BOA anecdotes
by 
MartinM
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Posted: 29 July 2004 Word Count: 399 |
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Example of Age 20
Prior to his rise to fame as Tarzan in the films of the thirties, Johnny Weissmuller was an Olympic swimmer, winning three golds in the 1924 Games in Paris. Austrian skier Toni Sailer also won three gold medals at the winter games in 1956, but both of these were eclipsed by the achievement of Wilma Rudolph, who won three gold medals (100m sprint, 200m sprint and 4*100m relay) at the Rome Olympics in 1960. While the medal tallies are equal, neither Weissmuller nor Sailer ever had polio, nor were they ever told by a doctor that they would never walk again – both of which happened to Rudolph.
Example of Age 43
In 1933, Charles Darrow took ‘The Landlord’s Game’ (which had been invented in 1904 by Lizzie Magie in order to teach people the inequities of the tax system) and adapted it to become the property trading game ‘Monopoly’.
Example of Age 49
In 1868, a problem was facing users of the typewriter. Typists were becoming so proficient at typing quickly that the keys would jam. Lathan Sholes realised that the best way to solve this problem was to arrange the keys in an unfamiliar order, with the commoner letters arranged on the left side – most typists being right-handed. His solution, the QWERTY keyboard, had the marketing advantage over rival systems that you could type out the word ‘typewriter’ using keys on the top row. It was also successful at slowing typists, and was universally adopted. Even now, when most keyboards are electronic, and the problem of key-sticking is a thing of the past, Sholes’ key arrangement remains.
Those able to make use of typewriters include Mark Twain, who claimed to be the first person to use a typewriter to produce a work of literature, and who published ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ in 1885.
Example of Age 85
Skijumper Anders Haugen competed in the first ever winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1920, and was placed fourth. However, when a fiftieth anniversary reunion of the Norwegian skijumping team was being organised, it was discovered that there had been an arithmetical error, and in fact, Haugen had scored more points than the third-placed jumper – and therefore was the rightful recipient of the bronze medal. He was awarded his medal at a special ceremony held in Oslo, in 1974, at the age of 85.
Prior to his rise to fame as Tarzan in the films of the thirties, Johnny Weissmuller was an Olympic swimmer, winning three golds in the 1924 Games in Paris. Austrian skier Toni Sailer also won three gold medals at the winter games in 1956, but both of these were eclipsed by the achievement of Wilma Rudolph, who won three gold medals (100m sprint, 200m sprint and 4*100m relay) at the Rome Olympics in 1960. While the medal tallies are equal, neither Weissmuller nor Sailer ever had polio, nor were they ever told by a doctor that they would never walk again – both of which happened to Rudolph.
Example of Age 43
In 1933, Charles Darrow took ‘The Landlord’s Game’ (which had been invented in 1904 by Lizzie Magie in order to teach people the inequities of the tax system) and adapted it to become the property trading game ‘Monopoly’.
Example of Age 49
In 1868, a problem was facing users of the typewriter. Typists were becoming so proficient at typing quickly that the keys would jam. Lathan Sholes realised that the best way to solve this problem was to arrange the keys in an unfamiliar order, with the commoner letters arranged on the left side – most typists being right-handed. His solution, the QWERTY keyboard, had the marketing advantage over rival systems that you could type out the word ‘typewriter’ using keys on the top row. It was also successful at slowing typists, and was universally adopted. Even now, when most keyboards are electronic, and the problem of key-sticking is a thing of the past, Sholes’ key arrangement remains.
Those able to make use of typewriters include Mark Twain, who claimed to be the first person to use a typewriter to produce a work of literature, and who published ‘The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ in 1885.
Example of Age 85
Skijumper Anders Haugen competed in the first ever winter Olympics in Chamonix in 1920, and was placed fourth. However, when a fiftieth anniversary reunion of the Norwegian skijumping team was being organised, it was discovered that there had been an arithmetical error, and in fact, Haugen had scored more points than the third-placed jumper – and therefore was the rightful recipient of the bronze medal. He was awarded his medal at a special ceremony held in Oslo, in 1974, at the age of 85.
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