Then... and Now Episode 16

The host of the Then and Now podcast discusses various historical events, birthdays, and current topics for the week of June 12th through the 18th. Some notable events mentioned include Al Capone's indictment, the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, the Loving v. Virginia case legalizing interracial marriage, and the Pulse nightclub shooting. Birthdays of notable figures such as George H.W. Bush, Anne Frank, and Jim Neighbors are also mentioned. Additionally, the host briefly mentions events such as the Miranda v. Arizona case, the publishing of the Pentagon Papers, and the founding of the Ford Motor Company and Pepsi Cola Company. Good day, everybody. Thanks for choosing the Then and Now podcast. I'm your host, Jon Shomo, and this week we'll take a look at birthdays, anniversaries, historical events for the period of June 12th through the 18th. Then we'll go over some current topics that have arisen and that are scheduled, and then we'll have three good questions, this week all from one person. That's unusual, but that's what we're going to do this week. So welcome aboard. Let's get it started. We'll look at the week June 12th through 18th, starting with June 12th. On June 12th, 1931, Al Capone, Chicago guy, was indicted on over 5,000 counts of prohibition and perjury. That's on June 12th, 1931. Medgar Evers, the civil rights leader from Mississippi, was gunned down in his own driveway, assassinated on June 12th, early morning hours of June 12th, 1963. The United States Supreme Court in 1967 struck down all state laws barring interracial marriage in the case Loving v. Virginia that allowed for interracial marriage in the United States in 1967. President Reagan, visiting Berlin during the days that the wall still stood, very famously called on the leader of the Soviet Union at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, to, quote, tear down this wall. That was June 12th, 1987. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were slashed to death in front of her house near Los Angeles on June 12th, 1994. That obviously set off a series of events that culminated in the very famous O.J. Simpson murder trial. One of the worst mass shootings in American history took place on June 12th, 2016, at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded by one gunman. Birthdays, June 12th, 1924, 100 years ago, George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, born June 12th, 1924. Anne Frank, famous ultimate victim of the Nazis in World War II, Anne Frank, born June 12th, 1929. And a face and a voice very familiar to those of us of a certain age, Jim Neighbors, born June 12th, 1930, played Gomer Pyle on television, was an outstanding singer. He used to sing Back Home Again in Indiana at the Indianapolis 500 every year. Jim Neighbors, June 12th, 1930. Moving on to June 13th, the famous Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona was decided on June 13th, 1966. Ernesto Miranda had been originally charged with rape. He was found not guilty. They had additional evidence, and in the long run they found him guilty again. He was found not guilty on appeal because the police did not inform him of his rights at arrest. That's why they call those things that they say in all the TV shows and movies and everything, your Miranda rights. You have the right to remain silent, et cetera. Those came out of that case, by the way. President Lyndon Johnson, one year later in 1967, nominated Thurgood Marshall for the United States Supreme Court. Marshall was confirmed and spent most of the rest of his life on the court. He retired in 1991 and passed away in early 1993. The New York Times on June 13th, 1971, began publishing excerpts from the so-called Pentagon Papers, the papers from the Rand Corporation Study, over 7,000 of them in all, which laid bare the plans and the miscommunication and the misinterpretation and the just wrongdoing that the U.S. government committed throughout the Vietnam War's history. Those papers ultimately resulted in a very famous court decision also. Birthdays, June 13th, Martha Washington, the first First Lady of the United States, born June 13th, 731. The great Red Grange, one of the great football players of all time, born June 13th, 1903, the Galloping Ghost, University of Illinois and the Chicago Bears. June 14th will be Flag Day. That dates back to 1777. The original United States flag, with the 13 stars in a circle, was designed not by Betsy Ross, but by Francis Hopkinson, signer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania. Nazi troops entered Paris triumphantly on June 14th, 1940. President Eisenhower signed an executive order adding under God to the Pledge of Allegiance on June 14th, 1954. That would be 70 years ago. President Clinton nominated the late great Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the U.S. Supreme Court on June 14th, 1993. Some birthdays on June 14th. First of all, we'll take them in order here. Steffi Groff, 55 years old, on June 14th. She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles in tennis. That's more than remarkable. That's just unbelievable. Eric Heiden