Just Thought You Should Know...

On Wednesday I celebrated my 50th birthday.  It was a milestone for me, an important day in history, a day that will live in infamy.... Ok,maybe not that big.  However, May 25th has been the date of some more historic milestones.  It is the birthday of Mike Meyers, Robert Ludlum, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, among others. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis was dedicated on that day in 1968.  The Constitutional Congress opened in Philadelphia on May 25, 1787.

May 25th is a red-letter day in sports: 

• On May 25, 1935, Jesse Owens broke three world records and tied another at the Big Ten Track and Field Championships in Michigan—in just 45 minutes.  
• On that same day, Babe Ruth hit  the last three homers of his career in a game against the Pirates.
• New York Giant Willie Mays played his first major league game on May 25, 1951 (went 0 for 5). 
• On May 25, 1965, Muhammad Ali defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight boxing title for the first time.  

Some milestones are more serious.  On May 25, 1955, the town of Udall, Kansas, was destroyed by a tornado.  Eighty people lost their lives.

Probably the most famous May 25th event occurred on May 25, 1961 (yes, the very day I was born).  President John F. Kennedy spoke before a joint session of congress.  His speech on "urgent national needs" included this line: 

"First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth."