Sunday, October 11, 2026

Eleanor Roosevelt is born, then comes to Boulder to tell students the world needs a hide like a rhinoceros

1884 · Boulder / Denver

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born Oct. 11, 1884. She visited CU Boulder three times (1955, 1958, 1961) and Denver/Meeker in 1956. In 1961 she told students anyone in public life needed a hide like a rhinoceros.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born October 11, 1884, in New York. Orphaned young, niece of Theodore Roosevelt, she married her distant cousin Franklin and turned the First Lady role into something closer to a platform. After FDR’s death she helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and kept traveling.

Colorado saw her more than once. In April 1955 she gave the keynote at CU Boulder’s Conference on World Affairs. Macky Auditorium was standing-room only; they ran a public-address system outside for the overflow. She returned in 1958 and again in 1961, one year before she died. In the last visit she told students the great challenge was preserving civilization without destroying it, that no one would force them to meet it, and that anyone going into public life needed “a hide like a rhinoceros.” She also visited Denver in 1956, spent time with family (including a grandson then in law school at CU), and flew out to Meeker for her son Elliott’s birthday.

The photograph is the 1933 Library of Congress portrait. She looks like someone who has already decided the world is going to hear from her whether it asked or not.

Sources: Boulder Daily Camera — Eleanor Roosevelt brought message of peace to Boulder · Eleanor Roosevelt Papers — My Day, September 27, 1956 · Library of Congress — Today in History, October 11

A 5.5 wakes Montrose at 2 a.m. and Colorado remembers it is not only about snow

1960 · Gunnison County / near Montrose

At 2:05 a.m. on Oct. 11, 1960, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit in Gunnison County, about 19 miles southeast of Montrose. Depth roughly 30 miles. One of the stronger instrumentally recorded events in Colorado.

At 2:05 a.m. on October 11, 1960, a magnitude 5.5 earthquake hit in Gunnison County, roughly 19 miles southeast of Montrose (epicenter near Colona). Depth was about 30 miles. Intensity near the epicenter was light shaking (IV). It is one of the stronger instrumentally recorded events in Colorado history. No major damage reports are highlighted in the contemporary summaries, which is either good news or a reminder that rural Western Slope nights in 1960 did not generate a lot of paperwork.

Colorado is not California, but the Rockies have faults. This one was a quiet reminder that the ground under the Uncompahgre Plateau and the Black Canyon country can still move. Most Coloradans slept through it or woke up, decided the furnace had done something weird, and went back to bed.

Sources: USGS / Volcano Discovery — M 5.5 earthquake, Oct. 11, 1960 · Colorado Geological Survey — Bulletin 46, Colorado Earthquake Data 1867–1985

Denver sets a record low of 9 degrees, one day after the snow arrived early

2019 · Denver

On Oct. 11, 2019, Denver set a record low of 9°F (old mark 22°F in 1946). The day before had already broken the Oct. 10 record at 13°F after an 83°F high on the 9th — a 70-degree two-day swing, largest ever in October.

On October 11, 2019, Denver International Airport bottomed out at 9°F, shattering the old record low for the date (22°F in 1946) by 13 degrees. The day before had already broken the October 10 record with a low of 13°F. The high on the 10th never escaped the 20s after an 83°F reading the previous day—a 70-degree two-day swing, the largest ever recorded in October and tied for second-largest in Denver history since 1872.

The cold front brought the season’s first measurable snow (1.0 inch at DIA, more in the city). Power outages, slick roads, and the usual “I was just wearing shorts yesterday” chorus followed. October 11 has also hosted a 31°F high in the 1969 early-season snowstorm (7 inches at Stapleton) and damaging 88 mph winds at Conifer in 1997. The date’s personality is consistent: it will either try to freeze you or try to blow you into Wyoming.

Sources: Denver Post — Cold front breaks two record lows overnight, Oct. 11, 2019 · Extreme Weather Watch — Denver Oct. 11 records · NWS Boulder — via ThorntonWeather Oct. 11 history