Today in History - August 3: When dictator woke from coma, nobody told him he'd been replaced
Portugal's dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar had a fall at his home and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on August 3, 1968.
He did not suffer any serious symptoms in the aftermath until 16 days later, when he was admitted to hospital.
Two days later, he went into a coma.
President Américo Tomás, who was essentially a powerless figurehead when Salazar was in charge, made the decision to replace him.
Salazar's prognosis was grim and doctors expected him to die soon.
He was replaced by Marcelo Caetano (pictured).
But after a month in a coma, Salazar woke up and was immediately lucid.
Rather than tell him he had been replaced as the country's leader, he was told he was still in charge.
And for 23 months, he believed he was running Portugal.
Aides would give him a fake version of the newspaper every morning, which contained articles referencing him still being in charge.
All this time, he believed Caetano was not in government but was working as an academic.
He died in 1970.
On August 3, 1936, US sprinter Jesse Owens won the first of four gold medals at the Nazi-staged Berlin Olympics.
After Owens won the 100 metres sprint, German dictator Adolf Hitler refused to congratulate him, giving rise to a popular myth that the runner had been snubbed because of his race.
In fact, by the second day of competition, when Owens won the 100-metre final, Hitler had decided to no longer publicly congratulate any of the athletes.
The American runner went on to win gold medals in the the 200m, long jump and 100m relay.
But Owens' four Olympic victories at Berlin in 1936 dealt a blow to Adolf Hitler's aims to use the Games to demonstrate Aryan superiority.
Despite the high-profile Nazi presence at the Games, Owens was adored by the German public.
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