowest level since recording started in 1870 at .05 foot [flood stage is 11 feet]. Purdue University agriculturalists predicted Indiana's smallest corn crop since 1881.
Frank Cary, philanthropist, lumber buyer for Lafayette Car Works, president of Barbee Iron & Wire Works, inventor of a baseball catcher's mask using welded wires, died at 78. BACKGROUND: The Journal Courier of July 11 listed his many public donations and the extent of his estate.
Fire in a dressing room used by the Purdue University football team at Ross Engineering Camp killed two players and injured four. A plugged shower drain accumulated gasoline used to remove tape from players' skin. Gasoline fumes ignited when a water heater clicked on, making a spark. Carl Dahlbeck, a guard, died almost instantly; halfback Tom McGannon died of his burns on Sept. 17.
Amelia Earhart landed at Purdue Airport in her experimental Lockheed "Electra." The plane was to be loaded with additional laboratory equipment for various flight tests.
Kansas Governor Alfred "Alf" Landon campaigned for U.S. president from his Wabash Railroad train at Lafayette on Oct. 15, and his Republican running mate for vice president, Frank Knox, followed on Oct. 21.
Purdue University announced receipt of a federal Public Works Administration grant. It would be coupled with donations and a bond issue to finance construction of a multi-purpose athletic fieldhouse northwest of Stadium and Northwestern avenues.
Alf Landon, Pennsylvania-born businessman and governor of Kansas, lost to President Roosevelt 27,751,597 to 16,679,583 and 523-8 in electoral votes. But Tippecanoe County returned to its Republican tradition, giving Landon 13,081 votes to Roosevelt's 12,732. In county races, Republican wins were nearly as decisive as before the 1932 Roosevelt landslide. A record 26,813 people voted.
For the second time in 1936, a Lafayette house fire claimed two lives. Ursula Wiebers, 70, and Nathan Morris, 55, the latter a crippled street vendor of pencils, had died in a fire at 911 Potomac Ave. [On Jan. 9, fire at 329 South 16th St., killed a couple in their 70s: Mr. and Mrs. Ed Vick.]