Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 3/21/2011

3/21/1946:
The Los Angeles Rams sign Kenny Washington, who will become the first African American since 1933 to play in the National Football League. Woody Strode will also play for the Rams this season. And in the All-America Football Conference, which begins operations this year, the Cleveland Browns will sign two black players: Bill Willis and Marion Motley. The last NFL team to integrate is the Washington Redskins, in 1962.

Birthdays:
Tom Flores b. 1937
Jay Hilgenberg b. 1960
Ayrton Sonna b. 1960
Shawon Dunston b. 1963
Al Iafrate b. 1966

Packers Fact:
Quarterback Brett Favre, who played for the Packers from 1992 to 2007, entered 2009 as the NFL's all-time leader for pass attempts (9,280), pass completions (5,720), passing yards (65,127), and touchdown passes (464).

ON AND FOR THE MAIN COURSE,
PERHAPS A LARGE AUSTRALIAN

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It’s time to cook a little German.

Petoskey (Michigan) News-Review

“Life may not exactly be pleasant, but at least it is not dull.”

—H. L. MENCKEN, American humorist and writer

WIZARDS OF WIRELESS

How did we get from the first clumsy-looking radios bristling with wires and magnets to sleek PDAs hardly as big as a wallet? It’s all here, from the early experiments of Volta, Faraday, Hertz, and others, through the exciting and often vicious world of early TV and radio, to new technologies and those still emerging. Ira Brodsky delivers a fun and fascinating read.

THE HISTORY OF WIRELESS: HOW CREATIVE MINDS PRODUCED TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MASSES, by Ira Brodsky (Telescope Books, 2008)