DayStrider: Tales from a Time Traveler

Jan 19th: Epic Delivery Routes

• Truman Pastworthy • Episode 21

Share episode

When you think of delivery routes - you probably think of news papers.  But that’s not epic!  January 19th has epic deliveries that you won’t want to miss!

  • Like the time a guy named Chickie delivered Pabst Blue Ribbon beers to his buddies in a war zone!
  • Or the time the biggest route ever raced on a bike was invented - because of scandal and rivalries.
  • How ‘bout the routes taken by zeppelin bombers that took over the British skies during World War 1?

If it's a special day for you or for someone you care about, why not learn a little more about today by listening to some fun, engaging tales of the past.  You’ll find yourself a little smarter and have some great stories you can tell in those awkward silent moments at the next baby shower you attend.  If you need some great gift ideas, we have those too (along with links to where you can find them on Amazon).

Learn more about today’s events here (these links worked in early-2025 - not sure how long the links will be available):

Gift ideas for folks who celebrate January 19th:

Text me your favorite time travel movie!!!


~~~ DayStrider Fun ~~~


Do you want to be mentioned here in the podcast? Or do you want me to do a shout-out for a loved one? All you need to do is send me an e-mail: daystriderstories@gmail.com


Better yet, you can record your own shout-out by leaving me a voice message using this SpeakPipe link


Do you have a story that you wish to share? Join me as a guest and let’s tell the world together! Once again, just send me an e-mail or find me here on Facebook: Truman Pastworthy


If you had as much fun listening as I did creating this episode, please click "follow" in your favorite podcast platform . . . oh . . . and even better - why not share it with a friend (or three)! I’m betting you know just the perfect person who would enjoy today’s stories!


If you feel adventurous, how 'bout writing a great review? :-)



Truman:

Welcome Seeker! Would you risk your life just to deliver a cold beer to a friend in a war zone? Or dream up a rivalry stunt so outrageous that it might make history? Well, today we're diving into tales of fearless friendship, bold ambition, and sky-high danger. This isn't just any day in history. It's January 19th, and it's packed with stories that will blow your mind and make you say, wait, that actually happened? Yeah. Our journey begins with the tale of fearless friendship, or maybe sheer madness, as one man braves a war zone just to bring his buddies a beer. Then we'll race back to the turn of century Paris, where scandal and ambition sparked one of the toughest sporting events ever. Finally, we'll soar over England in 1915, where the skies became a battleground in ways the world had never seen before. We'll return you to your normal self with some wild stories to tell, a new lens on history, and maybe, just maybe, a little inspiration to create an adventure of your own. The portal's humming, history's secrets are waiting, and our day-striding adventure begins now. Grab your curiosity and step through, my friend. Let's get to it. Welcome, seekers, to the enchanting world of Daystrider, the podcast where we embark on a daily journey through history. I'm your travel guide, Truman Pastworthy, and together we'll explore some fascinating stories that happened on this exact day, but from some time in the past. From groundbreaking inventions to remarkable birthdays and extraordinary events to quirky national holidays, we've got it all. So kick back, relax, and open your mind for some lighthearted stories that'll leave you saying, huh, I never knew that happened on this day. Alrighty then, let's get to it. Picture this, a wild midnight beer run, a four-passenger convertible packed with seven people, and uh-oh. you're out of gas on a pitch black empty road has this ever happened to you maybe maybe not but if you're old enough to drink beer i bet you probably have some kind of crazy story to tell so what is that best beer story you have come on think about it for a second what's mine you ask Maybe it was the time I decided to drink a whole case of beer in one day and to make it more fun, slap some duct tape on each can and wrote a name on it. Yeah, I started with Angus and ended with Willie and used the other 22 letters in between to help me track my progress while drinking. Do you think I finished that quest? Well, I'll answer that question after I tell you the story about the greatest beer run ever. And this one is pretty crazy. All right. Cue the Mission Impossible theme song. Chickie Donahue, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to deliver some beer and hometown blessings to this list of young men spread across all different cities in a country halfway around the world. Wait a second. That's too boring. Let's up the stakes. These men were drafted into the U.S. Army and are now fighting for their lives in Vietnam. Yes, the year is 1968, and the nation is at war out in the Far East and kind