Dreams are created like fuel to move.smart businesses are not hard and unyielding. Give thanks for your past suffering, because he is the cause of strength in today.
Do not stop just because of a small stumbling block. Look how far you walk, come again, success is almost you achieve!
One lesson that can be drawn from the proud is how we so do not be like him.Because in every vanity much humiliation
Do not let little things ruin your happiness throughout the day.Leave that upset you, because you deserve happiness.
If
excessive wealth, then donate your treasure, when the wealth a bit,
then the human heart is not required than donate you perfection in his
life, but demanded that life today is better than life yesterday .
Learning without thinking is useless. Thought
without learning a dangerous takes years to build trust, but only a
minute to destroy Enjoy the little things, maybe one day you'll look
back and realize that it is a great thing Rather than curse the darkness
you better take a candle to turned on. rather than blaming circumstances, you better do something to improve the situation
Do not let your life is full of sadness, anger, and hate. Free yourself from the pain of the past, and start your life again.
Just because someone does wrong in the past, does not mean what it does now always wrong in your eyes.
Aphorisms Success, Failure and Happiness If success is an easy thing to achieve, all successful people and nobody who failed. We will not know before trying. May succeed, perhaps fail.Don''t be afraid to try.
Do not be lazy while studying, do not complain when working. Remember, success does not belong to those who are lazy and like to complain. Confidence and sincerity in seeking is a gateway to climb the ladder of success. The success gives happiness, but real happy is when you're forging. Many things you can quickly Those who succeed are the urge to action rather than spill out your comment.
Surely man shrouded in much mystery that he himself does not realize it. Then
this book will give you about the mystery man of understanding will be
secret deeds that encourage their charitable.Syeikh Abubakar bin Salim
said in his poem: "O Prosecutor Science, prejudiced towards fellow
beings kerana let the real secrets of Lord scattered (there is) the
creature creatures" The Messenger Allah
said: "Whoever knows Himself, he (would) know the Lord" Makrifat
(introduction / knowledge) of the nafs is the way to bermakrifat in
Allah. If we observe (Finesse) ourselves: weakness, kefaqirannya (its need) and inability of its shortcomings; and
if we understand that we are not able to bring a benefit and not also
have the power to prevent a harm, so we would realizes that the soul
(spirit) we certainly have and Creator.Allah Lord Almighty says: "And
also with yourself then do you do
not pay attention to "Knowledge of the nafs is very complicated, Habib
Abdullah Alwi AlHaddad call it as" part of the hidden science oceans
overwhelm each other "Among
the believers are those people who keep (obey) what they have promised
to God "Praise be to Allah, Lord of all nature. may
prayers and peace always be given to Hadrat Muhammad, the unlettered
prophet, also to the families of these men and the friend''s.Amma
ba'du Buku will give you a deep impression and beautiful, I write 'for
the People who have bashirah', of understanding and interest / love
researching science to show
science in the right way for the salik (salik is someone who wants to
find makrifat and nature and usually sit on an expert tasauf), explains
the secret glimpse the muqarrabin science (muqarrabin is the person who
brought near themselves to Allah_ people who pulled by God in Him and
servant His
chosen servant), and only feasible for those people (disciples) that
has a high spirit (azam / determination) and spirited clean.Note:
"This shows that to follow for further learning, one must understanding
(yes it catching on the subject). There must be love and interest in further to knew so got the right path. Science
is only feasible for whom have high spirits (not for students
who chestnut dreams, quick admitted lost and love put reason reason)
should also be clean spirit (heart bersihdari all attributes vile nature
and was always maintain the cleanliness of his heart) ". MayAllah
made this book helpful and gave me a reward for my work, thanks to the bounty and grace breadth. Semuga will appear one day someone inside it in accordance with the contents of this book. So when studying the contents will be able to understand berbagai amazing secret that I say therein. Khair, Insyallah, Amin.dear brother, know in this book I write various science must notice. If
you got taufik to understand the secrets that I should it said
then you will be able to hint to the (religious) right and
guide to gets purposes in the world. Therefore,
this book contains secrets of Allah that could be able by healthy sense
(Salimah) and in accordance with the opinion of the opinion that right.When taufik you got to get in touch with any of these secrets,
you will feel the passion you stronger and you are more spacious chest .Note:
"If we follow the spirit of learning this book in case we do not draw, ain''t thirsthy, and we sense a narrow chest, you know we do not get
permission from him to continuing" When a servant saw with his
mind without any interference by the weather, everything appears as
essentially something will . However,
rarely are able to see with that way , because it was too mastered
nafs, and the nafs is very difficult to relinquish our own power fromweather. Due to limited hidden desires in the human nafs can not fell the coming of nafs ( Desire) . >>>> continue
A Demon Lord spirited the Princess away, and cursed her with eternal
sleep. Countless knights sought to save her, only to die in vain by the
Demon Lord's hands. But then, a Nameless Knight arrived to vanquish him
and save the Princess, ignorant of what fate had in store for him...
Yona is the sole princess of the kingdom, living the luxurious and
carefree life as a princess should. She has it all: the finest clothes
and cosmetics, the most divine sweets, a loving emperor as a father, and
the hottest cousin crush, Soo-won, anyone could ever hope to have. Now,
if only her bodyguard, Son Hak, wasn't so annoying to her and her hair
wasn't so red.
But her nearly perfect world quickly shatters as
the man she loves, Soo-won, murders her father and the path to his
ascension to the throne is assured. Son Hak escapes with Yona, and they
lead a life on the run from that point on.
One of the world's premier golfers, Adam Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters Tournament with his 2013 victory.
Synopsis
Golfer
Adam Scott was born in Adelaide, Australia, in 1980. The son of
golfers, Scott began playing the game at the age of 4 and, for most of
his childhood, was coached by his father, Phil. He turned pro in 2000
and, over the next decade, became one of the game's best players. In
2013, Scott became the first Australian to win the Masters Tournament.
Early Life and Career
Adam
Derek Scott was born in Adelaide, Australia, on July 16, 1980. At the
age of 7, Scott moved with his family to Queensland, where, he says, he
developed his life-long love of the beach. Today, Scott is an active
surfer.
At a young age, Scott was also steeped heavily in the
game of golf. While his father, Phil, never played professionally, he
was a member of the Australian PGA and, for many years, designed and
manufactured golf clubs. More recently, the elder Scott has become a
golf course designer. His mother, Pam, is also an active player.
Scott
began playing golf at the age of 4 his with father. A few years later,
Adam Scott was coached by his dad, who grounded his son in the game's
fundamentals. "I tried to keep it simple and natural," Scott later said.
