Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 5/28/2007

Memorial Day observed
5/28/1984:
Seventeen-year-old Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria wins three matches in one day, including a straight-set triumph over top-seeded Chris Evert-Lloyd to win the rain-plagued Italian Open in Rome. After closing out her quarterfinal against Virginia Ruzici in the third set this morning, Maleeva routs Carling Bassett in the semis, 6-2, 6-2, and Mrs. Loyd in the finals, 6-3, 6-3, with only about a half-hour of rest between matches. The month of May has been good to Maleeva. She won the Swiss Open at Gstaad just two weeks ago.

Birthdays:
Jim Thorpe b. 1888
Red Horner b. 1909
Jerry West b. 1938
Terry Crisp b. 1943
Kirk Gibson b. 1957

HISTORIES

The Bayeux Tapestry is a thin piece of linen, 70 meters long (nearly 230 feet) onto which is stitched a pictorial account of the Battle of Hastings, celebrating Norman invader William the Conquerer’s defeat of British King Harold. Or is it? Bridgeford’s intriguing hypothesis is that the tapestry was of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine the Normans. It’s history with a subversive, fascinating twist.

1066: THE HIDDEN HISTORY IN THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY, by Andrew Bridgeford (Walker & Company, 2005)