of at war here at home. Many people are protesting a war they didn't understand, and our freedom fighters back then didn't get the same kind of love they get today. So, Chickie, you need to go tell them we care. and bring them some beer to show them that we care. Do you accept your mission? Well, John Chickie Donahue did exactly that. And on this day in 1968, he stepped off the merchant ship, Drake Victory, at Queen Yon, wearing a pair of blue jeans, a plaid shirt, and carrying a duffel sack full of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Yeah, for real, this is a true story. And some of you are grinning and nodding because you've seen the Zac Efron movie that they made about this adventure. But others of you are thinking, what? No way. How's that even possible? Your first question probably, how does someone even get to a country that's at war, much less get around while you're there? Well, grab a cold beer, pop the top, and kick your feet back while I tell you. Now, Tiki, he was a little older than his buddies fighting in Nam, and he had already served four years as a merchant marine. So when this crazy idea came about, he already had what's called a seaman's license in his pocket. Yep, and of course, this crazy idea took place at a bar. Where else would it happen? In Inwood, New York, which is way up at the tippy top of Manhattan. And in the 60s, this neighborhood was Irish American, and the folks were really tight there. Everyone knew everyone else. And the owner of the bar, he was ex-military, and he was not happy with the protests going on down in Central Park. He felt like if the boys over in NAMM heard about this or saw it on TV, their morale would go down. They were putting their lives on the line. So, he suggested someone bring him a beer and tell him that we loved him. And of course, Jicky was in the bar that night, and he agreed to it. Because, you know, he didn't really have much anything much better to do. His words later. And he was definitely one of those types who was often zagging while most folks are zigging. So the next day, a bunch of moms showed up at the bar with their sons' names and messages they wanted to share. And they had money to give to Chickie for his quest. And he was trying to write all these names down and where these soldiers were in Vietnam. Yeah. And if our hero was having any doubts after a good night's sleep, They all got squashed. And so, seaman's card in hand, he finagled his way onto a ship bound for Vietnam called the Drake Victory. And like I said before, he didn't plan his packing very well. He had a toothbrush, a razor, and a case and a half of New York beers, including Pabst Blue Ribbon. Now, before I keep going, let me explain that Vietnam curves gently along the South China Sea, like a backwards sea or maybe a banana, with its stem touching China in the northern border. And Chickie's ship pulled into Quy Nhon, which is about one-third of the way up from the bottom. Stepping off the ship, Chickie didn't have a map or a plan. Imagine, it's sticky and hot, and there's a hum of soldiers unloading cargo, and there's a distant echo of gunfire. It's not exactly your typical beer delivery spot, right? It took him a minute, but he noticed that the Army soldiers working at the dock were from the 127th Division. What? That can't be. He pulled out his list and looked. Tommy was in Unit 127. Tommy Collins, one of the guys on the list. So he asked around, hey, you guys know Tommy Collins from New York? And sure enough, one of them did. And so they drove him to Collins, and he was stunned. Total disbelief. What? What are you doing here? How did you get here? You're crazy. You're freaking crazy. And Tiki's response was, I wanted to bring you a cold beer. Yes, this is a true story. Now, of course, many of you are probably asking the same question I had. How is this even possible? And wait till you hear this crazy cover story he came up with, which today the kids would call sus. Anyway, folks over there bought it. He said he was whatever soldier he was trying to find. He said he was their stepbrother and their mom was ill and he needed to deliver some message personally. That's as soft as foam on a fresh beer pour. But it worked. It worked every time. All right, so back to Queen Yon. So that night, while beer hopping with his pal Tommy, he ran into a guy with a patch on his jacket that matched... another person on his list, some airborne something. So the next day, that guy helped him sneak onto a plane and they flew to the next location on his list. But after they landed, he still needed to catch a helicopter out to the perimeter where his buddy Rick Dugan was stationed. And he boldly walked up to the person in charge and said, I need to be on the chopper going to LZ Jane at 1800 hours. And he said it with authority. And they said, yes, sir. Where are you coming from? And Chicky said, down south. And that was it. And the guy squinted at him. And he stopped asking questions. And he just wrote Donahue down on the manifest. And that was it. Yeah. And then later that evening, he actually connected with Dugan, who was totally stunned, as you'd expect. And of course, he was worried about Chickie's outfit. He stood out like a sore thumb. So Dugan got him a military shirt to wear so he wasn't this big target for the bad guys. But can you picture these two and a couple other GIs sitting in a foxhole out on the edge of danger, drinking beers and swapping stories? Yeah, it's crazy, right? Chickie's adventures like this continued for another couple weeks, but you'll have to check out the book or the movie to catch them all, and they're as fun and crazy as the ones you just heard. And you may even still be doubting this whole adventure, wondering how is it so many senior military officers were not doing something about this guy walking around in street clothes in the middle of a country at war. Well, here's the thing. These officers thought that Chickie was with the CIA. And when he told people he was there to deliver beer, some of them would just laugh and walk away. And others would complain, you CIA guys are all alike. Never want to tell anyone what you're up to. And that was enough to enable Chickie to complete this mission. Crazy, right? I'm still stunned. My story about naming beers wasn't nearly as fun as this one. Especially when I tell you I only made it to Stanley. Or was it Terrence? I can't remember. Boo. Anyway, when our pal Chickie finally walked back into Doc Fiddler's, that's that bar back in Inwood, New York, where this crazy idea was born, he wasn't just a local hero. He was a legend. Free beers for life. Yay. And that, my friends, is how one man's crazy idea became the greatest beer run ever. Cheers to Chickie. And to the stories we're telling. But wait a second. One more thing. And this is the crazy part. The only people who knew about this story for the longest time were the folks from Inwood, New York. And it's almost too crazy to believe, right? But in the 60s and 70s, stories like this didn't pop up on social media and they didn't go viral. No. No. It was just a great story that kind of faded with time until 1990 rolled around. And that year, some line workers at the New York Daily News went on strike. And these people happened to be friends of Chickie's. But the paper was hell-bent on publishing anyway, and they rounded up scab replacements to try to get printed. And that didn't sit well with Chickie. And he knows a guy and he used his connections to actually reroute the newsprint supplies that were headed to New York to somewhere, nowhere, North Dakota. And the daily news couldn't go to print because they didn't have anything to print on. And another reporter covering this story was getting her background on this crazy Donahue guy and the beer run stories bubbled up. And she's like, Hey, there's a story here. And this needs to get told. And so she got around to researching it. And then they made a documentary. And one thing led to another. And now you can watch the movie on Apple TV. Yeah. Chickie nailed the con artist's best secret. Act like you belong and keep it simple. In Chickie's case, that was all he needed. I'll drink to that, folks. Cheers. Roses are red and Pabst beer tastes great. Writing a review would be first rate. Can't think of the words? Chicky might write. A toast to Daystrider and stories done right. What if I told you that one of the top five sporting events in the entire world came into being by accident? Yeah, it's true. Now think about it for a second. In your head, list the world's top sporting events. Go ahead. I'll wait. All right, man, okay. So many of you probably started with either the World Cup or the Olympics, right? And then, huh, after a bit of thought, you might have said Wimbledon? I don't know. How about the Super Bowl? Yeah, that's on the list. What about the grueling 23-day, 2,000-mile bicycle race in France? Oh yeah, that's definitely in the top five sporting events in the world. And I miss that. Well, would you believe that the world-renowned Tour de France was actually born out of a political scandal and a business rivalry? Yeah. Basically, this major event was originally created as a gimmick, a way to improve circulation and subscribers. A way... Come on, Truman. Yeah, yeah, it's true. Follow me here while I spin up a good old story for you. I want to take you back to Paris, France in the 1890s. Oh, Paris. Ah, la belle époque. A time of excitement, cultural flourishing, and technological innovation. Ah, yes. Can-can dancers. Art nouveau. Even the Eiffel Tower. Tour d'Evelle. forever melding itself into the Paris skyline. Oh, and scandal in the air. Maybe you've heard of the Dreyfus Affair? No? All right, give me 30 seconds and I'll explain. There's this guy, Alfred Dreyfus. He was a Jewish military officer, and he was falsely accused and convicted of treason, sparking outrage and controversy. The military's handling of the case, including fabrication of evidence and manipulation of the justice system, fueled a major scandal. It was uproar in the late 1890s. Everyone was up in arms about accusations of anti-Semitism, which is Jewish