History on Air

On August 3, 1936, Jesse Owens, a 23-year old from northern Alabama, captured the Gold Medal in the 1936 Olympics, winning the 100-meter dash.  Owens, who had set the 100-meter world record (10.2 seconds) earlier in June, beat fellow American and former world-record holder (10.3 seconds) Ralph Metcalfe.

For centuries this bizarre event, known variously as the dancing plague or epidemic of 1518, has stumped scientists attempting to find a cause for the mindless, intense and ultimately deadly dance.