"As a golf pro, I appreciated the need for solid technique, but I never
tried to cloud his mind with too many technical thoughts."
But
Scott's talent was hard to ignore. He was just 13 when he beat his dad
for the first time, and, at his father's club, Scott regularly beat
players much older than him.
In 1996, the 17-year-old Scott
enrolled at Kooralbyn International School in Queensland, an institution
well-known for its golf program. Even there, the determined Scott was a
notch above his talented classmates, and was considered by many to be a
bit of a prodigy.
After three years at the school, Scott moved
to the United States and enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas. He turned pro in 2000.
Pro Career
Adam
Scott didn't have to wait long to enjoy some success on the pro tour.
He joined the European Tour 2001 and, that same year, won his first
European Tour title at the Aflred Dunhill Championship in South Africa.
The following season, he joined the U.S. Tour and began racking up
victories on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2003, Scott made
major headlines when he became the youngest golfer ever to win the
Player's Championship, widely considered the game's "fifth" major.
By
the late 2000s, Scott's career seemed to know no bounds. He won the
season-ending Tour Championship of the U.S. Tour in 2006, and finished
third on the money list. The following season, Scott climbed to No. 3 in
the rankings. Then, in 2008, he won the Byron Nelson Championship.
But
struggles soon followed. Scott experienced an emotional break-up with
his longtime girlfriend, broke a hand and then got sick. Eventually,
these personal setbacks took their toll on his golf game. In 2009, his
worst as a pro, Scott missed the cut 10 times in 24 tournaments. By the
end of the year,
But
Scott quickly rebounded in 2010. He began dating tennis star Anna
Ivanovic that year (they have since broken up), and the success he'd
experienced on the course for so much of his career returned.
After
tying for second at the 2011 Masters Tournament, Scott won the first
World Golf Championship at the 2011 Bridgestone Invitational. At his
side for the win was Stevie Williams, Tiger Woods's former longtime
caddie, whom Scott had recently hired.
Heartbreak followed,
however, in July 2012, when Scott suffered a devastating loss at the
Open Championship in Lancashire, England. Holding a four-stroke lead,
Scott bogeyed the final four holes and lost by a stroke to Ernie Els.
Masters Win
Just
as before, however, Adam Scott didn't wallow. The following April, he
emerged from a pack of golfers on the final day at the 2013 Masters
Tournament in Augusta, Georgia.
In one of the most
pressure-packed moments in recent tournament history, Scott coolly
knocked in a 25-foot birdie on the final hole and finished the four
rounds tied with Angel Cabrera, the tournament's 2009 winner, at -9.
Then, on the second sudden-death playoff hole, he connected on a 12-foot
putt to win the tournament and became the first Australian to capture
the Masters Tournament's coveted green winner's jacket.
For his
fellow countrymen, who still talked about Australian Greg Norman and his
epic collapse at the 1996 Masters, Adam Scott's win was vindication.
Scott, who grew up idolizing Norman and has become friends with the
elder golfer in recent years, immediately realized the significance of
his win, both for himself and his country.
"Part of this
definitely belongs to [Greg Norman]," Scott said shortly after the win,
adding, "I don't know how to digest it all at the moment, but it was
incredible. I'm just so proud of myself and everyone around me who's
helped me. The list is so long."
Scott followed his Masters
performance with a one-stroke win at the Barclays in August. He enjoyed
more success later that year with victories at the Australian PGA
Championship and the Australian Masters.
In May 2014, Scott became the first Australian to hold the world's No. 1
ranking since Norman in 1998. He remained in the top spot until being
supplanted by Rory
McIlroy in August.
Even in the wacky wonky world of Dr. Seuss, you can find witty advice that's full of wisdom.
On this day in 1957, Theodor Seuss Geisel published The Cat in the Hat and would continue to capture our imagination with a total of 46 children's books in the span of his career.
With
whimsical characters and snappy rhymes, Dr. Seuss not only entertained
but also offered timeless words of wisdom for young and old alike.
So here are some of Bio's favorites, you'll see. Won't you agree, undoubtedly?
On Being Loyal
I meant what I said And I said what I meant... An elephant's faithful One hundred per cent! -Horton Hatches the Egg
On Equality and Justice
I know, up on top you are seeing great sights, But down at the bottom we, too, should have rights. -Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
Dr. Seuss posing with his 'Cat in the Hat' book in 1957. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
On Respecting Your Elders
You must not hop on Pop. -Hop on Pop
On Life's Mysteries
'Cause you never can tell What goes on down below! This pool might be bigger Than you or I know! -McElligot's Pool
On Diversity
We see them come. We see them go. And some are slow. Some are high. And some are low. Not one of them is like another. Don't ask us why. Go ask your mother. -One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish
On Facing Up to Adversity
I learned there are troubles Of more than one kind. Some come from ahead And some come from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going To have troubles with me! -I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew
On Being True to Yourself
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. -Oh, the Places You'll Go!
The titular character in Woman in Gold is Adele Bloch-Bauer, whose husband, Czech sugar mogul Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, commissioned Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt,
to paint two portraits of his wife when she was 25 years old. The first
and most famous of the two later became known as “Woman in Gold.” The
film focuses on Bloch-Bauer's niece Maria Altmann, played by Helen Mirren, and her quest to reclaim the famous Klimt painting from the Austrian government, but there is a lot more to her story.
A Charmed Childhood
Maria
Viktoria Bloch-Bauer was born to Gustav Bloch-Bauer and Therese Bauer
on February 18, 1916, in Vienna, Austria. Her wealthy Jewish family,
including her uncle Ferdinand and aunt Adele, were close to the artists
of the Vienna Secession movement, which Klimt helped establish in 1897.
The avant-garde of the Austrian capital included the composer Arnold
Schoenberg. (The lawyer who handled Altmann's case was E Randol
Schoenberg, the composer's grandson. Ryan Reynolds portrays him in the film.)
Although
Altmann was not old enough at the time to remember Klimt's visits, she
grew up visiting her uncle and aunt's grand house, which was filled with
pictures, tapestries, elegant furniture and a collection of fine
porcelain. Adele would often hold court for musicians, artists and
writers in the salon of her huge house on Elisabethstrasse near the
Wiener Staatsoper (the Vienna State Opera house).
However,
the world came to know Adele as Klimt had painted her in 1907. He
depicted her in a swirling gown within a blaze of gold rectangles,
spirals and Egyptian symbols—she became the epitome of Vienna's Golden
Age. In 1925, Adele died of meningitis at the age of 44. Afterward,
Altmann recalled that the family’s regular Sunday brunches at her
uncle’s house always included a viewing of the portrait, as well as four
other works by Klimt, including another later painting of Adele.
