The Daily Dose/May 25, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Leading Off will return.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow is quoted in today’s paper, but only once, though he manages to be pretty useful at the VSO. Today’s Diary.
Stanko, as usual, is quoted left and right, and so is McGowan, past commander of our small town post but ol’ Sparrow???…One quote, and it wasn’t even my best one…My name, however, is spelled correctly – never a given with this outfit – and I was correctly identified as district commander, so I really shouldn’t complain.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
The drivel simply does not stop: please click on the button to read The Diary of a Nobody. $5.99 includes all entries, past, present, and future.
Click here to read excerpts and a sample chapter.
On This Date
In 1979 – John Spenkelink, a convicted murderer, is electrocuted by the state of Florida. Spenkelink was the second person to be executed in the United States since executions resumed in 1976 and the first to fight his sentence. (Gary Gilmore had willingly been executed in 1977.) The book Among the Lowest of the Dead by David Von Drehle provides a compelling account of Spenkelink’s case.
In 1935 – Jesse Owens of Ohio State University ties or breaks four world records in a span of 45 minutes at the Big Ten track and field championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In order, he tied the 100-yard dash record (9.4s), then broke the long jump (26 feet, 8.25in), the 220-yard dash (20.3s) and the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 seconds) world records. In 1936 Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, and then lost his amateur status when he took some endorsement opportunities in the United States. He worked a variety of odd jobs and eventually declared bankruptcy. He died in 1980, aged 66.
In 1959 – The Battle of New Orleans by Johnny Horton is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot C&W Sides chart – for the second of ten consecutive weeks. The following week the song would begin the first of six consecutive weeks at the top on Billboard’s Hot 100, where it would be the biggest song of the year. It was the second of three #1s for Horton on the country chart and remains his only #1 pop hit.
Quotebook
Powell was possessed by ambition, but not the ambition that puts the reward and the success ahead of the achievement.
Robertson Davies
The Lyre of Orpheus
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Roger Connor broke Harry Stovey’s major league career home run mark with his 123rd home run in 1895.
Today’s Stumper
In what events did Jesse Owens win gold medals in at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games? – Answer next time!
