Birthday Milestone or Millstone? - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Birthday Milestone or Millstone?

Today is my 70th birthday? Sure, it’s a major milestone, but on the other hand, it may be a millstone! Let’s face it, I’m old.

But I’m not alone, as these celebrities are also turning 70 this year! The ladies sure do look a lot better than the men, especially those old rockers.

And here are the athletes from that era who who turn 70 soon:

• Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Cesar Geronimo & Ed Armbrister - Played for the Big Red Machine in the 70’s
• Steve Garvey and Steve Yeager - LA Dodgers All Stars
• Bobby Orr - Hall of Fame hockey player for the Boston Bruins
• Bob Lanier - Hall of Fame Center for the Detroit Pistons
• Jack Ham & Terry Bradshaw - Hall of Famers from the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Calvin Murphy - Houston Rockets - shortest player in the NBA Hall of Fame (5’9”)
• Nate Archibald & Dave Cowens - Boston Celtics Hall of Famers
• Buck Martinez - Toronto Blue Jays player, manager and announcer
• Dan Issel - Denver Nuggets Hall of Fame basketball player
• Dan Gable - Olympic gold metal wrestler

On the other extreme, undoubtedly, the most famous person that died in 1948 was Babe Ruth.

Mom & Dad were married on May 3rd, 1947, so I was born 9 months and 3 days later as pictured below. I recall at their 50th wedding anniversary asking Mom & Dad what the heck they did for three days after the wedding?

According to the following list, David was the 5th most popular name back in 1948, so you might think my parents were up on all the latest trends.

In actuality, they named all their kids after biblical saints; L-R below, Ann, Luke, Sara, Lucy & David. Except for the dog who was named Brownie!

Here are some of the strangest facts about the year 1948:

• A man was found dead on a beach in in Adelaide, South Australia and the words "Taman Shud", torn from a book, in a hidden pocket. The rest of the book was found in a nearby car, with a mysterious code on a page only visible under UV Light. The code and the identity of the man has never been solved.
• Cecil Harris wrote his last will and testament on a tractor fender while dying trapped underneath it.
• Sadamichi Hirasawa robbed a bank by pretending to be a public health official and giving cyanide to every bank employee as a "dysentery inoculation.”
• The 1948 Nobel prize for Medicine and Physiology was awarded for the invention of DDT.
• Huang Yu was the sole survivor of an airplane crash in 1948. His survival is notable for three reasons: it was the world's first commercial aviation hijacking, he was a hijacker and he was the sole survivor of the crash he caused.

Other highlights from 1948:

Here’s my birthday present that I’ll wear proudly along with that abominable millstone!

And here’s my cake:

But millstone or not, I’m enjoying life like a 21 year old! Retirement is like being in college, only without having to pay tuition or study!