Maria Altmann's aunt Adele Bloch-Bauer, circa 1910.
Robbed of Everything
Altmann
was left with only memories of the paintings, as they were stolen when
the Nazis took Austria over in 1938. She had just married opera singer
Fritz Altmann and her uncle had given her Adele's diamond earrings and a
necklace as a wedding present. But the Nazis stole them from her—the
stunning necklace she wore on her wedding day was sent to Nazi leader
Hermann Göring as a present for his wife. Her father Gustav was most
devastated when his prized Stradivarius cello was taken from him. Maria
recalled: “My father died two weeks after that. He died of a broken
heart.” Of course, the Nazis also seized Ferdinand's entire art
collection, his porcelain collection and his sugar refinery. “Portrait
of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” became known as “Woman in Gold,” as well as a
symbol of all that the family had lost.
The
Nazis held Fredrick Altmann at Dachau concentration camp to pressure
his brother, Bernhard Altmann, to allow them to take over his booming
textile factory. Having already fled to London, Bernhard signed over his
factory to the Nazis and Fredrick was released. The couple then lived
under house arrest until Maria managed to elude the guards by claiming
that her husband needed a dentist. The two boarded a plane to Cologne
and made their way to the Dutch border, where a peasant guided them
across a brook, under barbed wire and into the Netherlands. Fredrick and
Maria then fled to America and ultimately settled in California.
Living a New Life in America
While
Frederick was working for aerospace firm Lockheed Martin in California,
Bernhard had started a new textile factory in Liverpool, England. He
sent Maria a cashmere sweater to see if Americans might like the fine,
soft wool. Maria took the sweater to a department store in Beverly
Hills, which agreed to sell them. Other stores across the country
followed suit, and Maria eventually started opened her own clothing
boutique. The couple had three sons and a daughter in America, building a
life together in a country that welcomed them. Yet Maria never forgot
what the Nazis stole from her family.
Fighting for & Winning Restitution
For
many years, Maria supposed that the Klimt paintings had legitimately
ended up in the Austrian National Gallery. But when she was 82, she
learned from the tenacious Austrian investigative journalist Hubertus
Czernin that the title to the paintings was hers, and she vowed to get
them back. In 1999, she and her lawyer tried to sue the Austrian
government. It had kept the paintings based on Adele’s will in which she
made a “kind request,” that Ferdinand donate the paintings to the state
museum after his death, which took place in 1945.
In
so doing, it disregarded the fact that his own will had left his estate
to his nieces and nephews. Yet the paintings hung in Vienna’s Austrian
Gallery at Belvedere Palace with a placard inscribed: "Adele Bloch-Bauer
1907, bequeathed by Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer." When Maria
arrived there, she defied the security guards to be photographed beside
her Aunt Adele, saying loudly: “That painting belongs to me.”
For
many years, Maria fought the Austrian government with great zest. “They
will delay, delay, delay, hoping I will die,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 2001, with no end in sight to her case. “But I will do them the pleasure of staying alive.”
She did and she triumphed. After the paintings arrived in the United States, she told The New York Times:
“You know, in Austria they asked, ‘Would you loan them to us again?’
And I said: ‘We loaned them for 68 years. Enough loans.’ ”
Maria
and her lawyer had argued as far as the Supreme Court that the case
should be heard in America and they won. However, in 2004, they went to
independent arbitration where three Austrian academics decided that the
paintings should be returned. In 2006, the paintings arrived with
fanfare in Los Angeles. At the time, it was the largest single return,
in monetary terms, of Nazi-looted art.
On View in Manhattan
Maria
said her Aunt Adele had always wanted her golden portrait in a public
gallery. Ronald Lauder, a businessman and philanthropist who had loved
Adele's face from boyhood, happily paid $135 million to enshrine her in
his Neue Galerie in Manhattan. At the time, it was the largest sum ever
paid for a painting. The painting is currently part of a new exhibition at the Neue Galerie, opening on April 2, which was created in conjunction with the Woman in Gold movie.
“Gustav
Klimt and Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold,” is on exhibit at the
Neue Galerie in New York City from April 2-September 7, 2015.
Altmann died on
February 7, 2011 in Los Angeles. She is survived by her sons, Charles,
James and Peter, a daughter, Margie, six grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
You
may know that Johann Sebastian Bach is one of history's most beloved
composers, but did you know he did prison time too? Professor Robert
Greenberg, host of "Scandalous Overtures" on Ora.TV, schools us on the
bad boy side of Bach.
And did you know. . .
1. Bach fathered 20 children – four of whom followed in their father’s footsteps to become famous composers themselves.
A portrait of Bach at age 61. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
2. Bach was only considered
the third best musician in Weimar. He was kept from the top slot of
cappelmeister by father-son duo Samuel and Wilhelm Drese.
3.
Musicians were considered working class in the 1700s, and were subject
to the whim of their royal employers – something Bach learned the hard
way.
4. Bach started his masterpiece, The Well-Tempered Clavier, while in jail – he was in prison for nearly a month.
5. After his release from
prison, Bach was fired and left Weimar to become the top dog
cappelmeister in the northern German state of Anhalt-Kothen.
PLAY BY Kimiko Ishizaka is a German-Japanese pianist who brings a vivid
imagination and poignantly structured interpretation to the music of
Bach and Chopin.
To
celebrate Albert Einstein's birthday on March 14, which also happens to
be Pi Day, we're taking a look at some fascinating facts about one of
science's most intriguing geniuses and one of mathematics' most
intriguing numbers. Albert
Einstein was born on March 14, which is also celebrated as Pi Day,
honoring the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter,
otherwise known as the mathematical constant π.
One of science's greatest minds of all time, Albert Einstein,
was born on March 14, 1879, at his family's home in Ulm, Germany. He
shares his birthday with Pi Day, a celebration of this special
never-ending number. Einstein's life in science started early, with him
writing his first scientific paper when he was only a teenager. In 1905,
Einstein published several influential works, tackling such topics as
relativity and introducing his most famous equation on mass and energy
E=mc2. And, in 1921, he earned the Nobel Prize in physics.
While his scientific feats are legendary, there
is so much more to know about the great Albert Einstein than just his
work. What was he like as a kid? How did he spend his free time? What
causes did he care about? Let's take a closer look at the life of this
incredible genius with some bonus factoids about the fascinating
number — π — that he shares a special day with.
Einstein was a late talker.