racism, and the criminal justice system, and how awful things were. It was horrible, and the debate was viral, and it wasn't going away. This political debate found its way into every nook and cranny of society. even the cycling world of all places. A great example of this was at Lavello, which was a daily sports paper in Paris that included coverage of cycling, and from time to time, they mixed in political editorials. Well, when the Dreyfus Affair debates were reaching their peak, the Lavello folks made it clear which side they were on. But their biggest advertiser, with the deepest pockets, happened to be in the opposition. And they weren't going to stand for spending money on such outrageous propaganda. So they took their money and started their own daily sports paper called Lotto, pronounced Lotto. Makes sense, right? Not much different than the time Steve Jobs was kicked out of Apple and he started another company called Next Computers to compete with the Macintosh. Yeah. So anyway, back to Paris. To differentiate themselves from Lavello, which was printed on green paper, Lotto decided to print on yellow paper. And of course, their political leanings were on the opposite side of their competitor and rival, so in the beginning, that helped sell papers. At least for a while, anyway. But of course, as with most stories, the Dreyfus Affair eventually became old news. And in the early 1900s, the sporting stories that Lotto covered was basically the same stuff that Lavello was covering, written in mostly the same style and format, and so they struggled to compete. And sadly, their circulation began to decline. And their numbers got worse and worse until this day in 1903. That's right. On January 19th, they made a big announcement. They were going to sponsor the biggest cycling race in the world and provide insider access and coverage that no one else would be able to do. Yeah, it was going to be huge. And they would basically have a monopoly on the sports coverage. What a gimmick, right? Yeah. So they got to planning and they planned big. They set up a 19-day, 2,400-kilometer course all around France that was going to take place in six massive stages. Yeah, so for perspective, real quick, what's it look like today? It's about 23 days to race about 3,400 kilometers over 21 stages. So the race hasn't evolved much different than it was, except it's harder today, but we'll get to that in a minute. Anyway, they were making these rules to be much different than other cycling races being held at that time in Europe. This whole idea of stages was totally unique because most cycle races just took place in one single day. And then tack on the fact that some of these stages were far longer than those one-day races were, making this a really difficult event to compete in. They wanted only the toughest riders in the world because covering them would be so much better for the circulation of their paper. See how that works? And to up the stakes, they made it so that each rider was all on their own during the race. No teams. No mechanics to fix their bikes. No pacers to help them stay on track as they were racing these stages. No doctors to massage their burning calves in between the stages. Yeah, it's crazy, right? Today, each rider has a huge team supporting them. And back in the day, when they had those one-day races, there was a team concept. There were people helping with the bikes and people that helped pace the racers. Yeah, but not in the original Tour de France. Nope. They wanted this race to be tough, like I said, because they were going for drama. Why? Because drama sells papers. But In order to sell papers, you also need racers. Yeah, the original race dates were in June of that year, but guess what? There were not enough tough guys who decided to sign up for this race. So, the Lotto folks had to dig deeper into their coffers and come up with some more prize money. Yep, it worked, and they found some more tough guys, and they revised the race dates to July, and then off they went. Now, I'm not going to provide a blow-by-blow of that first race, but the short story is the race was a huge success on and off the course. It was extremely popular, and the circulation of Lotto soared. Clearly, having a monopoly over the coverage of each of those racers worked exactly as planned. And guess what? They never looked back. In fact, by the time of the 1904 race was gearing up to start, that's just the next year, the Lovello paper had actually closed up shop. They were forced out of business. Take that, suckas. That's crazy. Oh, my goodness. The race itself, as you know, is obviously world-renowned. And it's been run nearly every year since 1903. There were a couple of breaks during the First and Second World Wars, of course. But each time peace returned, the tour was back on. And you know how we love our facts and tidbits here at Daystrider, so I've found a few of them for you. About 16 years after the first race, so that's 1919, they officially began using the yellow jersey for the race leader. You're familiar with the yellow