The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th edition of one of cycling's Grand
Tours. The 3,285 km (2,041 mi) race began in Luxembourg with a
prologue time trial on 1 July. It reached French soil during stage 4,
ending in Paris on 23 July after 21 stages. Often cited as one of the
most competitive runnings of the Tour, the race was decided by only
eight seconds in favour of Greg LeMond (pictured), the smallest victory
margin to date. Laurent Fignon, who was never separated from LeMond by
more than fifty-three seconds throughout the event, finished second
overall, ahead of defending champion Pedro Delgado. Fignon performed
well during the mountain stages to enter the final-day individual time
trial with a 50-second advantage. LeMond utilised aerodynamic triathlon
tribars to gain an advantage and managed to win the Tour on the last
stage. Sean Kelly won the points classification for a record fourth
time, while Gert-Jan Theunisse took the King of the Mountains prize.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tour_de_France>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1866:
At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream became the youngest artist and
first woman to receive a commission from the United States government
for a statue—that of Abraham Lincoln currently in the U.S. Capitol
rotunda.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinnie_Ream>
1939:
During an excavation of a ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk,
England, archaeologists discovered a helmet likely belonging to King
Rædwald of East Anglia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A6dwald_of_East_Anglia>
2001:
At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan,
Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at
a single World Championships.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Thorpe>
2010:
In the deadliest air accident in Pakistan's history, Airblue
Flight 202 crashed into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, killing
all 152 aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airblue_Flight_202>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
brawl:
1. (intransitive) To engage in a brawl; to fight or quarrel.
2. (intransitive) To create a disturbance; to complain loudly.
3. (intransitive) Especially of a rapid stream running over stones: to
make a loud, confused noise.
4. (transitive) To pour abuse on; to scold. [...]
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To move to and fro, to quiver, to shake.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brawl>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
If we are uncritical we shall always find what we want: we shall
look for, and find, confirmations, and we shall look away from, and not
see, whatever might be dangerous to our pet theories. In this way it is
only too easy to obtain what appears to be overwhelming evidence in
favor of a theory which, if approached critically, would have been
refuted.
--Karl Popper
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Popper>