His parents worried that there was something wrong with him early on
and even had him examined by doctors. He didn't really start using
words until after he was two years old, but even after he started
speaking, he often took unnatural pauses. No one knew in these very
early years that they had a genius on their hands. In fact, many
biographies on Einstein include the family maid's opinion of young
Einstein. She thought he was "a dope." While he was slow with language,
Einstein showed early sparks of interest in science. A gift of a compass
from his father when he was five years old led to a lifetime
fascination with magnetic fields.
Pi Day Fun Fact:
Pi Day is celebrated around the world on March 14 or 3.14 and
officially kicks off at 1:59 pm. Now do the math: when combined the date
and time results in 3.14159, the approximate numerical value of pi.
(Source: RandomHistory.com)
As
a child Einstein was slow in learning to speak, but developed an early
love of music and a fascination with the science behind a compass.
Einstein wasn't a big fan of school. Despite
some claims, he actually did well in his classes, especially math and
science. Einstein, however, didn't like the way he was taught. He later
remarked that "It is almost a miracle that modern teaching methods have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for what this
delicate little plant needs more than anything, besides stimulation, is
freedom," according to an article on the American Institute of Physics website.
Some of his most important learning was done
outside of class. His uncle, Jakob Einstein, introduced him to algebra. A
young Jewish medical student, Max Talmud, also served as an advisor of
sorts. Talmud visited the Einstein home for dinner weekly for a time and
brought books for young Albert to read. These influential texts
included People's Books on Natural Science and philosophical works by Immanuel Kant and David Hume.
Pi Day Fun Fact:Star Trek’s Mr.
Spock knew the value of pi. In the “Wolf in the Fold” TV episode, Spock
thwarts an evil entity inside the Enterprise’s computer system by
ordering it to “compute to last digit the value of pi,” which can never
be computed. (Source: RandomHistory.com)
Einstein
began playing the violin at 6 years old and once said 'If I were not a
physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music.'
(Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS)
Einstein had a lifelong passion for music.
At the age of six, he took up the violin at his mother's request.
Einstein was quickly won over by classical music, especially the works
of Wolfgang Mozart. According to Jürgen Neffe's Einstein: A Biography,
Einstein once said that "Mozart's music is so pure and beautiful that I
see it as a reflection of the inner beauty of the universe."
Over the years, Einstein became quite a skilled musician. A 17-year-old Einstein earned praise from his rendition of a Beethoven sonata he played for an exam at school. The evaluator stated that he "shone in a deeply felt performance," according to Physics World magazine. For the rest of his life, music would be a source of joy for the famous scientist.
Pi Day Fun Fact: Ancient
Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (287-212 B.C.) was one of
the first scholars to calculate pi. One of the many theories surrounding
Archimedes's death is that when Roman soldiers stormed Syracuse, the
passionate mathematician continued his calculations and told them “Do
not touch my circles!” which resulted in his beheading. (Source: RandomHistory.com)
Albert
Einstein and his first wife Mileva Maric met while studying at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and were married in 1903. Letters
between the couple reveal Maric helped Einstein by looking up scientific
data, checking calculations, and copying notes. (Photo: AFP/Getty
Images)
Einstein had a daughter, but no one really knows what happened to her. He
became involved with fellow student Mileva Marić and she gave birth to a
daughter in 1902. The child was named Lieserl. Albert and Mileva were
unwed and living apart at the time of the child's birth. When they were
reunited later, Mileva did not have the baby with her. There has been
much speculation about Lieserl's fate over the years, from her being
raised by relatives or put up for adoption or dying young from illness.
But no one knows for certain what became of Lieserl. Albert and Mileva
later married and had two sons, Hans Albert and Eduard, before divorcing
in 1919.
Pi Day Fun Fact: Many of history's greatest minds have been fascinated by pi. They include Leonardo da Vinci, who attempted to approximate pi, and Isaac Newton, who calculated pi to at least 16 decimal places. (Source: RandomHistory.com)
Not only was he a great scientist, Einstein was passionate about social issues. He
had been a pacifist during World War I, but he became concerned at the
rising anti-Semitism in Germany following the war. He began to speak
out in favor of creating a homeland for the Jewish people in Palestine.
Einstein visited the United States in the early 1920s to raise funds for
what is now known as Hebrew University. In 1952, he was even invited
to become the president of Israel, but he turned the job down.
Einstein also supported the Civil Rights
movement in America. In the 1940s, he penned the essay "The Negro
Question," which appeared in Pageant magazine. Einstein wrote
that the racial divide in his new homeland (he became a U.S. citizen in
1940) deeply troubled him. "I can escape the feeling of complicity in it
only by speaking out." A member of the NAACP, Einstein considered
racism to be the "worst disease" in the country.
To
celebrate April Fools' Day, we're tipping our joker's hat to five
famous tricksters and their shenaningans from colonial days to modern
times.
Seventy years ago, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
officially decreed April 1 “April Fools' Day," an annual occasion of
laughter and pranks designed to take minds off the Second World War, as
it entered its final stages. It was the last important piece of New Deal
legislation FDR signed into law. Well before that, however, important
historical figures were bringing the funny. Here’s a look at five
distinguished leg pullers and make sure you read to the end for the full
truth and nothing but the truth. . .wink, wink. . .
Benjamin Franklin
Founding father and jokester Benjamin Franklin perpetuated a death hoax "killing off" a rival pamphleteer.
Is it true that founding father Benjamin Franklin
signed the Declaration of Independence with an exploding quill? No—but
it would have been characteristic of him. That whole business about him
flying a kite into a thunderstorm, with a key attached to it to prove
the existence of electricity, has been widely debunked, not that he
didn’t have a keen interest in that and many other subjects. (One was
drinking, and his “Drinkers Dictionary,” published in 1737, categorized
the slang of the era for getting wasted, like “he’s been too free with
the Creature.”) The most noted hoax pulled off by the author of Poor Richard’s Almanack
was “killing” a rival pamphleteer, Titan Leeds, by predicting the exact
date and time of his demise. When Leeds failed to die on the appointed
day, Franklin insisted that an impersonator had taken his place, a
charade he kept up for five years until Leeds actually passed away—at
which point Franklin, rather than admit the prank, said the imposters
decided to quit.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was known for his prankster high jinks at his alma maters Eton and Oxford.
