Arts in the Olympics

At the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, poetry was an official event.  Modern history's first written work to win an Olympic gold medal was "Ode to Sport," a prose poem by Georges Hohrod and M. Eschbach.  There were also medals in sculpture, painting, and music.  Hilariously, Hohrod and Eschbach did not exist; they were pseudonyms for Pierre de Coubertin, the man who founded the modern Olympics.  The 1948 London Olympics were the final artistic competitions at the games.

Miguel Indurain

Miguel Induráin is a Spanish cyclist who has won the Tour de France five times, the fourth person to do so.  He is the only person to have won the titles consecutively, 1991-1995.  His nickname is the "Big Mig."

Len Elmore

Leonard Elmore was an NBA player for five different teams 1974-84, mostly with the Indiana Pacers, later an announcer. Elmore received a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1987 and began his law career as a prosecutor, serving as an Assistant DA in Brooklyn.  Not to be confused with Elmore Leonard!

First World Cup host

The first nation to host the World Cup was Uruguay, in 1930.  They won, Argentina was the runner up, and the USA took third place, its best finish to this day!  Go USA!

Domestique in biking

In bike racing, a domestique is a rider who rides for the benefit of a team rather than trying to win the race.  The most typical example is a someone who rides ahead of the leader to reduce wind resistance.

Christmas tree lights

In drag racing, the system of starting lights is called a Christmas tree.

Jack Nicklaus majors wins

Jack Nicklaus has won the most major championships in golf, with 18.  (Tiger Woods is second with 14.)  Possibly interesting facts: He has technically won 20 majors, but they retroactively took away two because they were amateur majors.

Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt Senior is known as "The Intimidator" for his aggressive style of driving.  He has also been called "The Man in Black" and "Darth Vader" before, but "The Intimidator" is the sobriquet that stuck, probably because those other two were already taken.

Axel Paulsen

The thing I learned today is that ice skating's move the Axel jump is not named for the rotating axle, as I always thought, but a 19th-century Norwegian speed skater, Axel Paulsen, who invented it.  Who knew?  Lots of people, certainly.

Stone skipping

The thing I learned today is that a group of French researches discovered that the optimum angle for a stone to hit the water so it skips across the surface is 20 degrees.  Lydéric Bocquet, a physics professor at the University of Lyon, and his team found that even if other variables are changed, the stone has the best chance of skipping when hitting the water at 20 degrees, the "magic angle."This was confirmed by Japanese scientists as well.

The US Open prize money

The thing I learned today is that in 1973, the US Open tennis tournament became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men's and women's champions, $25,000 at the time.

Hannah Teter

Hannah Teter is an American snowboarder who has won the FIS World Cup several times and a gold medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. Her discipline is the half-pipe and she is really incredibly hot.

In FIFA football, the goal is 24 feet wide and eight feet high (7.3 m by 2.44 m).

First American to summit Mount Everest

On May 1, 1963, Jim Whittaker became the first American to summit Mount Everest, reaching the top along with Nawang Gombu after running out of oxygen.

Patriots' Day

Patriots' Day is a civic holiday (traditionally April 19, celebrated the third Monday of April) observed in Massachusetts to commemorate the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Boston Marathon is held every year on Patriots' Day.

Maurice Garin

Maurice Garin, a chimney sweep, won the first Tour de France in 1903.

Every baseball used in MLB games is made by hand in Costa Rica. All baseballs used in major league games are made by the official producer of baseballs, Rawlings.

Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie is an American race-car driver who in 1977 became the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500.  In 1978 she finished ninth, the best placing by a woman until 2005.  She also got a pilot's license at the age of 17.

First African-American MLB manager

Frank Robinson was the first black manager of a major league baseball team, the Cleveland Indians, 1975-77. He played with the Reds, the Orioles, the California Angels, the LA Dodgers and the Indians before becoming manager. He was also the first player to win MVP awards in both leagues and was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.

Fog Bowl

The Fog Bowl (in America) was was the December 31, 1988 NFL playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears.  The Bears won 20-12.