100 years ago in Spokane: President Harding died not long after his visit to the city, which ‘shared the nation’s sorrow’

“Spokane Shares Nation’s Sorrow” was the Spokane Daily Chronicle’s headline after the telegraph brought news of the death of President Warren G. Harding.

The shock was felt keenly here since Harding had just visited Spokane on July 2. He began feeling unwell not long after his Spokane visit and complained of pain after a speech in Seattle at the University of Washington. He was rushed to San Francisco, where he suffered what doctors at the time called “apoplexy or a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain,” but later called a cardiac arrest.

Spokane residents immediately made plans for a large memorial service to be held at the Spokane Armory – the same place where he made his July 2 speech. The memorial service would be timed to coincide with Harding’s funeral.

Calvin Coolidge became president upon Harding’s death.

Washington Governor Louis F. Hart, who had traveled with Harding from Spokane to Tacoma, was “visibly affected by the news of the president’s death.” Hart ordered flags to half-mast for 30 days, and he planned to declare a legal holiday on the day of Harding’s funeral.

“So recently among us and, while here, stricken with his last illness, we citizens of Washington feel more personally the sorrow of his passing,” said a proclamation issued by Hart.

Also on this date

(From onthisday.com)

1936: American sprinter Jesse Owens wins the 100 meter (10.3 seconds) in front of Adolf Hitler in a famous race at the Berlin Olympics, his first of four gold medals at the Olympic Games.