Electricity was in the air in the 18th century. At Oxford, the budding Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley,
a chemistry student, connected a Leyden jar (an old time capacitor that
Franklin also utilized for his electrical studies) to the metallic
doorknob of a tutor he disliked. Shocking—as was his penchant for
setting fire to trees on campus when he was at private school at Eton
(the “stump of the willow” is apparently still in South Meadow). The
experimentation was not in vain, as it found its way into wife Mary
Shelley’s Frankenstein. Shelley had the last laugh on Oxford,
which expelled him, when the original headstone for his grave proved too
big to transport to Italy and ended up at the university. Students
often dress up his mausoleum with the kind of wild outfits he favored.
Virginia Woolf
Author Virginia Woolf and fellow members of the Bloomsbury Group pulled a historic prank on the Royal Navy in 1910.
Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The author was a laughing matter for the crew of the HMS Dreadnought,
on February 7, 1910. That day she and her brother, members of the
Bloomsbury Group, the influential group of artists and intellectuals,
dressed up as a contingent of the Abyssinian royal family (“Prince
Musaka Ali and his suite”) and hatched a plot to board the vessel.
Fooling navy officials (including their cousin, the commander of the
Dreadnought) the group made it aboard and was greeted with pomp and
circumstance. “Bunga bunga!” they exclaimed as they examined the fleet.
Red-faced when the prank made headlines, the Royal Navy sought to arrest
the ringleaders, but no law had been broken and Woolf got on with
writing Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse. When the Dreadnought sank a German submarine in 1915, the Navy received a telegram reading “Bunga bunga!”
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred
Hitchock's notorious pranks ran the gamut from benign whoopee cushions
slipped under houseguests seats to malicious tricks played on stars like
Tippi Hedren and young daughter Melanie Griffith, who received a wax
doll of her mother in a coffin from the director.
The movies’ master of the macabre, Alfred Hitchcock,
always had a few tricks up his sleeve on and off set. Most were
harmless, like adding food coloring to soup and fish dishes to see how
diners would react, and having whoopee cushions at the ready for
houseguests. Actors were frequent targets—when Peter Lorre complained
to the director about having a suit ruined during filming, Hitchcock,
saying he was acting like a child, had a child-size replica made for the
performer. But some Hitchcock pranks had a malicious edge. He bet a
property man a week’s salary that he couldn’t make it through a night
handcuffed to a camera in a deserted soundstage—then laced the man’s
brandy with a strong laxative, with humiliating results by the next
morning. He also sent six-year-old Melanie Griffith, the daughter of Tippi Hedren, the much-harassed star of The Birds
(1963), a wax doll of her mother in a coffin, wearing her movie
costume. “He was a motherf**ker, and you can quote me,” said Griffith
years later. (Hitchcock’s darker pranks may have stemmed from his father
having the police lock his five-year-old son in a jail cell for 10
minutes when he misbehaved.)
Steve Jobs
Steve
Jobs and his buddy and Apple co-founder were often in cahoots when it
came to pranks. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.)
With the computer having replaced electricity as a source of pranks, it’s no wonder that Steve Jobs, the guy who cultivated Apple liked to joke around. Often in cahoots with buddy and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak,
he announced a “Bring Your Pet to School Day,” with predictably chaotic
results, put firecrackers under a teacher’s chair, and pranked the
telephone system of yesteryear with a “blue box” device that enabled
them to call the Vatican for free while pretending to be Henry Kissinger.
Jobs also wired his family’s home with speakers, which he then used as
microphones, much to the annoyance of his dad when he found out the
master bedroom was being bugged. Jobs’ advice for success? “Stay hungry,
stay foolish.”
(Just kidding, by the way, about Roosevelt and April Fool’s Day. It was President Abraham Lincoln who decreed it a holiday, in 1866. Both, by the way, were noted pranksters in their youth, as was John F. Kennedy.)
Two hundred years ago, poet Percy Shelley persuaded 15-year-old Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin to
run away with him. Like a fairytale character, she was fleeing a wicked
stepmother who refused to pay for her education. He was one of the
greatest lyrical poets of all time, but he was also one of history’s
greatest cads. He abandoned his pregnant wife, Harriet, for Mary.
Harriet was so devastated that she eventually committed suicide, a
tragedy which allowed Mary and Percy to wed. Percy and Mary’s scandalous
relationship had a lasting cultural impact. They were the O.G. hippies,
hipsters and punks, who became extremely early adapters of nearly every
modern alternative lifestyle, from open relationships to vegetarianism
to sponging off their parents while pursuing writing careers.
But
their most lasting legacy was literary. They pushed each other to do
great work. Percy’s radical, controversial poetry influenced everyone
from Henry Thoreau to the writers of Breaking Bad, who named the show’s brilliant episode Ozymandias after his sonnet. Mary wrote Frankenstein,
which is regarded as the first modern horror novel, has been filmed
numerous times, and has influenced every single monster story since.
Mary,
Percy, and Harriet are not the only love triangle that made a lasting
impact on our culture. Five other triangles rocked the world.
King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn
Catherine of Aragon being denounced by husband King Henry VIII and his council. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Way back in 1509, King Henry VIII was married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. He loved her, but, after many of Catherine’s pregnancies ended in stillbirths, he fell hard for Anne Boleyn.
She refused to become his mistress, in part because he had previously
had an affair with her sister. So Henry decided to have his marriage to
Catherine annulled.
When the pope refused to
grant the annulment, Henry appointed Anne’s family chaplain the
Archbishop of Canterbury so that he could end Henry’s marriage to
Catherine. In retaliation, the pope had Henry and the Archbishop
excommunicated. So Henry created the Church of England. Unfortunately
for Anne, she, too, gave birth to a stillborn baby, which was apparently
a deal breaker for Henry. He had her beheaded, then went on to marry
four other women. This twisted romance was the only love triangle in
recorded history to result in the creation of a new religious
denomination.
Aragon. He loved her, but, after many of Catherine’s pregnancies ended in stillbirths, he fell hard for Anne Boleyn.
She refused to become his mistress, in part because he had previously
had an affair with her sister. So Henry decided to have his marriage to
Catherine annulled.
When the pope refused to
grant the annulment, Henry appointed Anne’s family chaplain the
Archbishop of Canterbury so that he could end Henry’s marriage to
Catherine. In retaliation, the pope had Henry and the Archbishop
excommunicated. So Henry created the Church of England. Unfortunately
for Anne, she, too, gave birth to a stillborn baby, which was apparently
a deal breaker for Henry. He had her beheaded, then went on to marry
four other women. This twisted romance was the only love triangle in
recorded history to result in the creation of a new religious
denomination.
Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Their Spouses
Liz and Dick on the set of 'The Sandpiper,' 1965. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Elizabeth Taylor already had a love triangle under her belt, having previously broken up Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds's
marriage, but it seems she needed a messier challenge and soon she
found herself in a love quadrangle. Fast forward to 1963, when Liz
Taylor and Richard Burton met in Rome, on the set of Antony and Cleopatra.
