Baseball Season Opens

Abner Doubleday is routinely touted as the inventor of baseball, but there is little, if any historical evidence to back that claim. Much like Betsy Ross and the flag, Doubleday had a good story which circumvented the truth. When baseball started getting really popular, there was actually a committee called the Mills Commission organized with the purpose of tracking down the origins of the sport.

One of the men on that commission, Albert Spalding, did not like the fact that baseball was seen as a variation on the English game of rounders. He wanted this new beloved pastime to be 100% American and Doubleday’s story fit the bill perfectly. He had a decorated Civil War general who created the sport in his youth living in a small town in New York. And so the legend began. . .

Six Interesting People Facts

Shirley Temple always had 56 curls in her hair.

Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

Hulk Hogan's real name is Terry Bollea.

The Earl of Condom was a knighted personal physician to England's King Charles II in the mid-1600's. The Earl was requested to produce a method to protect the King from syphilis.

Stalin was only five feet, four inches tall, his left foot had webbed toes, and his left arm was noticeably shorter than his right.

The only real person to be represented with a Pez head was Betsy Ross.