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Frankie was a typical Sicilian kid, born, Francesco Paolo LoVecchio, in the heart of Chicago's Little Italy on March 30, 1913, where his father worked at one time as the personal barber for gangster Al Capone. His family had several Mafia connections, and when Frankie was young, he was living with his grandfather when the latter was hit by some members of a rival faction. He began as a marathon dancer, but soon realized that he wanted to make singing his life's career. He became one of the most successful American singers of the twentieth century, often billed as America's Number One Song Stylist, his other nicknames included Mr. Rhythm, Old Leather Lungs, and Old Man Jazz. His hits included "That's My Desire", "That Lucky Old Sun," "Mule Train", "Cry of the Wild Goose", "Jezebel," "High Noon", "I Believe", "Hey Joe!", "The Kid's Last Fight", "Cool Water", "Moonlight Gambler", "Love is a Golden Ring", "Rawhide", and "Lord, You Gave Me a Mountain". His career as an entertainer spanned approximately 75 years. Frankie passed away on February 6, of this year, due to heart failure after having survived two bypass surgeries several years earlier.
Tags:
frankie
laine
jezebel
italian
singers
Added: 4th October 2007
Views: 2930
Rating: 
Posted By: Sophia |
 
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On April 21, 1980 unheralded Rosie Ruiz was the first woman to cross the finish line in the prestigious Boston Marathon. Her apparent victory in record time was immediately suspicious. First, everyone assumed Jacqueline Gareau was the leading female. Nobody saw Gareau lose the lead in the race at anytime after the eighth mile. Furthermore, Ruiz's running shoes were barely scuffed and she was hardly perspiring in the unseasonably warm weather. Two Harvard University students signed affidavits stating they saw Ruiz illegally enter the course just a few hundred yards from the finish line. Ruiz denied the accusations and maintained she had run unnoticed among a pack of male runners. Few people believed her story and she was subsequently disqualified after an investigation. To this day Ruiz has stubbornly refused to return her winner's medal, so Gareau was given a larger medal. Twenty five years later Gareau was ceremoniously allowed to break the tape--a thrill that Ruiz deprived her from experiencing in 1980. Ruiz had qualified to run in Boston by finishing the 1979 New York City Marathon with a decent time, but investigators discovered she had cheated there too. (She left the course after a few hundred yards, took a subway train to an area near the finish line, illegally re-entered the race and finished 26th.) Ruiz promised to prove her innocence by winning the 1980 New York City Marathon. She never showed up.
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Rosie
Ruiz
cheater
Boston
Marathon
Added: 30th November 2007
Views: 5025
Rating: 
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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The 1920's, a decade of dissipation, of jazz bands, raccoon coats, bathtub gin, flappers, flagpole sitters, bootleggers, marathon dancers, and bathing beauties. A decade when America truly came of age.
Tags:
roaring
twenties
flappers
bootleggers
1920s
Added: 3rd December 2007
Views: 3233
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Posted By: Naomi |
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American Frank Shorter won the 1972 Olympic marathon, but he was preceded into Munich's Olympic Stadium by a prankster who circled the track before race officials realized he wasn't a legitimate competitor.
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1972
Olympic
marathon
hoax
Added: 15th February 2008
Views: 6818
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Here's a minute of film from the 1908 Olympics in London. The opening clip shows the famous finish to the marathon: Italy's Dorando Pietri staggering into the stadium, collapsing, and being assisted across the finsh line. (Pietri was properly disqualified.) You have to love the pole vaulter landing on his feet in the sand. There were no sissy landing mats in 1908!
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1908
Olympics
London
Added: 19th August 2008
Views: 1945
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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The 1920's, a decade of dissipation, of jazz bands, raccoon coats, bathtub gin, flappers, flagpole sitters, bootleggers, marathon dancers, and bathing beauties. A decade when America truly came of age.
Photos
Library of Congress
Shorpy.com
Louise Brooks Society
The 1920's Experience
The Chicago Daily News
Digital History
Great Gatsby's
Timetable Images
Music
Irving Aaronson and the Commanders
Fred Astaire
George Olsen
Golden Gate Orchestra
Helen Kane
Sophie Tucker
Jack Hytion
conceived and produced by: Dale Caruso
Tags:
1920s
Flappers
Prohibition
Bathing
Beauties
Jazz
Age
Added: 25th September 2008
Views: 3036
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Posted By: dalecaruso |
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Terry Fox was arguably the most heroic figure in Canadian history. On April 12, 1980, the 21-year-old Fox, who had lost his right leg to cancer three years earlier, began a mind-boggling cross-Canada run from Newfoundland to British Columbia with the aid of a prosthesis to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. For the next four months Fox averaged 25 miles per day as Canada became captivated by his exploits. Unfortunately, Fox had to abandon his 'Marathon of Hope' near Thunder Bay, Ontario on September 1 because the cancer had resurfaced in his lungs. Fox had run 3,339 miles! He died nine months later. This nine-minute feature was produced by ESPN in 2005.
Tags:
Terry
Fox
cancer
Marathon
of
Hope
Canada
Added: 16th January 2009
Views: 1415
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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During the 1920s and 1930s, dance marathons were a popular diversion in the United States. It is estimated that at their pinnacle, dance marathons were the main source of livelihood for 20,000 frequent competitors, officials, promoters, and musicians. Rules varied from place to place, but generally a couple stayed in the running for cash prizes as long as they kept moving on the dance floor. Only short respites were allowed every few hours for meals and rests. One event in New York City in 1937 lasted 481 hours--slightly more than 20 days! By the late 1930s, several cities and states had outlawed dance marathons because of the health dangers that accompanied sleep deprivation. This colorized photo from 1925 shows a typically exhausted couple.
Tags:
dance
marathons
Added: 16th August 2009
Views: 2089
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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On September 9, 1954, Canadian teenager Marilyn Bell became the first person to swim across Lake Ontario. Some 300,000 onlookers witnessed her arrival near the Canadian National Exhibition grounds in Toronto 20 hours and 59 minutes after Bell began her swim in Youngstown, NY. Bell's feat was actually made in defiance of CNE organizers who had offered a $10,000 prize solely to American marathon swimmer Florence Chadwick. (Chadwick abandoned her effort after becoming ill. The CNE did award Bell the cash.) The straight-line distance of the swim was about 32 miles. Bell, who was a month shy of her seventeenth birthday, swam an estimated 40 miles while battling fifteen-foot waves and lamprey eels. Bell later swam both the English Channel and the Strait of Juan de Fuca before retiring from marathon swimming in 1958.
Tags:
Marilyn
Bell
Lake
Ontario
swimmer
Added: 6th September 2009
Views: 2415
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Actor Gig Young was outwardly debonair but he led a troubled life. Alcoholism curtailed his promising acting career and ruined more than one marriage, including a turbulent wedlock with Elizabeth Montgomery. Although he won an Oscar for his 1969 portrayal of a dance marathon emcee in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Young's acting jobs became increasingly scarce during the 1970s. He was fired after just one day on the set of Blazing Saddles for alcohol-related problems. His last film appearance was in The Death Game where the 64-year-old Young met 21-year-old script supervisor Kim Schmidt. Schmidt became Young's fifth wife on September 27, 1978. Twenty-two days later they were both found shot to death in their Manhattan apartment. The case was ruled a murder-suicide, with Young the perpetrator. No note was found to explain the motive. Although Young's estate was valued at about $200,000, in his will he left just $10 to his only child, a 14-year-old daughter, whom Young claimed was not actually his.
Tags:
Gig
Young
murder-suicide
Added: 10th October 2009
Views: 11295
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Posted By: Lava1964 |
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