Both famous and married to other people, the two of them lusted after
each other from the moment that they met. They were unable to keep their
affair a secret, in part because of the then-new breed of aggressive
photographers, dubbed the paparazzi. Their relationship was such a huge
scandal that it was condemned by the pope, though thanks to Henry VIII,
he didn’t have the power to do anything but voice his disapproval.
Eventually,
the duo divorced their spouses and married each other. They had a
volatile relationship complicated by both of their drinking problems.
They divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975 and divorced again in 1976.
Though both went on to acquire several other spouses, they never truly
got each other out of their systems. When Liz died, she was buried with
Richard’s last love letter to her. The lasting legacy of their love
triangle was the creation of the modern, uncensored celebrity gossip
industry.
Prince Charles, Princess Diana, and Camilla Parker-Bowles
Lady Di and Prince Charles in London, 1986. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
The tabloid press would play an even bigger role in the love triangle of Lady Diana, Prince Charles, and Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Charles and Diana’s elaborate 1981 wedding, which was televised around
the world, seemed like a real-life Disney movie. But it was all an
illusion. Charles was in love with his married ex-girlfriend Camilla
Parker-Bowles who was not considered Princess of Wales material. As a
prince, Charles was obligated to marry a virgin from an aristocratic
family. Diana fit the bill. The rules for royal romance had not changed
much since the 15th century. The two barely knew each other and turned
out to have little in common.
Eventually,
he began cheating on her with Parker-Bowles, and she had an affair with
James Hewitt. Their infidelities became public knowledge when a book
was written about their relationship and tape recorded phone calls were
leaked to the press. Charles and Diana eventually separated then
divorced. Diana died tragically in a car crash a year later when she and
her boyfriend Dodi Fayed
were pursued by paparazzi as they drove through a tunnel. Charles
finally married Camilla in 2005. Charles and Diana’s divorce finally
modernized the royal family, allowing Prince William to marry a commoner, Kate Middleton, whom he truly loved.
Kurt Cobain, Courtney Love, Billy Corgan
Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain with lil Frances Bean in happier times. (Photo: WireImage)
There is no royalty in the United States but during the early 1990s, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
were the king and queen of grunge. He was the lead singer of iconic
band Nirvana. She had her own group, Hole. Before she was with Kurt,
she’d dated Billy Corgan,
lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins, who at the time rivaled Nirvana
in popularity. Love admitted that she originally intended to sleep with
Corgan on a trip to Minneapolis, but ended up hooking up with Cobain and
conceiving their child, Frances Bean. The duo married in 1992.
Thanks
to their drug addictions, they became the Generation X answer to Liz
Taylor and Richard Burton. There are credible allegations that she
cheated on him with Corgan and Cobain found out shortly before he
committed suicide. But despite his death, Cobain is regarded as one of
the greatest rock musicians of all time.
As for
Love, after years of being known primarily for her bizarre antics caught
on television and now Twitter, she may be rehabilitating her image by
guest starring in the upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy. Corgan
is also going to be on TV – in a reality series about his attempt to
launch a professional wrestling league. Their non-music careers touch on
the lasting result of this triangle: the death of grunge, and the rise
of pop and electronica, which have dominated the charts ever since.
Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie
Happy and in love—but not for long: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston in the early 2000s. (Photo: Getty Images)
While Kurt and Courtney reenacted the
substance abuse aspects of Liz and Dick’s relationship, it was another
trio that updated the movie star love triangle for the 21st century. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were Hollywood’s golden couple. She was America’s sweetheart, the star of television’s number one show, Friends. He was the sexy movie star who had dated Gwyneth Paltrow and Juliette Lewis, before deciding that Jennifer was the one.
It all fell apart when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were cast in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Angelina, like Liz, already had a homewrecker image thanks to an earlier on set relationship with Billy Bob Thornton that ended his engagement to Laura Dern.
Like Liz and Dick, their chemistry was obvious to everyone on set. Soon
it developed into an actual affair. Once again, the world was
scandalized with the added twist that every detail was covered by
Internet gossip sites, who were even more relentless than print
tabloids.
The third wheel gets her man. Introducing: Brangelina. (Photo: Getty Images)
Unlike Liz and Dick, however, Brangelina
became a stable, happy couple. In one of the most remarkable image
makeovers in entertainment history, Angelina is now revered for her
humanitarian work. Brad is regarded as a serious actor. Jennifer also
moved on and is now engaged to Justin Theroux. In addition to constant
Internet surveillance of celebrities, the lasting legacy of their love
triangle is the Team Jennifer and Team Angelina T-shirts that a Los
Angeles boutique created.
To this day, followers of all fictional and real-life triangles feel the need to declare themselves Team Someone.
Baseball
icon Babe Ruth set numerous records as a pitcher and slugging
outfielder. He was among the first five players inducted into the
sport's Hall of Fame.
Synopsis
Baseball
player Babe Ruth was born on February 6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland.
Over the course of his career, Ruth went on to break baseball's most
important slugging records, including most years leading a league in
home runs, most total bases in a season, and highest slugging percentage
for a season. In all, Ruth hit 714 home runs—a mark that stood until
1974.
Early Life
Professional
baseball player Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February
6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruth was raised in a poor waterfront
neighborhood in Baltimore, where his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and
George Herman Ruth Sr., owned a tavern. Ruth was one of eight children
born to the couple, and one of only two that survived infancy. At
the age of 7, the trouble-making Ruth became too much of a handful for
his busy parents. Routinely caught wandering the dockyards, drinking,
chewing tobacco and taunting local police officers, his parents finally
decided he needed more discipline than they could give him. Ruth's
family sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic
orphanage and reformatory that became Ruth's home for the next 12
years. Ruth particularly looked up to a monk named Brother Mathias, who
became a father figure to the young boy.
Knack for Baseball
Mathias,
along with several other monks of the order, introduced Ruth to
baseball, a game at which the boy excelled. By the time he was 15, Ruth
showed exceptional skill both as a strong hitter and pitcher. It was
his pitching that initially caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the
owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. At the time, the Orioles
groomed players for the major league team known as the Boston Red Sox,
and Dunn saw promise in Ruth's athletic performance. Only 19, the
law at the time stated that Ruth had to have a legal guardian sign his
baseball contract in order for him to play professionally. As a
result, Dunn became Ruth's legal guardian, leading teammates to
jokingly call Ruth "Dunn's new babe." The joke stuck, and Ruth quickly
earned the nickname "Babe" Ruth. Ruth was only with the club for
a short time before he was called up to the majors in Boston. The
left-handed pitcher proved immediately to be a valuable member of the
team. Over the next five years, Ruth led the Red Sox to three
championships, including the 1916 title which saw him pitch a
still-record 13 scoreless innings in one game.