jersey. Well, this was an homage to the original Lotto founders, because remember I said they decided to print on yellow paper to differentiate themselves? Yeah, yellow jersey. And the race? It's harder today than it was back then, because they have more mountain stages now and difficult sprint stages mixed in. But the stakes are also much higher today. Yeah, today, if you win, you can take home a half a million bucks. But the OG racers who won back in the day, they only won the equivalent of about 35 grand in today's money. Oh, my goodness. And my last little nugget has to do with the bikes they ride. Today, the Tour requires a minimum weight limit of 15 pounds, which seems to me pretty crazy light. But anyway, the original riders... had to pedal around on monstrosities. Their bikes weighed between 35 and 45 pounds, so almost three times heavier than today's racers. Wow. So the next time you're on the web surfing around or you're doom scrolling and you spot a Tour de France update, pause and reflect a moment. Even a gimmick born from rivalry and scandal can evolve into something legendary. Yep, sometimes greatness pedals its way in from the most unexpected places. A time traveler's delight, we pedal through time, spinning great stories in rhythm and rhyme. If these tales have you racing with wonder anew, please share with your friends. Let them ride along too. Imagine this. It's a quiet, crisp Tuesday night. And you're doing some chores or writing a letter because it's 1915 and so TVs haven't been invented yet. And you hear a low, distant hum that maybe sounds like a hive of angry bees far off in the night. As the sound draws nearer, it deepens and you can feel it vibrating through the air. So you run outside to figure out, hey, what's happening here? And you can tell it's mechanical because the rhythm is deep and relentless. But you've never heard such a sound before. And then off in the distance, you can see some kind of shadowy something floating in the sky. What the? Boom! Down the street, a flash of brilliance with a massive explosion interrupts the peaceful night. And then another one, boom, shakes the earth a bit closer to you. And then another before you decide, oh my, it's time to run back inside and pray, pray, pray for mercy. Yeah. This story actually happened on this day in 1915 in Norfolk, Britain. You see, back then, Britain was at war with the Germans. It was called the Great War for the longest time. But your history teacher called it World War I. And that night was the very first night those barbaric Huns brought the war against Britain to the skies and caused fatalities. And guess what? I found a battlefield tour guide who actually lives in that area of Britain to talk us through that night and the nights that followed. Let's hear from Steve Smith how those first eyewitnesses reacted on that fateful night.

Steve:

Well, I think the biggest thing for it is miscomprehension of what they're seeing. People have read about Zeppelins, and yes, they may have seen photographs of them because there's been reports of actions that have happened on the front. But to see this thing physically, it must have been like them seeing a UFO. Yeah. You know, something... Because, you know, what the hell am I seeing? One witness describes it when they hear this zeppelin going over at Heacham. It sounds like a load of motorbikes going through the village because of the engines. So, you know, you're thinking, what the hell is this sound? You know, what am I hearing? And, of course, they'll see this thing in the air and think, Great majority of them probably have got no idea what it is. So that in itself, isn't it, is going to create panic and terror. Soldiers are trying to fire on it, but they've got no hope. Yeah, they could possibly sort of get bullets through it. But we've got nothing at that time that really is going to cause any major harm to a zeppelin.

Truman:

So hold on, Truman. What is a zeppelin anyway? Well, there are these massive airships about as long as a football field, and they had metal frames that were covered with fabric and then filled with hydrogen, and that's how they floated. To some, they were beautiful marvels of engineering, but to others, they were a terrifying harbinger of destruction. They were powered by propellers and...

Steve:

They could get up to about 5,000 feet, something like that. So, you know, they can go quite high and that would enable them. It was a clear night, so it enables them to sort of navigate by map reading, you know, and essentially following... the lie of the land, so to speak. So for instance, you know, let's follow this route. We see where it takes us. You know, luckily for Zeppelin L3, the commander, he knew exactly where he was anyway. So he was able to navigate to Great Yarmouth anyway by use of map and landmark.

Truman:

Oh, okay. So that sounds like they were able to navigate these airships in a controlled way. But here's the crazy part. To drop the bombs, they just basically picked them up, held them over the edge of the gondola, And, well, I'll let Steve tell you.

