Today's Highlights:
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
| Tuesday, March 4, 2008 |
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| Knute Rockne |
Spotlight: Notre Dame's legendary football coach Knute Rockne was born 120 years ago today. His Fighting Irish went unbeaten and untied for five out of the 13 seasons Rockne led them, winning the last 19 games he coached, and his .881 percentage (100 victories, 12 losses, 5 ties) remains unmatched. Rockne revolutionized the sport: he initiated intersectional rivalries, built the first national games schedule, worked to develop the forward pass, and he used his knowledge of anatomy to design new uniforms and equipment for his team.
Question of the Day: Why is American football called "football"?Some might say, simply, "because they kick the football." But the real story is deeper. The origin of American football is in the history of the world's most popular sport: soccer. When soccer — more universally known as "football" (which of course makes sense because soccer players use their feet) — players decided to change their centuries-old game with restrictions such as the no-use-of-hand rules. People who disliked this broke away to create rugby. More
Word of the day: genesisCreation; origination; used as a word termination joined to an element indicating the thing created, e.g. carcinogenesis.
Usage: "Passion is the genesis of genius." — Tony Robbins
With today's entry, our featured Word of the Day is heading in a different direction. Each week we will highlight a theme that will inspire our choices. To kick things off, this week's theme is "new beginnings."
Today's History:
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| Vermont's 'Green' Mountains |
- US Constitution: went into effect; Congress met for the first time (1789)
- Green Mountain State: Vermont became the 14th state (1791)
- New Deal: economic recovery and social welfare plan was outlined by FDR during his inaugural address (1933)
- John Lennon: sparked controversy by saying that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus (1966)
Today's Birthdays:
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| Antonio Vivaldi |
- Henry the Navigator (1394-1460): Portuguese prince who sponsored journeys of exploration
- Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): baroque composer best known for The Four Seasons
- Charles Goren (1901-1991): authority on bridge who helped popularize the game
- Miriam Makeba (76): South African folk singer; among the many musicians born on this date are Bobby Womack (64), Chris Squire (60), Emilio Estefan (55), Grand Puba (42) and Jason Marsalis (31)
- Patricia Heaton (50): actor, Everybody Loves Raymond, Back to You; other actors born on this date include Catherine O'Hara (54), Mykelti Williamson (51), Steven Weber (47) and Andrea Bowen (18)
