FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Elston Gene Howard (February 23, 1929 – December 14, 1980) was an American professional baseball player who was a catcher and a left fielder. During a 14-year baseball career, he played in the Negro leagues and Major League Baseball from 1948 through 1968, primarily for the New York Yankees. A 12-time All-Star, he also played for the Kansas City Monarchs and the Boston Red Sox. Howard served on the Yankees’ coaching staff from 1969 to 1979.
In 1955, he was the first African American player on the Yankees roster; this was eight years after Jackie Robinson had broken the MLB color barrier in 1947. Howard was named the American League‘s Most Valuable Player for the 1963 pennant winners after finishing third in the league in slugging average and fifth in home runs, becoming the first black player in AL history to win the honor. He won Gold Glove Awards in 1963 and 1964, in the latter season setting AL records for putouts and total chances in a season. His lifetime fielding percentage of .993 as a catcher was a major league record from 1967 to 1973, and he retired among the AL career leaders in putouts (7th, 6,447) and total chances (9th, 6,977).
TODAY ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What is that wobbly little thing on the turkey’s chin called, and what is it made of?
It is the turkey’s beard and is made up of keratin bristles. Keratin is the same substance that forms hair and horns on other animals.
Advice of the Day
Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves. —Abraham Lincoln
Home Hint of the Day
You create a dust trap when you apply an oil-based polish to a piece of furniture, so use polish sparingly. Buff the piece well to remove as much of the oily residue as possible.
Word of the Day
Scuttlebutt
A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people.
Puzzle of the Day
Name a bird whose name contains the name of another bird.
Meadowlark
Born
- Marie Curie (chemist) – 1867
- Dean Jagger (actor) – 1903
- Albert Camus (writer) – 1913
- Billy Graham (evangelist) – 1918
- Al Hirt (musician) – 1922
- Barry Newman (actor) – 1938
- Johnny Rivers (singer) – 1942
- Joni Mitchell (singer) – 1943
- Christopher Knight (actor) – 1957
- Jeremy London (actor) – 1972
- Jason London (actor) – 1972
Died
- Alfred Russel Wallace (naturalist) – 1913
- Eleanor Roosevelt (U.S. First Lady) – 1962
- Gene Tunney (boxer) – 1978
- Steve McQueen (actor) – 1980
- Howard Keel (actor) – 2004
- Joe Frazier (boxer) – 2011
- Roy Halladay (baseball player) – 2017
Events
- Alexander Mackenzie became the second prime minister of Canada– 1873
- In a cartoon by Thomas Nast, the elephant was first used to represent the Republican party– 1874
- Last spike of the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway driven at Craigellachie, British Columbia– 1885
- The state of Colorado granted women residents the right to vote– 1893
- Bette Davis became the first woman elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood– 1941
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-elected for a fourth term– 1944
- UN approved United Nations Emergency Force– 1956
- Elston Howard won American League’s Most Valuable Player award– 1963
- Magic Johnson announced his retirement from basketball because he tested positive for the HIV virus– 1991
- The first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, was elected– 2006
- A magnitude-6.3 earthquake struck off the coast of Vancouver Island, Canada– 2012
Weather
- The “Galloping Gertie” bridge in Tacoma collapsed in a windstorm four months after its grand opening– 1940
- 98-mph winds recorded at Block Island, Rhode Island– 1953
- Thermometers in Islip, New York, read a toasty 77.4F.– 1998
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