• On Aug. 3, 1923, Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, hours after the death of President Warren G. Harding, who had died suddenly of a heart attack or stroke while on vacation in California. Coolidge’s oath was administered by his father, a notary public, under the light of a kerosene lamp while he was visiting family in Vermont.
• On Aug. 4, 1790, the first U.S. Congress authorized the construction of 10 vessels to patrol American ports from Massachusetts to Georgia. The United States Coast Guard, originally known as the Revenue Marine and then the Revenue Cutter Service, was the idea of Alexander Hamilton and designed to intercept marine smugglers and collect tariffs on imported goods.
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