Did You Know

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