Major Leagues
With
its titles and "the Babe," Boston was clearly the class act of the
major leagues. All that would change in 1919, however, with a single
stroke of a pen. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry
Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. He found help in the New York
Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the rights to Ruth for
the then-impressive sum of $100,000. The deal came to shape both
franchises in unforeseen ways. For Boston, Ruth's departure spelled
the end of the team's winning streak. It wouldn't be until 2004 that
the club would win another World Series, a championship drought that
later sports writers dubbed "The Curse of the Bambino." For the
New York Yankees, it was a different matter. With Ruth leading the way,
New York turned into a dominant force, winning four World Series
titles over the next 15 seasons. Ruth, who became a full-time
outfielder, was at the heart of all the success, unleashing a level of
power that had never been seen before in the game.
Record-breaking Career
In
1919, while with the Red Sox, Ruth set a single-season home run record
of 29. This turned out to be just the beginning of a series of
record-breaking performances by Ruth. In 1920, his first year in New
York, he knocked 54 home runs. In his second season he broke his own
record by hitting 59 home runs and, in less than 10 seasons, Ruth had
made his mark as baseball's all-time home run leader. Yet the
athlete seemed determined to continue breaking his own records. In 1927,
he outdid himself again by hitting 60 home runs in a season's time—a
record that stood for 34 years. By this time, his presence was so great
in New York that the new Yankee Stadium (built in 1923) was dubbed "the
house that Ruth built." Over the course of his career, Ruth
went on to break baseball's most important slugging records, including
most years leading a league in home runs (12); most total bases in a
season (457); and highest slugging percentage for a season (.847). In
all he hit 714 home runs, a mark that stood until 1974, when Hank Aaron
of the Atlanta Braves surpassed him.
Retirement and Legacy
Ruth's
success on the field was matched by a lifestyle that catered perfectly
to a pre-Depression America hungry for a fast lifestyle. Rumors of his
large appetite for food, alcohol, and women, as well as his tendency
toward extravagant spending and high living, were as legendary as his
exploits at the plate. This reputation, whether true or imagined, hurt
Ruth's chances of becoming a team manager in later life. Ball clubs,
wary of his lifestyle, didn't want to take a chance on the seemingly
irresponsible Ruth. In 1935 he was lured back to Boston to play for the
Braves and for the opportunity, so he thought, to manage the club the
following season. The job never materialized. On May 25, 1935,
an overweight and greatly diminished Babe Ruth reminded fans of his
greatness one last time when hit three home runs in a single game at
Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The following week, Ruth
officially retired. He was one of the first five players inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. While he eventually earned the
title of coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, Ruth never achieved
his goal of managing a major league team. Known throughout his life as a
generous man, he gave much of his time in his last years to charitable
events instead. On June 13, 1948, he made one last appearance at
Yankee Stadium to celebrate the building's 25th anniversary. Sick with
cancer, Ruth had become a shadow of his former, gregarious self. Two
months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died, leaving much of his
estate to the Babe Ruth Foundation for underprivileged children. He was
survived by his second wife, Claire, and his daughters, Dorothy and
Julia. Professional
baseball player Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February
6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruth was raised in a poor waterfront
neighborhood in Baltimore, where his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and
George Herman Ruth Sr., owned a tavern. Ruth was one of eight children
born to the couple, and one of only two that survived infancy. At
the age of 7, the trouble-making Ruth became too much of a handful for
his busy parents. Routinely caught wandering the dockyards, drinking,
chewing tobacco and taunting local police officers, his parents finally
decided he needed more discipline than they could give him. Ruth's
family sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic
orphanage and reformatory that became Ruth's home for the next 12
years. Ruth particularly looked up to a monk named Brother Mathias, who
became a father figure to the young boy.
Knack for Baseball
Mathias,
along with several other monks of the order, introduced Ruth to
baseball, a game at which the boy excelled. By the time he was 15, Ruth
showed exceptional skill both as a strong hitter and pitcher. It was
his pitching that initially caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the
owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. At the time, the Orioles
groomed players for the major league team known as the Boston Red Sox,
and Dunn saw promise in Ruth's athletic performance. Only 19, the
law at the time stated that Ruth had to have a legal guardian sign his
baseball contract in order for him to play professionally. As a
result, Dunn became Ruth's legal guardian, leading teammates to
jokingly call Ruth "Dunn's new babe." The joke stuck, and Ruth quickly
earned the nickname "Babe" Ruth. Ruth was only with the club for
a short time before he was called up to the majors in Boston. The
left-handed pitcher proved immediately to be a valuable member of the
team. Over the next five years, Ruth led the Red Sox to three
championships, including the 1916 title which saw him pitch a
still-record 13 scoreless innings in one game.
Major Leagues
With
its titles and "the Babe," Boston was clearly the class act of the
major leagues. All that would change in 1919, however, with a single
stroke of a pen. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry
Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. He found help in the New York
Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the rights to Ruth for
the then-impressive sum of $100,000. The deal came to shape both
franchises in unforeseen ways. For Boston, Ruth's departure spelled
the end of the team's winning streak. It wouldn't be until 2004 that
the club would win another World Series, a championship drought that
later sports writers dubbed "The Curse of the Bambino." For the
New York Yankees, it was a different matter. With Ruth leading the way,
New York turned into a dominant force, winning four World Series
titles over the next 15 seasons. Ruth, who became a full-time
outfielder, was at the heart of all the success, unleashing a level of
power that had never been seen before in the game.
Record-breaking Career
In
1919, while with the Red Sox, Ruth set a single-season home run record
of 29. This turned out to be just the beginning of a series of
record-breaking performances by Ruth. In 1920, his first year in New
York, he knocked 54 home runs. In his second season he broke his own
record by hitting 59 home runs and, in less than 10 seasons, Ruth had
made his mark as baseball's all-time home run leader. Yet the
athlete seemed determined to continue breaking his own records. In 1927,
he outdid himself again by hitting 60 home runs in a season's time—a
record that stood for 34 years. By this time, his presence was so great
in New York that the new Yankee Stadium (built in 1923) was dubbed "the
house that Ruth built." Over the course of his career, Ruth
went on to break baseball's most important slugging records, including
most years leading a league in home runs (12); most total bases in a
season (457); and highest slugging percentage for a season (.847). In
all he hit 714 home runs, a mark that stood until 1974, when Hank Aaron
of the Atlanta Braves surpassed him.
