Golf Central

On this day, in 1959, Billy Casper won the Portland Open, but this smooth golfer, a legend from San Diego before Phil Mickelson, was only getting started. The Portland title was only one 51 Casper would amass on his way to becoming probably one of the most criminally under-rated golf figures of his day.

When people think of golf in the ‘60s they inevitably say Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, but from 1965-70, when that trio combined for 35, Casper was winning 23 tournaments all by himself. More recently, though, Casper DQ-ed himself from the 2005 Masters instead of signing a scorecard that would have had 106 big numbers on it.

Also on this day, in 1895, the very first US Open Championship was held, on a nine-hole layout in Newport, RI. It was won by the Isle of Wight’s very own Horace Rawlins, aged 21, over 36 holes on the same day.

Rawlins scooped $150 (that’s $3370.74 in today’s bucks!) from a purse of $335, and a shiny gold medal. In addition to being a bit of a golf trend-setter, Rawlins sported a mightily handsome moustache, which was de rigeur in his day.

In history, Continental Army General George Washington set the tone for future American Ryder Cup captains by launching an all-out attack on British forces in Germantown, Pa., suffering massive casualties in the process.

And to prove that gunshots and golf balls are not the only things in the air on October 4, this was also the day 1957 when the USSR launched the sputnik, the first man-made object into space.

And it’s Vill Gleck fir daei Geburtsdaag!, as they say in Luxembourgeois to 1988 LPGA Championship winner Sherri Turner (b.1956), Oscar-winning yummy mummy Susan Sarandon (b.1946), Pet Shop Boys synthpop guy Chris Lowe (1959) and Clueless actress Alicia Silverstone (b.1976).