Steve:

Yeah, we're talking about, it really was very much very rudimentary, you know, literally look over and drop them as you see it. You know, none of the kind of technology that we have today, we've got laser guided bombs. It's literally this, the use of your eyeballs, where are we? Okay, let's drop it as we can. You know, there was no science to it at the time. And so, you know, those bombs that they're dropping, which were either incendiary bombs or high explosive bombs, are just literally right, you know, bang, you know, one drop, next one, and as we do that.

Truman:

So the OG Zeppelin bombings were not very precise, but they did manage to actually hit their target a few times that night. Steve, please tell us about these very first victims in the towns of Great Yarmouth and Kings Limb on that fateful night.

Steve:

In Great Yarmouth... Bomb number four, which is a high explosive bomb, lands in a particular place called St. Peter's Plain. And you have Martha Taylor, who was a spinster in her 70s, who was out shopping at the time, returning home and sadly just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And when the bomb hits, she gets killed through blast damage. And the other victim was Samuel Smith, who was basically a shoesmith, so, you know, owned his own little shop where he kind of sort of like repaired shoes. Here's this commotion, goes to look out to see what that is. And again, has the misfortune to be in the firing line when the bomb drops. And again, he's killed through blast damage.

Truman:

If

Steve:

he would have stayed inside, he would have been maybe safe? Quite possibly. Yeah. Yeah, very much so. With King's Lynn, the two victims there are Percy Goat, a 14-year-old boy, who sadly is in bed when a bomb lands and that falls through the house where he's at. And when he explodes, it's described that he dies through concussion. So it's just literally the concussion of the bomb going off. And it's described actually that he didn't even have a mark on him. So when you think about what kind of horrible injuries you can get from bomb blast damage, it was just literally described as being seen as dead, but with no real mark.

Truman:

So no shrapnel hit him? I'm sorry. No, no. No shrapnel. It's just the pulse of the bomb.

Steve:

Yeah. Yeah. Just the concussion.

Truman:

Jarring his body so much that

Steve:

it shut everything down. Yeah,

Truman:

sadly.

Steve:

And then Alice Gasly, who's the last victim, 26-year-old lady who had sadly lost her husband in the fighting in December of 1914. So she's a widow and had been staying with friends because of that. Coming back, again, the Zeppelin's over. And sadly, when the bomb lands, again, she's at the wrong place, wrong time. And the same description, apparently, is that she was killed through concussion. So, yeah, so they become these four victims, you know, the first victims of the Zeppelin raid in the UK. Yeah.

Truman:

But of course, these bombs were just being dropped out of the Zeppelins with no targeting. So some folks did get lucky.

Steve:

In fact, if you talk about lucky escapes, you have a gentleman in a house in St. Peter's Plain, a Mr. Ellis, who was wrapping presents for something. His wife and his daughter are out and he decides that he needs to go to the back of his house to get something while he's trapped in his presence, and that's when the bomb lands. So what saves him is the fact that he was in the rear of the property when the bomb hit, but it blew the front of the house off. So he had a very lucky escape.

Truman:

All right, well, that's all we have time for right now. But as you can tell, Steve is quite knowledgeable about these events, and you can hear much more about that night in the full bonus episode. Yeah, he walks us through the background of how the Germans decided to begin using Zeppelins. He plots out the entire journey they took that night. And more importantly, he walks us through how they eventually figured out how to shoot these airships out of the sky. But I gotta tell you, the coolest thing I learned from Steve had nothing to do with Zeppelins. As I said, he's a tour guide, and he takes guests on pilgrimages. That's what he calls them. And he helps people find exactly where their grandparents or great-grandparents were fighting in France and Belgium. Literally right to the spot where the trench was that they were fighting in using GPS technology and trench maps. Yeah, it's really crazy. You got to make time for this bonus episode, folks. He's got several great stories to share, especially one about one of his poker moves. What a ride through time today, folks. Three great stories that you never knew existed. A couple of them actually changed the future entirely. It's easy to see how January 19th is a day about daring. Whether it's daring a war zone for a friend, daring a rival and making the most of your crazy ideas, or daring the whole world to stop your new approach to chaos and fear. Why not share these stories with someone who loves a little intrigue? And guess what? If today's stories made you grin, there's so much more waiting