Retirement and Legacy
Ruth's
success on the field was matched by a lifestyle that catered perfectly
to a pre-Depression America hungry for a fast lifestyle. Rumors of his
large appetite for food, alcohol, and women, as well as his tendency
toward extravagant spending and high living, were as legendary as his
exploits at the plate. This reputation, whether true or imagined, hurt
Ruth's chances of becoming a team manager in later life. Ball clubs,
wary of his lifestyle, didn't want to take a chance on the seemingly
irresponsible Ruth. In 1935 he was lured back to Boston to play for the
Braves and for the opportunity, so he thought, to manage the club the
following season. The job never materialized. On May 25, 1935,
an overweight and greatly diminished Babe Ruth reminded fans of his
greatness one last time when hit three home runs in a single game at
Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The following week, Ruth
officially retired. He was one of the first five players inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. While he eventually earned the
title of coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, Ruth never achieved
his goal of managing a major league team. Known throughout his life as a
generous man, he gave much of his time in his last years to charitable
events instead. On June 13, 1948, he made one last appearance at
Yankee Stadium to celebrate the building's 25th anniversary. Sick with
cancer, Ruth had become a shadow of his former, gregarious self. Two
months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died, leaving much of his
estate to the Babe Ruth Foundation for underprivileged children. He was
survived by his second wife, Claire, and his daughters, Dorothy and
Julia. Professional
baseball player Babe Ruth was born George Herman Ruth Jr. on February
6, 1895, in Baltimore, Maryland. Ruth was raised in a poor waterfront
neighborhood in Baltimore, where his parents, Kate Schamberger-Ruth and
George Herman Ruth Sr., owned a tavern. Ruth was one of eight children
born to the couple, and one of only two that survived infancy. At
the age of 7, the trouble-making Ruth became too much of a handful for
his busy parents. Routinely caught wandering the dockyards, drinking,
chewing tobacco and taunting local police officers, his parents finally
decided he needed more discipline than they could give him. Ruth's
family sent him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic
orphanage and reformatory that became Ruth's home for the next 12
years. Ruth particularly looked up to a monk named Brother Mathias, who
became a father figure to the young boy.
Knack for Baseball
Mathias,
along with several other monks of the order, introduced Ruth to
baseball, a game at which the boy excelled. By the time he was 15, Ruth
showed exceptional skill both as a strong hitter and pitcher. It was
his pitching that initially caught the attention of Jack Dunn, the
owner of the minor league Baltimore Orioles. At the time, the Orioles
groomed players for the major league team known as the Boston Red Sox,
and Dunn saw promise in Ruth's athletic performance. Only 19, the
law at the time stated that Ruth had to have a legal guardian sign his
baseball contract in order for him to play professionally. As a
result, Dunn became Ruth's legal guardian, leading teammates to
jokingly call Ruth "Dunn's new babe." The joke stuck, and Ruth quickly
earned the nickname "Babe" Ruth. Ruth was only with the club for
a short time before he was called up to the majors in Boston. The
left-handed pitcher proved immediately to be a valuable member of the
team. Over the next five years, Ruth led the Red Sox to three
championships, including the 1916 title which saw him pitch a
still-record 13 scoreless innings in one game.
Major Leagues
With
its titles and "the Babe," Boston was clearly the class act of the
major leagues. All that would change in 1919, however, with a single
stroke of a pen. Faced with financial hardships, Red Sox owner Harry
Frazee needed cash to pay off his debts. He found help in the New York
Yankees, which agreed in December of 1919 to buy the rights to Ruth for
the then-impressive sum of $100,000. The deal came to shape both
franchises in unforeseen ways. For Boston, Ruth's departure spelled
the end of the team's winning streak. It wouldn't be until 2004 that
the club would win another World Series, a championship drought that
later sports writers dubbed "The Curse of the Bambino." For the
New York Yankees, it was a different matter. With Ruth leading the way,
New York turned into a dominant force, winning four World Series
titles over the next 15 seasons. Ruth, who became a full-time
outfielder, was at the heart of all the success, unleashing a level of
power that had never been seen before in the game.
Record-breaking Career
In
1919, while with the Red Sox, Ruth set a single-season home run record
of 29. This turned out to be just the beginning of a series of
record-breaking performances by Ruth. In 1920, his first year in New
York, he knocked 54 home runs. In his second season he broke his own
record by hitting 59 home runs and, in less than 10 seasons, Ruth had
made his mark as baseball's all-time home run leader. Yet the
athlete seemed determined to continue breaking his own records. In 1927,
he outdid himself again by hitting 60 home runs in a season's time—a
record that stood for 34 years. By this time, his presence was so great
in New York that the new Yankee Stadium (built in 1923) was dubbed "the
house that Ruth built." Over the course of his career, Ruth
went on to break baseball's most important slugging records, including
most years leading a league in home runs (12); most total bases in a
season (457); and highest slugging percentage for a season (.847). In
all he hit 714 home runs, a mark that stood until 1974, when Hank Aaron
of the Atlanta Braves surpassed him.
Retirement and Legacy
Ruth's
success on the field was matched by a lifestyle that catered perfectly
to a pre-Depression America hungry for a fast lifestyle. Rumors of his
large appetite for food, alcohol, and women, as well as his tendency
toward extravagant spending and high living, were as legendary as his
exploits at the plate. This reputation, whether true or imagined, hurt
Ruth's chances of becoming a team manager in later life. Ball clubs,
wary of his lifestyle, didn't want to take a chance on the seemingly
irresponsible Ruth. In 1935 he was lured back to Boston to play for the
Braves and for the opportunity, so he thought, to manage the club the
following season. The job never materialized. On May 25, 1935,
an overweight and greatly diminished Babe Ruth reminded fans of his
greatness one last time when hit three home runs in a single game at
Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The following week, Ruth
officially retired. He was one of the first five players inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936. While he eventually earned the
title of coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, Ruth never achieved
his goal of managing a major league team. Known throughout his life as a
generous man, he gave much of his time in his last years to charitable
events instead. On June 13, 1948, he made one last appearance at
Yankee Stadium to celebrate the building's 25th anniversary. Sick with
cancer, Ruth had become a shadow of his former, gregarious self.
Two
months later, on August 16, 1948, Babe Ruth died, leaving much of his
estate to the Babe Ruth Foundation for underprivileged children. He was
survived by his second wife, Claire, and his daughters, Dorothy and
Julia.
BACH MASTERPIECE
