FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Wilton Norman Chamberlain (/ˈtʃeɪmbərlɪn/; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played for the University of Kansas and for the Harlem Globetrotters before playing in the NBA. Chamberlain stood 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall.

Chamberlain holds numerous NBA regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He won seven scoring, eleven rebounding, nine durability, and nine field goal percentage titles, and led the league in assists once. Chamberlain is the only player in NBA history to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a season, which he accomplished seven times. He is also the only player to average at least 30 points and 20 rebounds per game over the entire course of his NBA career. Although Chamberlain suffered a long string of NBA Finals losses during his career, he had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, the NBA Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and was selected to 13 NBA All-Star Game and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA’s 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and was chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. In October 2021, Chamberlain named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Chamberlain was known by several nicknames during his basketball playing career. He disliked the ones that called attention to his height, such as “Goliath” and “Wilt the Stilt“. A Philadelphia sportswriter coined the nicknames during Chamberlain’s high school days. He preferred “The Big Dipper”, which was inspired by his friends who saw him dip his head as he walked through doorways. After his professional basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association, was president of that organization, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions. He was a successful businessman, authored several books, and appeared in the movie Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became notorious for his statement of having had sexual relations with as many as 20,000 women.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

How did the custom of the handshake originate?This custom started in medieval times. The world was an unsavory place back then, and people often concealed weapons in their hands. The handshake was a way of affirming that neither you nor the person you were greeting was carrying anything intended to harm. Over time, it evolved into a polite greeting.

Advice of the Day

To avoid dying, if you hear a dog howl at night, reach under the bed and turn over a shoe.

Home Hint of the Day

To catch fleas, place a shallow pan filled with water and a little dishwashing liquid in the room that’s infested. At night leave just one lamp on and focus it right over the pan. The fleas will jump at the light and fall into the dish. Continue the treatment for 2 weeks.

Word of the Day

ClodhopperA rude, rustic fellow.

Puzzle of the Day

What is the difference between a locomotive and a hound?One runs on the track, and the other tracks on the run.

Born

• Anders Celsius(astronomer)– 1701
• Joseph Sanford Mack(trucking executive)– 1870
• Vito Genovese(criminal)– 1897
• James Agee(writer)– 1909
• Buffalo Bob Smith(entertainer, Howdy Doody host)– 1917
• Bruce Lee(martial artist & actor)– 1940
• Jimi Hendrix(musician)– 1942
• Caroline Bouvier Kennedy(daughter of President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy)– 1957
• Fisher Stevens(actor)– 1963
• Michael Vartan(actor)– 1968

Died

• Alexandre Dumas fils(author)– 1895
• Baby Face Nelson(gangster)– 1934
• Eugene O’Neil(playwright)– 1953
• Lotte Lenya(actress)– 1981

Events

• Shakespeare got a license to marry Anne Hathaway– 1582
• The American Statistical Association founded in Boston– 1839
• Spectacular Andromedid meteor storm, 13,000 per hour– 1885
• Penn. Station opened in New York City– 1910
• C.A.R.E. founded– 1945
• Basketball player Wilt Chamberlain scored 18 baskets in a row– 1963
• In San Francisco, city mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk were assassinated by former supervisor Dan White– 1978
• Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 2.0 was released, starting the first browser war (with Netscape’s Navigator)– 1995

Weather

• The Portland Storm brought 27 inches of snow to New London, Connecticut– 1898
• 0.5″ snow began falling in northern Florida– 1912
• Tallahassee, Florida, experienced freezing temperatures, with a low of 20 degrees F– 1950
• A blizzard with lightning struck parts of South Dakota– 1983

COURTESY www.almanac.com