will be 66 on June 14th. Eric Heiden, those of us of a certain age certainly remember Eric Heiden winning five gold medals in speed skating at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games. The United States won six gold medals at those games, five of them won by Eric Heiden, the other one very famously and very stirringly won by the United States Olympic hockey team. Some guy named Donald J. Trump will be 78 on June 14th. And the great coach Pat Summitt, one of the greatest coaches, basketball coaches period of all time. Pat Summitt, most known for her time at the University of Tennessee, was born June 14th, 1952. Moving on to June 15th, George Washington was appointed commander of the Continental Army on June 15th, 1775. The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, which changed the way we elected presidents and kind of is the way we do it today, ratified on this date on June 15th, 1804. I think we kind of need another amendment there doing away with the Electoral College, but that's just my opinion. Charles Goodyear, familiar name to those in the Akron area, patented the vulcanization process of rubber on June 15th, 1844. The book All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, published on June 15th, 1974, 50 years ago this coming week. Lots of birthdays June 15th. The Hall of Famer, the sweet swinger from the Chicago Cubs, Billy Williams, will be 86. Dusty Baker, great player in his own right and manager, finally won a World Series title a few years ago with the Astros as a manager. Dusty Baker, now retired, 75. Xi Jinping, leader of China, 71 on June 15th. The Hall of Famer, the chicken man, the third baseman most of his career with the Boston Red Sox, Wade Boggs, 66 years old. Actress Courtney Cox will be 60. Ice Cube will be 55. Former Browns quarterback, if you remember the 2007 season, Derrick Anderson will be 41. And Giants right-hander on three World Championship teams with the San Francisco Giants, Tim Linscombe, will be 40 on June 15th, now retired. June 16th gives us these facts. The Ford Motor Company and the Pepsi Cola Company were both founded on the same day, June 16th, 1903. They're still around. Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space. The Russian cosmonaut went up aboard Vostok 6 on June 16th, 1963. The Apache leader Geronimo, born on June 16th, 1829. Catherine Graham, the longtime executive editor of the Washington Post, born June 16th, 1917. Speaking of all the president's men and all these things, Catherine Graham was very well portrayed in the movie, The Post, a few years ago by the great Meryl Streep. Catherine Graham was so steadfast in her support of her reporters. She had her arguments with Ben Bradley, but they were a great team and worked great together. A very forgotten but very important member of the 20th century history, Catherine Graham. Bill Mickelson, who will be trying once again this week to win a U.S. Open. That's the only major he has at one. Bill Mickelson will be 54. And Tupac was born June 16th, 1971. June 17th, the Battle of Bunker Hill took place near Boston on June 17th, 1775. The United States Supreme Court decided the case Abington School District v. Shemp on June 16th, 1963. You may know that as the school prayer case. That's the case that laid out the parameters for prayer in public schools. Five men were arrested for trying to bug the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel and Office Complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17th, 1972. That kicked off the whole Watergate episode, which eventually led to the resignation of the President of the United States two years later. Nine people shot and killed at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina by a white supremacist on June 17th, 2015. Birthdays? Ruth Wakefield, who invented the chocolate chip cookie. You got to give a shout out to anybody who did that great of a thing. Ruth Wakefield, born on June 17th, 1904. Barry Manilow will be 81 on June 17th. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich from Georgia will also be 81. Venus Williams, many, many, many times major champion in tennis, will be 44. And Kendrick Lamar turns 37 on June 17th. Finally, let's do June 18th, shall we? The city of Philadelphia was founded by William Penn on June 18th, 1882. The United States declared war on Great Britain on June 18th, 1812. Guess what we call that war? That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the War of 1812. The Battle of Waterloo was fought in Europe. Bad day for Napoleon on June 18th, 1815. Susan B. Anthony was fined $100 for the heinous crime of voting as a woman in Rochester, New York on June 18th, 1873. We have come a long way, baby. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space when she traveled aboard one of the space shuttles on June 18th, 1983. The small submersible, you remember this from one year ago, June 18th, 2023, the small submersible with five people aboard going down to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to view the wreck of the Titanic imploded, obviously killing all five people. That was one year ago this week. Birthdays for June 18th, George Mikan, the first great big man in basketball history, went to DePaul University in Chicago and played for the Minneapolis Lakers. George Mikan would have been 100 years old on June 18th. The Hall of Famer Lou Brock, born June 18th, 1939, I had the pleasure of meeting him one time, a very nice guy. Bruce Smith, the Hall of Fame defensive end from Virginia Tech and the Buffalo Bills, will be 61 on June 18th. Great Cleveland Indians catcher, now Guardians coach, Sandy Alomar, Jr., will be 58. Antonio Gates, who played basketball at Kent State but should be eventually an NFL Hall of Famer for his time as a tight Antonio Gates turns 44. Evan Mobley of your Cleveland Cavaliers, not mine, turns 23. And last but not least, I would certainly be remiss by not mentioning Sir Paul McCartney, who will be 82 years old on June 18th. Happy birthday, Paul. They say it's your birthday. Okay, enough huns there. Had to get that one in, though. All right, moving on to some topics that are certainly in the news lately. Let's handle the one, the most recent one first. The President's son, Hunter Biden, was found guilty on three charges of filling out forms illegally for the purchase of a gun while being an addict several years ago. President Biden says he's not going to step in. He respects the legal process. Very, very different response than some other guy in the news lately. And you know, by golly, I'm never going to vote for Hunter Biden ever. I don't vote for convicted felons. Okay, enough about that. We move on to the NBA Finals. At the moment we're recording this, the Boston Celtics have protected the Parquet floor and have gone up 2-0 in the Finals. They got major contributions from several guys. They are really playing great team basketball right now. Drew Holliday, Travis Steps, Porzingis, JB, White, Tatum, Pritchard, all have contributed in big moments in these first two games. It's beautiful to watch. Great team basketball is beautiful to watch. Dallas basically is rising or falling with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. If the Celtics can get a split of the two games in Dallas and come home and win it all next week in five games, that would be awesome. That's what I'm looking for. Hopefully that comes true. Let's go. All right, the U.S. Open is this week, may be being played as you listen to this. I'm doing the prediction prior to the first round. If you look through history at Pinehurst No. 2, where the tournament is being played this week in Pinehurst, NC, the favorite doesn't always win here. As a matter of fact, the last two U.S. Opens played at Pinehurst No. 2, the winners were Michael Campbell in 2005 and Martin Keimer in 2014. Not exactly the favorites moving in, although Keimer had won a PGA championship a few years earlier at Whistling Straits. The winner before that, and it's a great and somber, in a way, anniversary, it's been 25 years now since Payne Stewart nipped Phil Mickelson by a shot, making that put on the 18th green, the famous stance, the famous reaction by him that became a statue at Pinehurst right by the 18th green. Twenty-five years since Payne Stewart won here in 1999, and we miss him. He didn't live very much longer after that, just a few months. I did see the pairings came out today. The first two days will feature a pairing of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, and Rory McIlroy. Are you kidding me? That'll be about 80% of the gallery following that threesome, I would think. They'll play together both Friday and Saturday. It'll be threesomes the first two days off both the first and tenth tees, and then twosomes off No. 1 Friday and Saturday. It's going to be really hot at Pinehurst this weekend. That may be a factor in the ultimate determination of who wins. We'll see. Hopefully everybody's hydrating in advance. Okay. One more topic. Some of you are very well aware of the fact that I run a little college football pool. I've been doing it for over ten years now. This week a big moment happened in that fun area. Phil Steele's magazine was sent to the publisher. As a subscriber, I got access to his online version of his magazine. We now know the Phil Steele picks which go into the categories in which the teams are placed in our little pool. I'm not going to reveal them all, guys, but I will reveal the top four as a special then and now Phil Steele preview. Phil Steele chooses as the No. 1 team preseason this year the Georgia Bulldogs. His No. 2 team, the Ohio State Buckeyes. His No. 3 team, now in the Big Ten, also the Oregon Ducks. And his No. 4 team, now in the SEC, formerly of the Big 12, Hook'Em, the Texas Longhorns. So the Phil Steele top four are Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon and Texas. If you want to know more, buy the magazine when it comes out. Go online and order it from him or wait until it comes out to your local newsstand or convenience store or wherever it might be sold. There's my plug for Phil Steele. And it means that I as commissioner have to go to work now on setting up the 2024 version of the Jomo College football pool. Okay. And that's always a fun thing for us to do. All right. Turning