4 th March

1789 The U. S. Constitution went into effect.

1888 Knute Rockne was born. (See November 1st entry.)

1937 Presidential Inauguration Day, until 1937. (See January 20th entry.)

Up until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second term, this was Inauguration Day in the United States. On this day in 1801, Thomas Jefferson became the first president to be sworn in at the nation’s capital. In 1861, Abraham Lincoln stood on the same spot and said: “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.” In 1933, FDR stood before the nation and proclaimed: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and called for “action, and action now.” If there is one paramount thread in inaugural addresses, it is that the people ultimately decide their own destiny.

Today marks the anniversary of the U. S. Constitution’s official enactment. In 1789, the entire nation banded together under this important statement of rights and responsibilities. It has been challenged; it has been amended; but it remains the organic, yet supreme law of the land.

Today is the birthday of an immigrant who, for many, epitomizes middle America. He was born in Voss, Norway, on this date in 1888. He came to this country with his family

When he was five years old. He went to college and became a chemistry instructor, as well as assistant coach of the football team. His name was Knute Rockne. If anyone can be said to have revolutionized American football and put it on the map, it was this man, Notre Dame’s Gipper.