Day Tripping: September 20

Bella of them all

The word voluptuous was invented on this day in 1934 with the birth of Sofia Villani Scicolone, who would become known to the world as Sophia Loren. She began her career as a beauty pageant contestant but became so much more in world cinema.

“I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.”

In 1961, Sophia Loren win the Oscar for her performance in Two Women, making her the first male or female actor to win for a role in a foreign language. The story of a mother and daughter in war-torn Italy delved into difficult subject matter, especially for the end of the fifties. She was originally cast as the daughter but fought for the more challenging role.

Ms. Loren is now 86 years young and every bit as glamorous and elegant as the day she first appeared on the world’s movie screens.

Today is:

Pepperoni Pizza Day — It wasn’t until this delicious Italian-American sausage was invented that pizza became the wildly popular food item it is today.

Musical Ride

In 1973, Jim Croce boarded a small plane after a sparsely attended show at college. Most of America was fixated on a groundbreaking tennis match at the time. Croce’s plane crashed in Louisiana, killing the folk singer and five others. Jim Croce was 30-yers-old.

Interesting Notes

An international audience of over 100 million watched a live broadcast of the Battle of the Sexes in 1973. Tennis great Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in three sets at the Houston Astrodome.

Gone But Not Forgotten

After losing 89 family members in Nazi extermination camps during the Holocaust, Simon Weisenthal dedicated his life to bringing war criminals to justice.

“Many times I was thinking that everything in life has a price, so to stay alive must also have a price. And my price was always that, if I lived, I must be deputy for many people who are not alive.”

Simon Wiesenthal died in his sleep at the age of 96 in 2005.

Notable Births

1929 — Anne Meara said, “People never know what’s going on while it’s happening. You think, during the Renaissance, people called it ‘The Renaissance’?”

1948 — George R. R. Martin said, “When you tear out a man’s tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you’re only telling the world that you fear what he might say.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, PhD. 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

A comprehensive directory for Day Tripping