January 18th in Elvis History

It's January 18th, and on this day in 1964... Elvis Presley made headlines far beyond the world of music when he became the high bidder at an auction for President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s former yacht, the U.S.S. *Potomac*. The sixty-five-foot vessel, which Elvis secured for \$55,000, wasn’t purchased for personal use—but for a cause close to his heart. In a gesture of generosity, Elvis announced he would donate the historic yacht to the March of Dimes, the organization dedicated to fighting polio, the disease that had afflicted F.D.R. himself. Colonel Tom Parker issued a press release calling for the boat to become a National Shrine, symbolizing both Elvis’s patriotism and his commitment to charitable work.