Luther Hansford Lay (born 1866)

In 1866, in the year that Luther Hansford Lay was born, on April 10th, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - the ASPCA - was created. New Yorker Henry Bergh was the first President of the Society and the leader in its creation. He later formed the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

In 1889, on March 31st, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated. Because the elevators were not yet in operation, officials had to climb to the top of the tower - it took an hour. On May 15th, the Tower opened to the public - still without working elevators - but around 30,000 visitors still made the climb. The elevators went into operation on the 26th. The Tower wasn't considered aesthetically pleasing at the time but is now one of the most iconic structures in the world.

In 1945, on April 12th, President Roosevelt died of natural causes and Harry S. Truman, his Vice-President, became the 33rd President of the United States.

In 1972, on November 7th, Richard Nixon won re-election, amidst the dawning knowledge of the Watergate scandal, by 60.7% to anti-war candidate George McGovern's 37.5%.

In 1985, in May, a paper published in Nature by three British scientists reported that a huge hole was discovered in the ozone layer over the Antarctic. It was much larger than expected and is due to the use of manmade chemicals.