Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 5/23/2007

5/23/2003:
Jeff Friesen's third game-winning goal of the Eastern Conference finals with just over two minutes remaining gives the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 win over Ottawa and a berth in the Stanley Cup finals against Anaheim. After surviving this decisive seventh game on the road at the Corel Center in Ottawa, the Devils will go on to win their third NHL title in nine years by defeating the upstart Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in seven games.

Birthdays:
Zack Wheat b. 1888
Vic Stasiuk b. 1929
John Newcombe b. 1943
Marvin Hagler b. 1954
Rich Karlis b. 1959

WEIRD SCIENCE

More sailors died of scurvy than of any other cause from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Bown believes scurvy may have cost the British the American Revolution, while the discovery of its prevention and cure may have saved England from Napoleon’s clutches. The answer to a major medical mystery turned out to be vitamin C. Bown serves up juicy, horrific details of sea travel and disease in a compelling, unique scientific history.

SCURVY: HOW A SURGEON, A MARINER, AND A GENTLEMAN SOLVED THE GREATEST MEDICAL MYSTERY OF THE AGE OF SAIL, by Stephen J. Bown (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2005)