George Leonard Cook (born 1889)

In 1889, in the year that George Leonard Cook was born, on April 20th, Adolf Hitler was born in Austria-Hungary - now Austria. In his early 30's, he began his rise to power in German politics, eventually becoming the leader of the Nazi Party and Führer of Nazi Germany. He presided over the death of millions of civilians as well as leading Germany through World War II.

In 1908, a mysterious Siberian explosion leveled over 770 square miles of forest. There were no human casualties. Explanations of the explosion have included a comet, meteorite, natural atomic explosion, or a crashed UFO. Although it is called an impact event - the largest one in recorded earth history - there is no crater and it is widely thought that the explosion was caused by a meteor exploding 3 to 6 miles above the earth.

In 1919, the "Black Sox Scandal" rocked baseball fans during the World Series. Eight players on the Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the World Series, thus allowing the Cincinnati Reds to win, and making money off of the losses. All of the players were found not guilty by a jury but the fallout lasted for decades. The players were banned from baseball even though they were found innocent.

In 1939, on the 1st of September, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. On September 17th, the Soviet Union invaded Poland as well. Poland expected help from France and the United Kingdom, since they had a pact with both. But no help came. By October 6th, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany held full control of the previously Polish lands. Eventually, the invasion of Poland lead to World War II.

In 1944, on November 7th, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was reelected to a fourth term as President of the United States. Running against Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York, Roosevelt won 53.4 of the popular vote, Dewey got 45.9%.