Golf Central

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what day Arnold Palmer became a true American icon, but you may as well go with this day in 1960, when Arnie won the Pensacola Open for his third win on the trot and the 17th of his PGA Tour career.

It was a thrilling one-shot victory, with Palmer sinking one-putts on nine of the last 10 greens and making birdies on the last two to beat Doug Sanders. It was the near-midpoint of Palmer's period of domination in the early '60s, and it cemented Arnie's king-like status in the state of Florida, which continues today: Especially this week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ...

It was also on this day in 1878 that the first official collegiate golf match was played between the rival universities of Oxford and Cambridge ... and on this day in 1953, Andy Bean, 11-time PGA Tour winner and IGWT Hall of Famer, was born in Lafayette, Georgia.

In the real world: On this day in 1852, the iconic figure of "Uncle Sam" as a representation of America made his debut, as a cartoon character drawn by Frank Henry Bellew in the New York Lantern newspaper ... an American character of a different sort "came to life" on this day in 1934, which is designated as the birthday of the sailor-suited Donald Duck by Disney ...

Strangely enough: On this day in 1997, the "Phoenix Lights" mysteriously appeared over Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding desert region, and were seen by hundreds of people in person and by millions on live TV. Even the Arizona governor claimed to have seen the UFOs. And to this day, nobody really knows what the strange lights were ...

In sport: And on this day in 1873, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) was formed with eight original clubs: Clydesdale, Dumbreck, Eastern, Granville, Queens Park, Rovers, Third Lanark and Vale of Leven. The league was not professional for another 20 years, however ... and on this day in 1911, the Rev Kenneth Reginald Gunnery Hunt became the only ordained Church of England vicar to ever play for England in football in a 3-0 victory over Wales ...

So it's melkam lidet!, as they say in Amharic, to the dimple-cheeked cheery '60s singing star Neil Sedaka (69); to gloomy-looking bassist Adam Clayton (48) of Ireland's U2; to former Holland and Spurs midfielder Edgar Davids (35); and to ace left-handed baseball pitcher Johan Santana (29) of the New York Mets.

It also would have been a birthday for the great American astronomer Percival Lowell (b. 1855), who helped discover Pluto, but unfortunately keeled over in 1916 before ever seeing the Phoenix Lights ... 'Til tomorrow! ...