The Gad About Town

For the first time in U.S. history, the two major party nominees for President of the United States debated on this date in 1960. It was also the first time the two nominees would be seen together on television.

Senator John F. Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon met in Chicago; the two held three more debates through the fall that year. Howard K. Smith moderated.

Senator Kennedy had spent the day preparing for the debate with close aides and then rested. The Vice President had not prepared, was recovering from the flu, and, perhaps worse, re-injured one of his knees on the way to the studio. (The swelling had just gone down when he banged it in into his car door.) Nixon refused makeup and did not shave just before the debate, so his 5 o’clock shadow stood out under the hot TV studio lights, as did his heavy sweating, which was caused by either his flu, the pain from his knee, or the heat from the lights.
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Today is the birthday of the love of my life, Jen. I keep discovering how few ways there are to say “I love you” but how wonderful it is to learn new ways to tell her.

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The Bill of Rights was approved by Congress on this date in 1789 and was readied to be sent to the states to ratify.

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Satchel Paige pitched in his final major league baseball game on this date in 1965. He was 59 years old, and Charles O. Finley, the owner of the Kansas City A’s, signed him to a single-game contract. The game was against the Boston Red Sox, and Paige started, pitched three scoreless innings, and stuck out one batter, the opposing pitcher. Paige sat on a rocking chair in the bullpen between innings.

An interview with Satchel Paige from 1958 (after the jump):
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