By Mariana Smithfield
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Kimberly Lynn Zmeskal Burdette (née Zmeskal on February 6, 1976) is an American retired artistic gymnast turned gymnastics coach and the 1991 World All-Around champion. A member of the silver medal-winning U.S. team from the 1991 World Championships (the first team medal ever won by the U.S. women at a world championships), she was the first American woman to ever win the all-around title at the World Championships, as well as the first to win a world championship medal of any color in the all-around. A three-time United States national all-around champion (1990–92), Zmeskal is also the 1992 world champion on both balance beam and floor exercise, and was a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, the first U.S. team medal won at a fully attended Olympic Games. She also posted the highest optional all-around score in the qualification round in Barcelona.
Known for her explosive power and tumbling on vault and floor, Zmeskal is regarded as one of the greatest female gymnasts of all time and arguably the best in the world during the early 1990s. Her all-around win also sparked the beginning of a dynasty of American dominance in women’s gymnastics (since 1992, seven American women have won world all-around titles, and 12 of the last 21 all-around world championship titles (including 10 of the last 14) were won by an American) and the reemergence of power and athleticism in the sport.
She currently coaches gymnastics and owns Texas Dreams Gymnastics in Coppell, Texas and annually hosts the Kim Zmeskal’s Texas Prime Meet.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Christopher Marlowe (playwright) –
- Aaron Burr (politician) –
- Babe Ruth (baseball player) –
- Ronald Reagan (40th U.S. president) –
- Tom Brokaw (newscaster) –
- Bob Marley (Reggae musician, founding member of The Wailers) –
- Natalie Cole (singer) –
- Kim Zmeskal (Olympic gymnast) –
Died
- Arthur Ashe (tennis player died) –
- Joseph Cotten (actor) –
- Merle Kilgore (country musician) –
- Keith Knudsen (member of the Doobie Brothers) –
- James Whitmore (actor) –
Events
- Massachusetts joined the Union as the sixth state–
- Robert E. Lee named Confederate general in chief (US Civil War)–
- Sun-Maid raisins trademark registered–
- Woodrow Wilson became first U.S. president to be buried in D.C.–
- Barbara Ann Scott won Canada’s first Olympic gold medal for figure skating –
- Elizabeth II ascended to British throne–
- Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor proclaimed Queen of Canada–
- You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling by The Righteous Brothers topped charts–
- President Dwight D. Eisenhower shot a hole-in-one–
- Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golf ball on the Moon–
- Mr. Fred Rogers molded the 100 billionth Crayola crayon. The color was named blue ribbon–
- The New England Patriots won their third Super Bowl victory in four years with a 24-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX–
- SpaceX launched Elon Musk’s Starman mannequin in a Tesla roadster–
Weather
- Temperatures in parts of Ohio and Kentucky did not rise above 0 degrees F all day–
- -10.3 degrees Fahrenheit, Boston, Massachusetts–
- 36.4” snow fell in North Foster, Rhode Island–
- Southern Louisiana had snow for the second time in three days, with one to four inches accumulated–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
