1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak killed 16 persons out of 78 infected was later determined to be Legionnaires' disease. A September 1974 convention of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows was also held at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel. Out of approximately 1,500 members who attended, 20 developed pneumonia and two died. A later article in "The Lancet" reported: "Illness [high fever and pneumonia] was significantly associated with attendance at one convention activity held on Monday morning, September 16, 1974, in the grand ballroom of the hotel." 1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak The 1976 Legionnaires disease outbreak, occurring in the late summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the
American Legion Veterans of the Korean War were approved for membership in The American Legion in 1950, and The American Legion Child Welfare Foundation was formed in 1954. On May 30, 1969, the Cabin John Bridge, which carried the Capital Beltway (I-495) across the Potomac River northwest of Washington, was officially renamed to the "American Legion Memorial Bridge" in a ceremony led by Lt. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, director of the U.S. Selective Service System. In 1976, an outbreak of bacterial pneumonia occurred in a convention of The American Legion at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia. This pneumonia killed 34 people