Browsing: Sports

A Brief History On February 1, 1998, Lillian E. Fishburne became the first African American woman promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral (2 stars) in the United States Navy.  In keeping with the spirit of Black History Month (every February) and expanding on our previous articles celebrating African American achievements, we take this opportunity to cite even more impressive achievements by African Americans, not just “firsts,” but other great accomplishments as well.  (And see our recent article dated January 18, 2021), “Historic African American Firsts”) Who would you add to this list? Digging Deeper Lillian E. Fishburne, 1st African…

A Brief History On September 17, 2020, the National Football League (NFL) celebrated its 100th birthday! Digging Deeper Ivy League Roots The NFL has not so humble beginnings as the first official football game as we know it took place in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers. The rules were forged as a hybrid of soccer and rugby but it was not until a tremendous rugby player from Yale, Walter Camp, came along in the 1880s who crafted the early rules that we recognize today as American football. The first paid player came in the form of William “Pudge” Heffelfinger of…

A Brief History On January 18, 2021, the United States celebrates the birthday of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon in the Civil Rights Movement and an African American man of historic importance.  In honor of Reverend King, we take a look at some notable African American “firsts” in American History, although some of the entries may cause the reader to wonder at the dates involved.  Was the United States really that far behind in racial equality at such late dates?  Judge for yourself.  (See our many other articles concerning African American accomplishments.)  Please do not fret if you…

A Brief History On December 28, 1999, Western actor/action hero Clayton Moore died.  If you are not familiar with this star of the small and large screen, he played The Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1957 on television and starred in 2 related big screen movies about the same character.  Even if you never saw the Clayton Moore versions of the Lone Ranger,  you are probably familiar with “The William Tell Overture” by Rossini, the theme music played for Moore’s Lone Ranger character.  In the Covid-19 plagued year of 2020, we have lost another host of notable people, both to…

A Brief History On August 7, 1987, an American woman named Lynne Cox, age 30, swam all the way from the United States to the Soviet Union, through ice cold water!  Cox’s swim was a good will gesture during the latter stages of the Cold War between the USSR and its (communist) allies and the United States and its allies.  The successful swim was later given credit for helping to “thaw” relations between the US and USSR, though we doubt the swim helped thaw out Cox! Digging Deeper As far as notable long distance swims go, this particular one was…