By Clarice Burger
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Amanda Ray Beard (born October 29, 1981), also known by her married name Amanda Brown, is an American swimmer and a seven-time Olympic medalist (two gold, four silver, one bronze). She is a former world record holder in the 200-meter breaststroke (long course).
Beard’s success has earned her the American Swimmer of the Year Award twice. She has won a total of twenty-one medals in major international competition, five gold, thirteen silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Summer Universiade.
Her modeling work has included appearances in FHM, the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, and the July 2007 issue of Playboy magazine, in which she posed nude.
She is a spokeswoman for Defenders of Wildlife, and enjoys interior decorating. Both of her sisters, Leah and Taryn, are swimmers. Amanda placed eighth in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Celebrity car race in 2006.
In November 2007, Beard made her first television commercial for GoDaddy entitled “Shock”. It featured her “flashing” the seven Olympic medals she won from 1996 to 2004. Mark Spitz made a cameo appearance.
In April 2008, she joined Fox Network’s popular sports talk program, The Best Damn Sports Show Period as a correspondent, covering major sporting events.
PERSONAL BESTS
Beard’s personal bests in long-course meters are:
- 100 m breaststroke: 1:07.42, 2003 World Aquatics Championships
- 200 m breaststroke: 2:22.44, 2004 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials 2004
- 200 m individual medley: 2:11.70, 2004 Summer Olympics
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
The trees in our New Hampshire town are covered with ugly cocoonlike things that look as if they’re destroying the foliage. What are these?
Most likely you’re seeing the webs of fall webworms. These can appear from late July through October. The caterpillars are greenish yellow with lots of hair and black dots, and they feed on leaves. As feeding continues, their silken webs enlarge to cover the areas they plan to eat. This can indeed make it look as if the tree is being destroyed. Insecticides can control the worms, but each web must be penetrated for success. Infected branches also can be removed and the caterpillar webs destroyed. Bad as the webs may look, however, the damage they cause is usually minimal, and most leaves will return the following spring.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- James Boswell (biographer) –
- Daniel Decatur Emmett (songwriter, musician) –
- Fred Lazarus, Jr. (merchandiser) –
- Fanny Brice (singer & comedienne) –
- Melba Moore (singer) –
- Richard Dreyfuss (actor) –
- Kate Jackson (actress) –
- Mike Gartner (hockey player) –
- Joely Fisher (actress) –
- Winona Ryder (actress) –
- Gabrielle Union (actress) –
- Ben Foster (actor) –
- Amanda Beard (Olympic swimmer) –
- Lance Stroll (Racing driver: born in Montreal, Canada) –
Died
- Joseph Pulitzer (journalist) –
- Chang Lin-Tien (first Asian-American to head a major U.S. university when he was named chancellor at the University of California at Berkeley) –
- Teri Garr (actress) –
Events
- First commencement of first U.S. coeducational college (Oberlin) took place –
- Black Tuesday at the NY Stock Exchange—Great Depression began –
- The first peacetime draft in U.S. history went into effect –
- The first ballpoint pens went on sale at Gimbel’s Department store in N.Y.C. at $12.50 a piece –
- Boris Pasternak refused the Nobel Prize for literature under pressure from Soviet authorities –
- A spectacular gem robbery took place in New York’s American Museum of Natural History. The greatest loss was the Star of India, the largest sapphire in the world –
- John Glenn returned to space at age 77 –
- A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Pakistan –
- The Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series –
- A man paddled a 1,364-pound pumpkin down the River Ouse in Yorkshire, England –
- The Friends for Life animal shelter in Houston, Texas, posted a story on Facebook about their escape artist cat named Quilty, who repeatedly freed friends from the shelter’s cat room. The talented kitty gained Internet fame and his story was picked up by the news media. He later was adopted. –
Weather
- A deadly tornado struck Berryville, Arkansas –
- A snow hurricane occurred in Maine –
- Typhoon Cimaron battered the northern Philippines with winds up to 143 mph –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
