FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

John Jacob “Jay” Berwanger (March 19, 1914 – June 26, 2002) was an American college football player and referee. He was the first winner of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy in 1935 (the following year the award was renamed the Heisman Trophy); the trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s most outstanding college football player. Berwanger was a star halfback for the Chicago Maroons football team of the University of Chicago, where he was known as the “one man football team”. In 1936, Berwanger became the first player drafted into the National Football League (NFL) in its inaugural 1936 NFL Draft, although he did not play professionally.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

In what year did Charles Dickens write A Christmas Carol?Dickens wrote the story in 1843.

Advice of the Day

Place a vinegar-soaked brown bag on sprains to ease the pain and aid recovery.

Home Hint of the Day

To get the odor of cat urine out of a carpet, sprinkle baking soda on the area. Leave it on for several hours, then vacuum it up. If necessary, repeat the process with fresh baking soda.

Word of the Day

DinkA soft return in tennis. The tennis ball will drop abruptly after crossing the net.

Puzzle of the Day

Why is it that a man cannot own a cane that is too short?Because it can never be-long to him.

Born

• Clarence Birdseye (businessman) – 1886
• Jean de Brunhoff (author of Babar books) – 1899
• Kirk Douglas (actor) – 1916
• Redd Foxx (actor) – 1922
• Dame Judi Dench (actress) – 1934
• Beau Bridges (actor) – 1941
• John Malkovich (actor) – 1953
• Donnie Osmond (entertainer) – 1957
• Jesse Metcalfe (actor) – 1978

Died

• Paul Simon (5-term Democratic congressman and 2-term senator from Illinois who ran unsuccessfully for presidential nomination in 1988) – 2003
• Georgia Gibbs (singer) – 2006
• Gene Barry (actor) – 2009

Events

• Robert Cushman gave first known sermon in the United States, in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts– 1621
• Noah Webster established The American Minerva, NY’s first daily newspaper– 1793
• Canada’s first coin club, Numismatic Society of Montreal, formed– 1862
• Lincoln letter sold for $748,000– 1935
• First Heisman Trophy awarded to Jay Berwanger– 1935
• Quebec adopted a new coat of arms– 1939
• British troops opened their first major offensive in North Africa during World War II– 1940
• Bob Waterfield became the first professional football player to kick 5 field goals in one game– 1951
• Public debut of the computer mouse, in San Francisco– 1968
• Marguerite d’Youville became first Canadian-born saint– 1990
• Twin polar bear cubs were born at the Hellabrunn Zoo, Munich, Germany– 2013

Weather

• It was 61 degrees F in Boston at 1:00 A.M.– 1980

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