As a young high jumper in the early 1960s, Dick Fosbury had trouble mastering the standard technique, called the straddle. Instead he began doing the high jump by approaching the bar with his back to it, doing a modified scissor-kick and going over the bar backwards and horizontal to the ground. As goofy as it looked, it worked. Dubbed the "Fosbury Flop" by a Medford, Oregon reporter, Fosbury caused a sensation when he won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, jumping a height of 2.24 meters. The Fosbury Flop has since become a standard technique for high jumpers.
http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/02/13/sports/story2.htmlRichard Douglas Fosbury (born March 6, 1947) is a retired high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field.Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) is the current men's record holder with a jump of 2.45 m (8 ft 01⁄4 in) set in 1993 – the longest standing record in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record at 2.09 m (6 ft 101⁄4 in) since 1987, also the longest-held record in the event.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Manfred Mann: 6
Manfred Mann (born Manfred Sepse Lubowitz,[1] 21 October 1940, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa) is a professional keyboard player, best known as the founding member of Manfred Mann and Manfred Mann's Earth Band.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Helen Joseph: 5
For forty years Helen Joseph dedicated herself single-mindedly to opposing apartheid. Her commitment earned her the ANC's highest award, the Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe Medal. It also led to a relentless government campaign to silence her, a campaign which ultimately failed - for generations of South Africans, Helen was an inspiration and a symbol of defiance, integrity and courage.
Helen Beatrice May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905. She graduated from King's College, University of London, in 1927, taught for three years in India, then came to South Africa in 1931, where she met and married Billie Joseph. Her service as an information and welfare officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War, and her subsequent decision to become a social worker, exposed her to some of the realities of South African life.
for more see the ANC website
Helen Beatrice May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905. She graduated from King's College, University of London, in 1927, taught for three years in India, then came to South Africa in 1931, where she met and married Billie Joseph. Her service as an information and welfare officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force during the Second World War, and her subsequent decision to become a social worker, exposed her to some of the realities of South African life.
for more see the ANC website
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Rob Armitage: 3
Eastern Province and South African cricketer Robbie Armitage.
Died of cancer(45), December 2000
Died of cancer(45), December 2000
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Peter Fechter: 2
Peter Fechter (January 14, 1944 – August 17, 1962) was a German bricklayer from East Berlin, who, at the age of eighteen, became one of the first victims of the Berlin Wall's border guards.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Colonel Jacob Glen Cuyler: 1
American in the British army, who hanged the rebels at Slagtersnek (all 5, after 4 ropes broke and after a delay of a few hours completed the job)On 9 March 1816 the remaining five were hanged in public at Van Aardtspos. Four of the nooses broke during the execution due to old ropes being used. The four whose ropes broke, as well as the public, pleaded for their lives but Cuyler ordered that they be hanged a second time and they were hanged one by one. The names of the five who were hanged were Hendrik Prinsloo, Stephanus Bothma, Abraham Bothma, Cornelius Faber and Theunis de Klerk.[4][5]
The hanging of these five caused deep resentment towards the British by the Boers.Cuyler together with Lord Charles Somerset persuaded the British Parliament to vote funds to finance the settlement of parties of British settlers in order to strengthen the frontier. In 1820 numbers of English and Scots arrived. The Scots were settled in the Baviaans River Mountains, on land confiscated from the Slagtersnek rebels while the English were settled in the Albany district to the south.
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