Tuesday:
Today is Election Day, and we encourage you to get out and vote for (or against)
the candidate of your choice. After the polls close, you can tune into the
results and see if you'll spend the next couple of years elated or bitterly
disappointed.
In a nice coincidence, this is also the 90th anniversary of Pittsburgh radio station KDKA making the world’s first commercial broadcast, which just happened to be the results of the 1920 Presidential election. (Spoiler alert: Warren G. Harding won.)
One activity we don't encourage today is going down to your local polling place
and cheerleading for your favorite politicians or ballot initiatives. Leave
those activities to those who are trained to do it, like one Johnny Campbell,
who became the world's first cheerleader, as he led the crowd to cheer on the University of Minnesota
football team.
One guy who never needed cheerleading or encouragement was Howard Hughes, the fabulously wealthy engineer and aviator who
was dedicated to breaking new ground in aviation technology, never moreso than
in 1947, when he piloted his H-4 Hercules
(aka "The Spruce Goose") on its one and only flight over Long Beach harbor in California. The Hercules is still one of the
largest planes ever built (with a wingspan of 320 feet) and currently resides
in a museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
Someone who could have used a cheerleader was Charles Van Doren, who caused a national sensation in the 1950s when he
appeared on the game show Twenty One,
winning a still-impressive $129,000 (more than $1 million today). The victory was tainted, though, for on
this day in 1959, Van Doren admitted that he had been given his questions
– and answers – in advance.
Wednesday:
All other events take a back seat to National Sandwich Day today. Is there anything better than a tasty sandwich? We
think not. Why celebrate the sandwich today? Because it's the 292nd birthday of
John Montagu, 4th Earl of
Sandwich, the alleged inventor of the meal
in itself. Whether the legend is true or not,
we're thankful for it, as there are few better meals.
The only thing that could possibly top the world's greatest meal is its most
famous painting, the Mona Lisa. On this date in 1507, Leonardo da Vinci was hired by Francesco del Giocondo to paint a portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini. The resulting picture has been familiarly known as the
"Mona Lisa" ever since. Beyond that, and the lady's smile, we don't know much about the enigmatic painting – though some folks certainly have their own ideas.
Suggested Sites...
- Polling Place Finder - find out where to vote.
- University of Minnesota Cheer Squad - leaping in the steps of Johnny Campbell.
- Evergeeen Aviation and Space Museum - home of the Spruce Goose.
- The Best Sandwiches in America - sorry, Esquire; Katz's is a distant second to Langer's.
- 25 Secrets of Mona Lisa Revealed - we knew she was enigmatic, but mysterious?
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