
Elementary school or college, there’s something powerful about that first day. It’s a fresh start. A clean slate. An opportunity to re-invent yourself.
For all of the Saint Leo students who are enrolled through the Center for Online Learning, today is the first day of the Summer I term.
A warm welcome back to all returning students!
And if today is the day you take your first step toward pursuing an online degree – because you are beginning your first online class – then a very special welcome!
Just for the fun of it, here are some things that happened on this day in history.
Have a great Summer I term!
April 29 – This Day in History
2013 – First day of the Summer I term for Saint Leo University online students.
2011 – Kate Middleton marries Prince William in a lavish royal wedding at Westminster Abbey in London.
2004 – The National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. providing long overdue recognition for the 16 million U.S. men and women who served in the war.
1998 – Brazil announces a plan to protect an area of Amazon forest that is the size of Colorado.
1997 – The first joint U.S.-Russian space walk is made by astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev from the space station Mir.
1996 – “Rent” opens at the Nederlander Theatre in New York City.
1995 – Final TV broadcast of “Empty Nest” on NBC.
1994 – Israel and the PLO sign an economic accord.
1990 – Wrecking cranes begin to tear down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate.
1988—Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev promises more religious freedom.
1988 – Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson are married.
1986 – Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox sets a major-league baseball record by striking out 20 Seattle Mariner batters.
1985 – Billy Martin is brought back for the fourth time as manager for the New York Yankees after team owner George Steinbrenner fired Yogi Berra 16 games into the season.
1983 – Harold Washington is sworn in as Chicago’s first black mayor.
1980 – Film director Alfred Hitchock dies at age 80.
1979 – Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away” single is released.
1978 – Japan’s Naomi Uemura, traveling by sled dog, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.
1975 – In the closing hours of the Vietnam War, the last U.S. troops are evacuated from Saigon.
1968 – The musical “Hair” opens on Broadway at the Biltmore Theater for 1,750 performances.
1967 – Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” is released.
1961 – ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” premieres.
1959 – UNIVAC, the electronic computer the size of a house, picks four of six winners at Churchill Downs race track in Louisville, Kentucky. The electronic brain set a record for having the right choices in horse races, but the winners all paid 2-1 or even odds, so there were no fortunes to be made.
1957 – Actor Daniel Day–Lewis (“Lincoln”) is born.
1955 – Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is born.
1952 – IBM President Thomas J. Watson informs his company’s stockholders that IBM is building “the most advanced, most flexible high-speed computer in the world” – the IBM 701 Electronic Data Processing Machine.
1951 – Race car driver Dale Earnhardt is born.
1945 – The Germany Army in Italy surrenders unconditionally to the Allies; Nazi concentration camp, Dachau, is liberated
1941 – The Boston Bees agree to change the team’s name to the Braves.
1930 – The first telephone connection between England and Australia goes into service.
1927 – Construction of the Spirit of St. Louis is completed. Charles Lindbergh uses the plane to become the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic. The plane cost $10,580.
1913 – The all-purpose zipper is patented.
1905 – Two inches of rain falls in 10 minutes in Taylor, Texas.
1899 – The most prolific composer of the 20th century, bandleader, and recording artist Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is born.
1879 – In Cleveland, Ohio, electric arc lights are used for the first time.
1862 – New Orleans falls to Union forces during the Civil War.
1861 – The Maryland House of Delegates votes against seceding from the Union.
1852 – The first edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus is published.
1813 – Rubber is patented.
1784 – Premiere of Mozart’s Sonata in B Flat.
1670 – Pope Clemens X is elected.
1429 – Joan of Arc leads French forces to victory over Britain at Orleans.
Who is starting their very first online class today? How do you feel about it?
Sources: history.com; on-this-day.com; scopesys.com; historyorb.com; historynet.com; factmonster.com; coolquiz.com
Other posts you may be interested in reading:
10 New Years Resolutions For Online Students
The One Thing Every Successful Online Student Knows
Online Degree Programs: Don't Be Afraid To Start
Image Credit: brand0con on Flickr/Creative Commons