All Things in Moderation

1992 – Boston Celtic great Larry Bird announces his retirement after a 13 year career. A 3-time NBA champion, 2-time NBA Finals MVP, and 3-time season MVP, Bird’s long-time rivalry with Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers is largely credited with reviving the moribund NBA of the 1970’s and propelling it to new found heights of popularity. I had never been an NBA follower, but found myself in Boston at the height of the Celtics success during the 1980’s and became a huge Bird and Celtic fan. He was a wonder to watch, both because of his talent and the arrogant self-confidence he exuded, typified by the story of his participation in the inaugural 3-point shooting contest at the 1986 All-Star game. Apparently all of the participants had been gathered in the locker room just prior to the event for a meeting with NBA officials, and Bird had not yet arrived. Finally he walked in, looked around the room and announced “Who’s coming in second?” One of my favorite Bird moments below. (BTW, check out those shorts.)

1991 – With the Soviet Union slowly disintegrating as a result of Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms, hard-line communists within his administration along with the heads of the Soviet army and the KGB launch a coup, placing Gorbachev under house arrest his Crimean vacation villa. Gorbachev refuses their demand for his resignation, and a state of emergency is declared with vice president Gennady Yanayev attempting to seize control of the government. The coup was thwarted in large part when Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who himself was inexplicably not detained, calls for a general strike to protest the coup, and rallies the people of Moscow to gather at the Russian White House. Major Evdokimov, chief of staff of a Tamanskaya tank battalion declares his loyalty to Yeltsin, providing Yelstin with a base to resist the coup. The coup eventually falls apart and Gorbachev is restored to power, but it accelerates the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the emboldened Yeltsin asserting Russian independence, followed by most of the rest of the Soviet Republics. Within 5 months, the Soviet Union will officially cease to exist.

1963 – James Meredith becomes the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi. Meredith had one year earlier become the first African American admitted to the university, the result of a court order which had to be enforced over the objections of the university by US marshals sent to the school by President Kennedy. While Meredith’s enrollment was accompanied by violent protests including 2 deaths, his graduation ceremony was reported to be uneventful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHIuSiip20U

1920 – The 19th amendment to the US Constitution, guaranteeing the right to vote to women, officially becomes law when Tennessee becomes the 36th state to ratify the amendment. Women had already gained the right to vote in only 15 states, and the ratification marks the culmination of nearly a century of the women’s suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony, a major force behind the movement from the middle of the 19th century, did not live to see this day, having unfortunately died in 1906.

1872 – The first ever mail order catalog is issued by Aaron Montgomery Ward. The first catalog is a single 8″ by 12″ piece of paper, but within a decade it will grow into a 500 page book with over 20,000 items for sale.

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