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149 short, true stories behind the things you use every day. Each one names its source.
In 1943 the US banned sliced bread.
Answer to read the story.For seven weeks, partly to save on wrapping. Read the story
Soccer's red card was thought up at a London traffic light
In 1966 a German referee sent off Argentina's captain in a World Cup match at Wembley. The referee spoke no Spanish, and the captain refused to go.
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The NBA's 24-second shot clock came from simple division
On November 22, 1950, the Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers 19 to 18 by holding the ball instead of shooting.
Wimbledon was first played to pay for a broken pony roller
In June 1877 the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, in Wimbledon, needed money to repair the pony roller it used on its lawns.
A 1912 Olympic wrestling bout lasted 11 hours and 40 minutes
At the Stockholm Olympics, Martin Klein of Russia and Alfred Asikainen of Finland, the world champion, wrestled outdoors in the sun, resting briefly every half hour.
Baseball's official inventor was at West Point that year
In 1907 a commission of baseball men declared that Abner Doubleday had invented the game in Cooperstown, New York, in 1839.
The first World Cup final used a different ball in each half
On July 30, 1930, Uruguay and Argentina met in Montevideo in the first World Cup final, and they could not agree on whose ball to play with.
The marathon's odd 385 yards come from a royal box in 1908
The 1908 Olympic marathon in London ran from Windsor Castle to the royal box in the stadium. A late change of entrance cut the stretch inside the stadium to 385 yards.
In 1971 an astronaut took a six-iron to the Moon
On the Apollo 14 mission in February 1971, Alan Shepard fitted the head of a six-iron onto a tool handle and hit two golf balls on the Moon.
The Olympics once gave gold medals for poems and sculptures
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded medals for architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture, as long as the work was about sport.
Barbados scored in its own net on purpose to win a match
In a 1994 qualifier, Barbados needed to beat Grenada by two goals and led 2 to 1 with minutes left. Under that tournament's rules, a golden goal in extra time counted double.
149 stories. Ten free a day.
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