Winter Olympics.

At the Winter Olympics in Saint Moritz, Switzerland, the United States took gold medals in skiing and figure skating for the first time in Olympic history. Gretchen Fraser won the slalom, while eighteen year- old Dick Button glided to victory in the men's figure skating, becoming a favorite of spectators. Button, from Englewood, New Jersey, was not only the first American to win a gold medal in figure skating, he produced the highest point total in Olympic history: 994.7 in compulsory figures and 191.77 in free skating. When the games ended in February, the United States took home three gold medals, four silver, and two bronze, the best American showing in Winter Olympic history. The United States finished behind only Sweden and Switzerland.

Sources:

William Oscar Johnson, The Olympics: A History of the Games (Montgomery, Ala.: Oxmoor House, 1978);

John Kieran and Arthur Daley, The...