Fanny Blankers-Koen was a Dutch athlete. She is most famous for winning four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. At that time, she was already a mother of two, which was unheard of at a time when female athletes were still frowned upon by many. It earned her the nickname "the Flying Housewife." Having started competing in athletics in 1935, she took part in the 1936 Summer Olympics a year later. Although international competition was hampered by World War II, Blankers-Koen set several world records during that period, in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, sprint, and hurdling. Apart from her four Olympic titles, she won five European titles and 58 Dutch championships. Blankers-Koen retired from athletics in 1955 after haveing set or tied 12 world records. After her retirment she became leader of the Dutch female track and field team. In 1999, she was voted "Female Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Blankers-Koen

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1241: Mongols led by Batu Khan and Subutai crushed the Hungarian army of King Béla IV in the Battle of Mohi. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batu_Khan)

1945: World War II: The Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald)

1951: Korean War: General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of overall command in Korea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur)

1965: Fifty-one tornadoes struck six states in Midwestern United States during the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Sunday_Tornado_Outbreak)

2002: President Hugo Chávez was forced to resign during a military coup attempt in Venezuela. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_coup_attempt_of_2002)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"A writer writes not because he is educated but because he is driven by the need to communicate. Behind the need to communicate is the need to share. Behind the need to share is the need to be understood. The writer wants to be understood much more than he wants to be respected or praised or even loved. And that perhaps, is what makes him different from others." -- Leo Rosten (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Leo_Rosten)