| Friday, October 30, 2009 |
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Answer of the DayWho was the winner of the Rumble in the Jungle? Thirty-five years ago today, promoter Don King brought together in Kinshasa two of the era's greatest boxers for the Rumble in the Jungle — Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Foreman was younger and had just beaten Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, the two only men at the time to have defeated Ali, making Foreman the favorite in this battle. Ali had lost his heavyweight title to Frazier a few years earlier, and was fighting his way back to the top. In the eighth round of a 15-round bout, using his wits as well as his fists, Ali knocked out Foreman and regained his heavyweight title. The robe and gloves Ali wore in the fight are now part of the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
Quote"Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them — a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."
Word of the dayschmendrik
A foolish, clueless, and naive person.
This week: words you wouldn't want to be called.
Today's History
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| Montreal, Quebec |
- War of the Worlds: Orson Welles' radio broadcast purported to deliver news of a fictional Martian invasion; outrage and panic ensued (1930)
- Tsar Bomba: the largest and most powerful nuclear weapon ever tested was detonated by the Soviet Union over the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya (1961)
- Quebec: voters opted to stay part of Canada by a hair's-breadth majority of 50.6% to 49.4% (1995)
Today's Birthdays
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| Louis Malle |
- John Adams (1735-1826): the first vice president of the US, and its second president
- Ezra Pound (1885-1972): modern imagist poet who was arrested in the US for treason
- Charles Atlas (1893-1972): Italian-born bodybuilder who ran a mail order course for "97-pound weaklings"
- Louis Malle (1932-1995): New Wave film director, My Dinner With André; broadcast news pioneer Fred Friendly (1915-1998) shared this birth date
- Grace Slick (70): rock singer, Jefferson Airplane
- Henry Winkler (64): The Fonz of Happy Days; other actors born on this date are Ruth Gordon (1896-1985), Dick Gautier (72), Harry Hamlin (58), Kevin Pollack (52), Nia Long (39) and Gael Garcia Bernal (31)
- Diego Maradona (49): Argentinian soccer great who led his country to the 1986 World Cup; also, gold-medal gymnast Nastia Liukin (20)
