Was Major League Baseball’s 1969 expansion supposed to take place in 1971?

This week brings Valentine’s Day, and with it the memories of getting a lot of well-meaning cards back in elementary school.

In the 1960s it was left up to the classroom teacher to decide how (or if) Valentine’s Day cards would be handled.  My school was blessed with teachers who thought the idea was cute, so I always received several.

They were not very original, of course, since Mom and Dad bought them in packs of thirty or so, but hey – it’s the thought that counts.

From then til now, I haven’t received the same number of cards.  But it’s okay.  I don’t send them, either.

Happy Valentine’s Day, and happy trivia!

Did you know …

… what a group of goldfish is called?  I’ll bet you thought it was a “school,” like all other fish.  Nope – a group of goldfish is called a troubling.  (A troubling thing to call them, I think.)

… an Illinois city honored a cartoon villain?  In 2015, the state capital of Springfield was hosting a huge convention of fans of the television cartoon series G.I. Joe.  As a part of the festivities, the keys to the city were handed by Mayor Jim Langfelder (born 1960) to Cobra Commander, the show’s resident bad guy.  (Somehow, that fits with Illinois.  Thanks to Mason for the tip!)

… France gives medals to citizens who raise several children with dignity?  The Médaille de la Familie française (Medal of the French Family) is awarded in three classes – bronze, silver and gold – under a 1920 law that originally honored the mothers of large families.  Over the decades the award has morphed to become one recognizing children “raised well” and the oldest child in the family must be at least 16 years old.  (That’s an awful lot to go through just to get a medal, isn’t it?)

… the number one reason for stress in many countries is money?  In 2009, the cable network CNN took a poll that revealed that money is the most stressful thing in the nations of Malaysia, China, Singapore, and the United States.  The nations least stressed about money in the poll were Russia, France, and Italy.  (It makes one wonder … is it having money, or not having money, that causes the stress?)

… Major League Baseball’s expansion in 1969 wasn’t supposed to happen until 1971?  In 1967, the owner of the Kansas City Athletics, Charles O. Finley (1918-1996), moved his team to Oakland, California, making baseball fans in Kansas City very angry.  So angry, in fact, that MLB promised to expand again and add a new team in the city for the 1971 season.  However, that was not soon enough for one big fan, Senator Stuart Symington (1901-1988) of Missouri.  Symington threatened to introduce legislation that would end MLB’s anti-trust exemption unless a team was located in Kansas City post-haste.  Baseball owners decided to step up the promised expansion to 1969, and the Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres joined MLB.  Additional trivia note:  the speed-up of the expansion turned out great for three of the teams, but not so good for Seattle.  Forced to play in a minor-league ballpark while the city dickered over building a new stadium (which wasn’t supposed to happen for another two years), the Pilots were spectacularly unsuccessful and moved in 1970 to Milwaukee to become the Brewers after they were bought by Bud Selig (born 1934). (Expansion just dilutes the talent pool, if you ask me – and you didn’t.)

… the Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s oceans?  It’s also the shallowest, and it is usually covered by solid ice, ice floes, and icebergs.  (And polar bears.)

… a famous musical group performed in outlandish outfits because of tax laws?  The Swedish group ABBA, made up of Agnetha Faltskog (born 1950), Bjorn Ulvaeus (born 1945), Benny Andersson (born 1946), and Anni-Frid Lyngstad (born 1945), performed on stage in glittering sequined hotpants, jumpsuits, and huge platform heels.  This was because Swedish tax laws said that stage costumes were deductible only if they were so outrageous that they could not be worn as everyday street apparel.  Additional trivia note:  Lyngstad is also Swedish royalty.  She is correctly styled as Princess Anni-Frid, Dowager Countess of Plauen, because of her marriage to Prince Heinrich Ruzzo Reuss of Plauen (1950-1999).  (Dancing queen indeed!)

… a U.S. president had a habit of skinny-dipping?  John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), who served as sixth President of the United States, would go skinny-dipping in the Potomac River out behind the White House every morning.  In one remarkable (but probably apocryphal) event, a female reporter named Anne Royall (1769-1854) – who had been desperately trying to get an interview with Adams – learned about his unusual habit and, finding the President in his morning ablutions in the river, sat on his clothing and refused to allow him access until he consented to the interview.  (Historians say that probably did not happen, but it makes for a good story.)

… Germany only declared war on one nation during World War II?  Though the German government fought against several nations from 1939 to 1945, only one was by a formal declaration of war – the United States, on December 11, 1941.  All other conflicts were through attack or invasion, with no formal declarations from the Nazi government.  (Well, it’s the thought that counts, I guess.)

Now … you know!