Friday, December 30, 2005

Spotlight
Happy 30th birthday to Tiger Woods. The champion golfer won his first Masters in 1997, when he was 21, the youngest winner ever. In 2001, he became one of an elite group of golfers to simultaneously hold the four major tournament titles: US Open, British Open, PGA Championship and Masters. By 2005 he had nine major golf championships under his belt. Woods is the only person to be twice named Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year, in 1996 and 2000. Woods' real first name is Eldrick; when he was very young, his father nicknamed him Tiger in honor of his friend, a South Vietnamese army officer.

Quote
"I'm trying as hard as I can, and sometimes things don't go your way, and that's the way things go." – Tiger Woods

Word of the day
trajectory: the path of an item projected through space; the key elements in golf are the speed and trajectory of the golf ball. (© )

Today's News

• Bob Geldof: to advise Tories on poverty relief (story)
• Marriott International: missing data for 200,000 customers (story)
• antioxidants: reduce macular degeneration (or, carrots really do help eyesight) (story)

Today's History

• Gadsden Purchase: was signed, acquiring the land of southern New Mexico and Arizona from Mexico (1853)
• The Pirates of Penzance: operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan was performed for the first time (1879)
• USSR: was established (1922)

Today's Birthdays

• Rudyard Kipling: Nobel-winning writer, The Jungle Book, Kim (1865-1936)
• Bo Diddley: rock 'n' roll pioneer (77)
• LeBron James: Cleveland Cavaliers basketball star (21)