Editor’s note: This is part of a regular series looking at today in Poplar Bluff’s history through the pages of the Daily American Republic and its early predecessors.
__100 years ago today__
Aug. 3, 1923
• Vice President Calvin Coolidge becomes president after taking the oath of office at 2:47 a.m. in his father’s farmhouse. His father, by the light of an oil lamp, read Coolidge the words of the oath of office, and he left for presidential duties in Washington at 7:30 a.m.
__50 years ago__
Aug. 3, 1948
• A hand grenade was found within Vatican city, right in the entrance of St. Peter’s Square. The pin had been taken out of it, yet it had not exploded. It was quickly taken away and detonated. Thankfully, nobody was harmed.