Golf Central

On this day, in 1969, Arnold Palmer became the first player to break par on the devilishly tricky new Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C., en route to winning the inaugural Heritage Classic.

The course has been softened over the years, to the point where low scoring is now the norm at Harbour Town in the PGA Tour's Verizon Heritage tournament, which was one of the first courses co-designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus.

Palmer quickly discovered the key to bringing home the bacon on Harbour Town's signature 18th hole. He aimed his tee shot at the famed right-and-white striped lighthouse on the horizon, which puts a power fade in perfect position to attack the pin ...

As Arnie strolled to victory, he became the first to hear the boats in nearby Calibogue Sound tooting their horns to greet the winner - which is still a tradition when a player has the tournament wrapped up on his way to the 18th green ...

It was also on this day, in 1986, our newest IGWT Hall of Famer Greg Norman won the Western Australian Open for his ninth title of the year (two in the US, three in Europe and four Down Under).

And on this day in 1979, the English psychedelic rockers Pink Floyd released their The Wall album, giving generations of current 40-somethings the perfect backing music to drop off into slumber.

And on November 30, 1939, the USSR kicked off the "Winter War" by crossing the Mannerheim Line and invading Finland. The Soviets promptly got their butts kicked by the Finns, however, in one of history's classic David-and-Goliath stories ...

That said, it's hyvaa syntymapaivaa!, as they say in Helsinki, to football legend, presenter and big-eared goofball Gary Lineker, who turns 47 today and remains in the presenter's chair for the upcoming Masters on BBC.

It's also toots of the horns of the boats off Calibogue Sound to aging English rocker William Broad (Billy Idol, 52); to the brilliant Scots-Canadian comic Colin Mochrie of Who's Line Is It Anyway? fame; to goofball actor Ben Stiller (42), aka Gaylord Focker; and Wasps and England rugby fullback Josh Lewsey (31).

It also would have been the birthday of the British statesman and quote machine Sir Winston Churchill, who was born today in 1874, and once said "History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it." He probably didn't pen the final chapter, however, which ends with his passing on January 24, 1965.