#27 aug.

On August 27, 1926, the city celebrated the perseverance of 19-year-old New Yorker Gertrude Ederle (standing center, looking left), for swimming across the English Channel. Her 14-hour, 31-minute time beat the five previous successful crossings, all made by men, and was not bested until 1964. Ederle’s accomplishment inspired countless female athletes and brought her world-wide fame, far greater than the accolades she received for winning three swimming medals in the 1924 Olympics.

One gangster lies dead on the ground after a battle between police and a gang on August 27, 1931. The police chased the bandits for five miles and the fight resulted in six deaths and several injuries among innocent bystanders. This followed President Hoover’s appeal to police chiefs to quell the gangster peril in principal American cities.

Former NY Governor Alfred E. Smith welcomes Carrie Chapman Catt, women's suffrage leader, on her triumphal return from Tennessee, August 27, 1920. Tennessee was the last state to ratify the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote. Miss Catt carries a bouquet of blue and yellow flowers, colors of the National American Woman's Suffrage Association.

The East 23rd Street pool is filled with kids on August 27, 1948.