Thursday, October 7, 2010

The first World Series

In 1903, the Boston Americans played the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first official World Series. The American league Americans defeated the National League Pirates 5 games to 3 games in an eight game series. Players from Boston received $1,182.00 each for the series. Players from Pittsburgh lost the series yet received $1,316.25 each.
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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mr. October

Reggie Jackson, known as "Mr. October", hit three consecutive home runs, each on the first pitch, off three different pitchers in game six of the 1977 World Series. Jackson set a World Series record by hitting four home runs on four consecutive swings of the bat. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers 4-2 to capture their first World Series title since 1962.
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Marijuana seller

On October 5, 1937, Samuel Caldwell went into the history trivia books as the first marijuana seller convicted under U.S. federal law. Caldwell was arrested with two marijuana cigarettes. The fifty-eight year old unemployed laborer was sentenced to four years of hard labor in Leavenworth Penitentiary, plus a $1,000 fine.
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Monday, October 4, 2010

The first artificial satellite

The Soviet Union successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite into orbit on October 4, 1957. Sputnik I was roughly the size of a basketball and weighed about 185 pounds. Its first orbit of the Earth took about 98 minutes. This event struck a political nerve in the United States as the Soviets unexpectedly claimed a highly publicized first round victory in the race to space.
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Sunday, October 3, 2010

The first U.S. Open

The first U.S. Open Men's Championship was played on October 4, 1895 on a nine-hole golf course at the Newport Golf and Country Club in Rhode Island. Ten professionals and one amateur competed in four rounds of golf. Englishman Horace Rawlins won the first U.S. Open earning the first place $150 prize.
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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus first set eyes on the western hemisphere in October 1492. In search for a shorter route from Europe to Asia, Columbus and his crew explored what is today the Bahama Islands, Cuba and Haiti before returning to Spain. Columbus is credited with discovering the "new world." Columbus died in 1506, still convinced that he had reached the outposts of Asia.
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Friday, October 1, 2010

The Pennsylvania Turnpike

The Pennsylvania Turnpike is considered America's first Super Highway. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission was established in 1937 to build the highway from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. The highway was partly developed on an abandoned railroad line built by William H. Vanderbilt, including its nearly completed tunnels. The first paying customers drove the Turnpike on October 1, 1940.
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