Goodbye to Ralph Boston at the age of 83.
The first man to ever jump over twenty-seven feet in the long jump. Boston won three medals for the United States over three Olympic long jump competitions in descending order.
Boston won the gold medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics, and the silver in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and finished his career in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics with a bronze medal.
Boston set or improved the world record for the long jump on four different occasions and his winning jump in Rome set the Olympic record for distance.
Boston would also be the unofficial coach for Bob Beamon, who would blast the world record in Mexico City and defeat Boston in his final Olympic appearance.
Goodbye to Newton Minow at the age of 97.
Minow was the head of the Federal Communications Commission for just over two years from 1961-63 during the Kennedy Administration but is still arguably the most remembered person to hold that position.
Minow's speech in 1961 when he drilled television broadcasters for not doing enough to serve the public interest and calling television a "Vast Wasteland" is remembered to this day but Minow moved some other important items through his term as well.
It was Minow that pushed for the All-Channel Inclusion Act, which mandated that all television have the capability of receiving UHF signals, which resulted in more channels on the dial being used and newer, smaller stations starting to enter the market.
That act also made room for public broadcasting to make its home on the dial and what would eventually turn into the PBS system.
Minow also was the person that pushed hardest for legislation to approve communication satellites to be used and the impact of that law alone is arguably the greatest on our day-to-day lives even today.
Imagine our lives without everything that is brought to Earth every day without those satellites.
Yes, they have their issues but imagine life without them.
A final note on Minow- After his speech criticizing television, a little show hit the air a few years later named Gilligan's Island and the shipwrecked boat was named after Newton Minow- the "S.S. Minnow".
Goodbye to Larry Mahan at the age of 79.
Mahan was the face of Rodeo in the sixties and seventies but entered into the public consciousness as the subject of the documentary "The Great American Cowboy" which would win the Oscar for best documentary in 1974.
The film showed the behind-the-scenes as well as the battle for the 1973 rodeo title between the veteran Mahan and the younger Phil Lyne.
Mahan was part of the first crop of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1979.
Mahan was also well-known for his line of Western clothing that includes hats and boots.
The boots were referenced by Josh Brolin's character in the 2007 Oscar winner "No Country For Old Men" with a visit to a store for clothes as Brolin is on the run and asks for a pair of "Larry Mahan's".
Goodbye to Don January at the age of 93.
January won one major in his PGA career among his ten victories, the 1967 PGA Championship held at Columbine Country Club outside of Denver.
In 1967, the PGA determined its winner, in the event of a tie after seventy-two holes, via an eighteen-hole playoff where January defeated Don Massengale to win his sole major.
January lost the 1961 PGA title in a playoff to Jerry Barber but was one of the initial stars during the first few years of the Seniors Tour as January won the tour's first tournament in 1980 and won a Senior major in winning the 1982 Senior PGA.
January was also the player that was the impetus for a rule change when he waited over seven minutes for a putt to fall in on the eighteenth hole of the 1963 Phoenix Open.
The putt would have placed January in fifth place, if it had fallen into the cup (it didn't), so January waited as long as he could and hoped for a break.
Before the next season, the rule was changed to the current rule, which states that the player must wait for only ten seconds for the putt to make its way into the hole.
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