There are 3 entries for this date: Lance Armstrong, Catherine Fahringer and Jose Manuel Balmaceda.

On this date in 1971, Lance Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas. Lance won an Iron Kids triathlon at age 13 and by age 16 was a professional triathlete. He underwent grueling training during his senior year to enter the Olympics. Lance won the U.S. National Amateur Championship (cycling) in 1991, and remained an amateur competitor through the 1992 Olympic Barcelona games. He took 10 titles in 1993. Lance won the 1995 Tour du Pont and became the first American to win the Classico San Sebastian. At age 25, Lance, then the number-one ranked cyclist in the world, was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs and brain. Five months after the diagnosis, following two surgeries, including brain, and aggressive chemotherapy, Lance was back on his bike. Soon after, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to benefit cancer research, promote early detection, and help cancer survivors. Running with the U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team, Lance captured headlines and captivated spectators around the world by winning his first Tour de France in 1999. With his 2005 victory, Lance became a 7-time winner of the Tour de France. Through it all, Lance relied on his own "deep well of reserves and the unconditional support of family and friends" (Lance Armstrong official website), not religion. "I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn't pray." (It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, 2000) The superstar competitor is considered one of the strongest athletes in the world.

On this date in 1922, Catherine Fahringer was born in Utah to a military family. After living in various places in the United States and abroad, her family settled in San Antonio, Texas, when Catherine was 12. Raised as an Episcopalian, she was urged by family members to introduce her children to religion. While living in England, where her husband was stationed, Catherine dutifully purchased The Golden Book of Bible Stories. Perusing it before she read the stories to her children, Catherine had an epiphany: "I said to my husband, 'I can't teach this stuff to my kids. I'm nicer than God" (San Antonio Express News, March 24, 1991). Catherine found a venue for activism when she hooked up with the Freedom From Religion Foundation in 1987. She created and hosted "Freethought Forum," a cable TV show. Catherine became a well-known public figure in San Antonio, monitoring and challenging numerous, egregious state/church violations there. An officer with the national Foundation, she served on its governing council. With wit and aplomb, Catherine protested city prayer breakfasts, the presence of religious symbols on public property, and kept freethought in focus with numerous op-eds, letters to the editor and educational letters to government officials and media. In the 1990s, she even managed to persuade then-Gov. Ann Richards and city officials to make proclamations commemorating freethought. Catherine's media appearances included being featured on TV's Sally Jessy Raphael Show, where she quipped about rejecting the idea of a "Big Spook in the Sky." Catherine died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 86. Foundation Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said of Catherine: "We loved [her] and miss her. She was not only one of FFRF's best activists, but she was one of our best friends, best boosters and best advertisements for freethought." The Foundation offers the Catherine Fahringer Youth Activist Memorial Award in her honor. D. 2008.

On this date in 1891, Jose Manuel Balmaceda, president of the Republic of Chile, died at the end of a civil war. He was born circa 1838 (one source reports 1840), and was educated at the Jesuit Seminary in Santiago. Rejecting Roman Catholicism, Balmaceda founded the anti-clerical Reform Club in 1868. He became part of the Chilean congress in the 1870s, and led the anti-clerical Liberals. In 1882, as Minister of the Interior during the presidency of Domingo Santa Maria, Balmaceda used his powers to oppose Church strangleholds on the law, passing a divorce law and other reforms. Balmaceda was president from 1886 to 1890. His rule, which became increasingly autocratic during a constitutional conflict, brought on a civil war. He committed suicide at the Argentine embassy. D. 1891.