Tuesday, February 27, 1934

Rode the street car to school. Lost my purse. Found it in the office but some things were gone out of it.

"I Saw Lincoln Shot"
As told to Frank M. Butler by Lieutenant John B. Rivard on February 27, 1934

Lt. Rivard fought through three years of the Civil War. Discharged from the Union army with the rank
 of lieutenant, he married and stayed in Washington for a honeymoon. On the night of April 14, 1865,
 he took his bride to Ford's Theater; there she would see Abraham Lincoln as Lt. Rivard had bought
seats in the box directly opposite the President's.. The play was a comedy, Our American Cousin.
John Wilkes Booth's pistol turned the occasion into tragedy.

Shortly after telling his story, Mr. Rivard died in Woodbine, New Jersey. He would have been
 one hundred on May 24, 1934.

Monday, February 27, 1933

Went in swimming. I was just learning to float when the bell rang.

An arson fire guts the Reichstag, Germany's historic parliamentary
building, paving the way for Adolf Hitler to seize dictatorial powers.