On This Day… August 9, 1939

Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games in the 4x100-meter relay dash, setting a record of 39.8 seconds that lasted for the next 20 years. Hitler funded the Berlin Games to exclude Jewish and Gypsy athletes from Nazi-sponsored facilities and criticized the U.S.A. for including African-Americans on their rosters — but “The Buckeye Bullet” was a star for winning four gold medals.