to our final feature every week, our three good questions feature, we're going to feature three good questions from one person this year, former Firestone High wrestling great, Martin Fleming, asked three questions this week, so we're going to go with those. The first one was, and I have a tough time nailing this one down. What's the hottest athletic event, not hot as in good looking, the hottest athletic event that I ever attended or participated in, in terms of temperature? The only thing I could think of is there were lots of baseball games. I played a lot of baseball. I played baseball until I was 40 years old. Loved it. You know, a lot of me longs to be able to play still, but I know my limitations. Lots of baseball games when I was a teenager, summer ball, fields that didn't have grass infields, all dirt, 95 degrees, wind blowing, no dugouts, you're sitting on a bench, just baking in the July heat all day. Probably we weren't hydrating as well as we do now. We weren't as aware of it, et cetera. So I would say those events tie for my hottest athletic event that I ever certainly participated in. I would do it all over again if I could, but boy, some of those days. Okay. His second question, staying with the theme, the coldest athletic event that I ever attended or participated in. Well, being that I didn't play high school football, probably it's not one I participated in. Attended many football games over the years where it was pretty darn cold, but the one I remember most and good friend of the show Bob Beals will back me up on this. Bob and I attended the final game of the regular season for the Cleveland Browns in 1989. It was a home game against the then Houston Oilers. Now they would be the Tennessee Titans for your younger fans. And it was a game that had playoff implications. The Browns had to win to get into the playoffs. The Oilers were already in. They had clinched a wildcard berth. And the first half was miserable. Bernie Kosar was injured and did not play. Our second string quarterback got injured and it fell to Don Strock, the veteran backup, to try to win the game for Cleveland. Didn't go well in the first half. Everybody was kind of sitting there, you know, sitting on their hands literally trying to stay warm at halftime. But the Browns made a terrific stirring comeback. I remember Webster Slaughter catching a touchdown pass kind of right in front of us near the old open end of the old stadium and prancing into the end zone and everybody going nuts. The Browns won that game. Ultimately, the rest of the story is they had to play Houston the very next week back at home in the first round of the playoffs and the Oilers beat the Browns 24 to 23. But that's the coldest athletic event I ever attended. It was so cold that I had purchased long thermal socks that had a place for a 9-volt battery built into them. So I had socks with each having a 9-volt battery charging in my socks during that game. Now that sounds to you younger people, don't try that at home. But they semi kept my feet from freezing that day, so they did their job. Okay. The third question Martin asked this week, and I don't know, I know what he's talking about, but I don't know if there's a real good answer for this. I'll give it a shot. Why do podcasters slash radio hosts slash even TV news folks often say, good to see you, when they actually see none of the listeners slash viewers who tune in? Well, that's very true. I would say that it's really probably a really stupid thing if you're doing an audio broadcast, a podcast like this or certainly AM, FM, radio or anything like that. Nobody sees anybody, right? I know they often do that, but I don't know why. For TV folks, it's a little different. I think they're trying to actually attempt to be folksy. You know, we're welcoming us into your living room. It's nice to see you, et cetera. They probably shouldn't even do that. They probably, I would think, would say, just want to say something like, you know, thank you for letting into us. Thank you. I'm trying to get that right now. Thank you for letting us into your house or home this evening or this afternoon or whenever it may be. I don't know that really, you know, I think we all realize that they're not really looking through the TV screen at us. Let's hope everybody realizes that anyway. But I really don't know why. I think it's probably in TV an attempt to be, like I said, folksy and just conversational. I don't know why audio broadcasters would say good to see you out there. I certainly will not on this program. So thanks for that, Martin. Three good questions this week. If you have a good question for the podcast, you know where to send it, I hope. If you don't, it's threegoodquestionsatgmail.com. That's three, word spelled out, T-H-R-E-E, goodquestionsatgmail.com. That ought to do it for this week. As always, we appreciate you listening in. Nice to see you out there. No, I'm just kidding. Appreciate you listening in. Appreciate you choosing us. You can find us on Spotify. It's an app, by the way, for some of my friends. And have a great week. Enjoy. And we'll talk to you again next week. Have a great one, everybody.