Answer of the Day
For how long did Bobby Fischer hold the World Chess Champion title? Bobby Fischer, who was born on this date in 1943, became America's only world chess champion in 1972, when he beat Boris Spassky for the title. When Anatoly Karpov challenged him in 1975, Fischer refused to play and his title was revoked. He went into a kind of seclusion, never playing for a championship again. In 1992, he played against Spassky in a private rematch. Fischer won the match and the $3.5-million purse. The match took place in Belgrade, violating US sanctions against Yugoslavia. Fischer chose to live abroad as a fugitive and was eventually granted citizenship by Iceland, where he made his home for the final years of his life.

Quote
"Chess is life." — Bobby Fischer

Word of the day

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Today's History

Barbie, 2009 Version

• Amistad case: the US Supreme Court ruled that the mutineers had been taken into slavery illegally and should be freed (1841)
• See It Now: TV newsmagazine aired an episode critical of the communist-hunting Sen. Joseph McCarthy; it contributed to the senator's eventual downfall (1954)
• Barbie: foot-high fashion doll — full name: Barbie Millicent Roberts — was launched at the New York Toy Fair; a billion have now been sold (1959)
• New York Times v. Sullivan: the US Supreme Court protected the press from libel suits by public figures unless there was actual malice (1964)

Today's Birthdays

Charles Gibson

• Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512): explorer, cartographer after whom the Americas are named
• Samuel Barber (1910-1981): composer, Adaggio for Strings; also, musicians Ornette Coleman (80), Lloyd Price (77), Mark Lindsay (68), Robin Trower (65) and Lil' Bow Wow (23)
• Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968): cosmonaut who was the first human in space
• Charles Gibson (67): broadcast journalist; news anchor Michael Kinsley (59) and technology writer David Pogue (47) share this birth date
• Juliette Binoche (46): actor, The English Patient, Dan in Real Life; also, actors Marty Ingels (74), Raul Julia (1940-1994), Jaime Lyn Bauer (61), Kerr Smith (37) and Brittany Snow (24)