On July 17, 2007 the Dow rose above 14,000 points - a record high - [it closed today at 8743.94 up 32.12 -On January 20, 2009 Barack Obama was sworn into office as the 44th president of the United States. On that day the Dow closed at 7943. The Dow's lowest was on March 9, 2009 when it closed at 6,594.]
That night over two inches of rain fell across the Hoosier heartland sending relief to the region which was experiencing drought-like conditions. [got an inch last night...] That same evening, debate began on the floor of the Senate calling for US troops to return home from war-torn Iraq. The nation was divided over the president’s policies while rumors of terrorist attacks on US soil began to intensify. The cost of a gallon of regular blend gasoline had risen to over $3.25 earlier in the year. Purdue University welcomed a new President (the day before) - France Cordova - who had been chancellor of the University of California-Riverside. Cordova is the first woman to lead Purdue since its founding in 1869. Meanwhile, Indiana announced on March 1 that Michael McRobbie would become its 19th President effective July 1st Prior to being named president he served as interim provost of the Bloomington campus. An Australian national, McRobbie had been on the Bloomington campus since 1997
