Day Tripping: August 18

Firsts and Lasts

A throwback to days when athletes were real-life heroes, Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente was born in 1934. A perennial all-star while toiling the outfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Roberto never wasted time in the off-season.

” If you have a chance to accomplish something that will make things better for people coming behind you, and you don’t do that, you are wasting your time on this Earth.”

Clemente was always sending food and baseball equipment to impoverished children. On New Year’s Eve in 1972, Roberto was on his way to aid earthquake victims in Nicaragua when his plane crashed, killing him and all aboard. He was thirty-eight.

The following year, Roberto Clemente was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, the first-ever Latino player.

Today is:

Fajita Day — I like this

Ice Cream Pie Day — I love that

Serendipity Day — Well, what are the odds?

Musical Ride

Jimi Hendrix was scheduled to play as the headliner at Woodstock the night before. But, the festival ran late on Sunday, so Jimi performed Monday morning instead. He woke up the crowd with Hey Joe before doing his blistering rendition of The Star Spangled Banner.

Interesting Notes

During testimony at the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1955, folk singer Pete Seeger was asked if he had ever performed for communists.

He replied, “I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life.”

Gone But Not Forgotten

Harvard professor and psychologist BF Skinner pioneered the philosophy of Radical Behaviorism. He believed that free will was a fallacy and that humans reacted to continuous reinforcement. Skinner died in 1990 at age 86.

Notable Births

1952 — Star of Roadhouse and Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze

1957 — Comedian Denis Leary

1969 — Talented actor Edward Norton

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

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