1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak 1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak The 1976 Legionnaires disease outbreak, occurring in the late summer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first occasion in which a cluster of a particular type of pneumonia cases were determined to be caused by the "Legionella pneumophila" bacteria. Previous outbreaks were retroactively diagnosed as being most probably caused by Legionella bacteria. On July 21, 1976, the American Legion opened its annual three-day convention at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. More than 2,000 Legionnaires, mostly men, attended the convention. The date and city were chosen to coincide with America’s celebration of the 200th anniversary of
Sons of the American Legion organization, The American Legion, does to improve veterans communities, such as scholarships, veterans help programs (i.e. ending veterans homelessness), and youth sports. They also promote national security, patriotism, and devotion to veterans. The establishment of the "Sons of the American Legion" as a non-political, no-sectarian civilian organization was authorized by action of the 14th National Convention of the "American Legion" in Portland, Oregon September 12–15, 1932. In 1939, the S.A.L. was riding the crest and had a numerical size of about seven percent as large as the parent organization. The S.A.L. organization seemed destined to grow even larger, but looming