Did you know Ahh... It’s March 14th. Sigh deeply. But wait a second! What’s so special about March 14th, you wonder. Well, did you know that aside from it being the day the Viking Press is issued, it is also the date of many other events that take place world wide, but don’t often cross our minds. Did you know... 75 years ago on this day, an astronaut by the name of Frank Borman was born in Gary, Indiana? Borman learned to fly when he was 15 years old and graduated in 1950 from the US Military Academy. NASA selected Borman for training in the Gemini and Apollo programs, (both of which he commanded.) And did you know... 78 years ago on this day, the man considered to be the father of American football, Walter Camp, died at the age of 65. Camp created many of the rules and strategies to make football safe to play on the fields. Before he did this, football was a game of major chaos, and was even on the verge of being banned from being played in colleges. Camp played football until the day he died, thus earning himself the title as the father of American Football. And did you know... 205 years ago on this day, inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin. Used for removing seeds from fiver, the cotton gin consisted of spiked teeth mounted on a boxed revolving cylinder that, when turned by a crank, pulled cotton fiver through an opening to separate seeds from lint. one machine could produce up to 50 pounds of cleaned cotton daily. It was seven years before Whitney’s patent was finally upheld. And did you know... 56 years ago on this day, well known comedian and actor, Billy Crystal, was born in Long Beach, New York. Crystal is known for his work in such films as The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, and This is Spinal Tap, all of which were directed by Rob Reiner. Crystal has won several awards for writing and performing and has hosted to Oscars six times. And did you know... on the day March 14th falls on a Tuesday, it is the first day of a five-day festival called The Cotton Carnival celebrated by citizens in Memphis, Tennessee. The Cotton Carnival, in Memphis, is known as the nations party in the land of cotton, and honors with “gayety and color,“ King Cotton. And did you know... 103 years ago on this day, a man by the name of Luigi Chiaramonte was crowned Pope Pius VII. Chiaramonte was the first new pope of the 19th century, and reined for quite a while considering he wasn’t the first choice and any of the people who elected him. Chiaramonte was later put in prison by Napoleon Bonaparte. Sources: http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/borman.htm http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/history/apollo204/borman.htm http://www.geocities.com/ollywood/makeup/6353/bcrystal.html http://atheism.about.com/library/glossary/western/bldef_puisvii.htm http://inventors.about.com/lirary/inventors/blcotton_gin.htm http://web.utk/~bledsoe/studentproj/seancarrol/memphis/events.htm