Our University of Florida director of athletics was born at Hinds General Hospital in Jackson, Miss., on May 8, 1970. The son of David and Eula Stricklin weighed 9 pounds, 9 ounces. A big boy, with big things ahead.
Those familiar with this site may also be familiar with stories every so often that take readers back to the day.
So, to the time machine we go, courtesy of — appropriately enough — The Jackson Clarion-Ledger.
Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger on May 8, 1970
* In Europe, millions celebrated the 25-year anniversary of the end of World War II on their continent. C-L staff writer George Whittington wrote: "But no matter where, if you were an American in Europe, you knew it was over, almost instantly. And there were a lot of Mississippians all over European battlefields, in hospitals, at supply depots — some on trains or in planes, on their way up, or on their way back."
Protests were rampant across the country in 1970.
* Across the nation, law enforcement officials braced for mass weekend protests (including on the campuses of Ole Miss and Mississippi State) of both the Vietnam War and the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University just four days earlier.
* In Washington, President Richard Nixon's communications director said the U.S. aim in Cambodia, in effect, was to gain 10 to 12 months more to train south Vietnamese to take over the fighting. "The object," explained Herbert Klein, "is not to find enemy soldiers and have a battle, but to clean out their supplies. The objective is to take out the bases they need to attack. We can bulldoze their bunkers. … They can rebuild in 10 months to a year. During this time we can train the Vietnamese to take over."
The AMC Gremlin
* In Detroit, American Motors reported 4,743 new Gremlins sold during the mini-car's first month on the market, with AMC president Roy D. Chapin proclaiming the product has "appeared at the right time." By introducing the tiny Gremlin on April 1, AMC became the first U.S. auto firm to market a mini-car in direct challenge to imports, notably the beetle-shaped Volkswagon, long on top of the import field. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were preparing mini-cars for introduction in 1971.
* In Independence, Mo., former President Harry S. Truman, born May 8, 1884, was set to celebrate his 86th birthday with family and friends. Other birthdays that day: broadcaster/historian Sir David Attenborough, as well as comedian Don Rickles (1926); pop singers Ricky Nelson and Toni Tennile, as well as "Jaws" author Peter Benchley (1940); actors David Keith and Stephen First (1955).
New York Knicks center Willis Reed (19) played through a painful injury just enough to carry his team to past the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals.
* Pain-racked and limping Willis Reed gave New York the muscle and inspiration and cat-quick Walt Frazier provided 36 points and nine assists as the Knicks swamped Wilt Chamberlin and the once-again disappointed Los Angeles Lakers 113-99 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden to capture the franchise's first world championship in 24 years.
George C. Scott in his Academy Award-winning role as General George S. Patton.
* At the movies, "Airport," "Patton" and "M*A*S*H" and "were playing to sold-out theaters.
* The No. 1 television show was "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."
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