On July 7, 1912, Jim Thorpe wins the pentathlon at the fifth modern Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. At the time, Thorpe, a Native American who attended Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian School, was only beginning to establish his reputation as the greatest all-around athlete in the world. Competing against the best athletes in the world in the Olympic pentathlon, Thorpe placed first in the broad jump, 200-meter sprint, discuss throw and the 1,500 meters, and third in the javelin throw to win the gold easily. Later in the day Thorpe failed to medal in the high jump and long jump competitions, placing fourth and seventh, respectively. His second medal of the games would come in the decathlon, which he won nearly as easily as he had won the pentathlon, breaking the world record in the event. At the closing ceremonies, where the medals were presented, Thorpe was introduced to King Gustaf V of Sweden. According to legend, the king said, while shaking Thorpe’s hand, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world,” to which Thorpe replied “Thanks, king.” Find Jim Thorpe and the Olympics  at the library, on hoopla and on OverDrive.

On June 7, 1973, Paul Simon’s Kodachrome rises to #2 on the pop charts. In an interview conducted in November 2008, Simon said that what he had in mind when writing the song was to call it “Going Home”. However, finding this would have been “too conventional”, he came up with Kodachrome, because of its similar sound and larger innovative potential. He also refers to its first line as the “most interesting” part of the song. The first line runs, “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all.” A handful of radio stations banned the song as a direct result of its use of the word “crap”. Find Paul Simon at the library, on hoopla, and on Freegal.