for you. If you enjoy toasting a bottoms-up to a great beer run, then you'll also want to shout cheers to the Irish coffee on March 17th. And there are tons of origin stories like the Tour de France. There's the cross-country tater tot adventure on February 2nd. And another circulation gimmick with the crossword puzzle on December 21st. And don't forget the humble beginnings of nighttime football under the lights on September 28th. Yeah, and if you love taking to the air in a Zeppelin, then you'll be thrilled by the aerial acrobatics of the F-14 Tomcat on December 21st. And you'll get a huge adrenaline rush from hearing about the SR-71 Blackbird on September 1st. And if your passion is fun guests with great stories to tell, there are half a dozen bonus episode options for you. To find them, just scroll through the feed and look for the words bonus episode. Enjoy, because every day has a story and they're so much fun. We're going to stride through them all until we're done. If you enjoyed the August 16th episode about Usain Bolt and his world record 100 meter dash time, guess what? Just recently, Gout Gout, a 16-year-old sprinter from Australia, ran the 100 meter dash in 10.04 seconds. Now, this is not as fast as Bolt's world record, but it is faster than what Bolt was able to do when he was 16. Uh-oh. So maybe the world record will get broken? I don't know. We'll have to stay tuned to see if this amazing young sprinter can stride his way into the history books. By the way, do you suppose he eats chicken McNuggets like Bolt did? Good luck, young man. All right, after you share today's special stories, you can also mention the following famous folks who celebrate their birthdays today. Now, we could start and end this whole famous birthday segment with Dolly Parton. We could brag on her country music legendary status. She sold over 100 million records with 25 number one songs. For perspective, Taylor Swift recently hit the 104 million equivalent records, whatever that is, and has 12 number one songs. So Dolly, pretty impressive. She also did some acting. The movie 9 to 5 is still a good one to watch even today. Go find that on Netflix. And she was in several other movies as well. And she's also famous for her philanthropy. But we're going to stop there and give some love to some others. Like Shawn Johnson, who hops, skips and flips her way over her birthday cake on this day every year. Not only is she a Hall of Fame Olympic gymnast with a pile of medals, she's a New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur. You go, girl. Another legend, but this time from the kitchen, Paula Deen. She blows out the candles today. She owns restaurants, she's published cookbooks, and she's been around the TV world for years with her Emmy-winning cooking shows. I actually have a Paula Deen cookbook. And it seems to me her favorite ingredient is butter. You can't go wrong there, can you? One famous birthday from all of history is Edgar Allan Poe, who was born on this day in 1809. He is known for his dark and macabre poems, including his most famous work, The Raven, which, if you're from Baltimore, you know that this was the inspiration for the name of our local football team. My favorite Poe work is his short story called The Telltale Heart. I'll be doing a reading of that story on January 6th, so stay tuned. Alright, the 50th most famous person born today, according to FamousBirthdays.com, is rapper Z-Bro. Have you heard of him? In 1998, the New York Times proclaimed him the most underrated rapper that year. Yeah, prior to his rapping career, he was a drug dealer and he had been in and out of jail for drug possession. But what's impressive is that he's turned things around. And in 2022, he received an honorary doctorate in humanities from the leaders esteemed Christian Bible University. That's pretty impressive. You go zero. January 19th is also Popcorn Day. I love me some popcorn. Especially when the movie theater has one of those self-service butter machines and you can just drizzle even more butter over top of the extra amount of butter that the worker guy just added. It's also Brew a Potion Day. It's probably not surprising that this day is mostly celebrated by Harry Potter fans. The books and movie series feature lots of potions. But in Chinese culture, the elixir of life potions go back centuries, as dynasties have used these to try to remain in power. Shakespeare also featured a love potion that was made from a wild pansy. Ah, and we can't leave out Minecraft. They have charts on how to make various potions. Now, for some reason, I can't recall the third day I was going to talk about. Huh. Um, my memory's failing me here. Um, oh wait, that's it. I got it. Today is Good Memory Day. I know, shake your head. And the point of this day is to fondly reflect on your greatest memories from the past. Yeah, and you know what? If you have a great memory, you ought to call or text your loved one right now who shared that memory with you and celebrate today. Or... Here's an even bigger challenge. Make a list of five things you want to do in 2025 and go create some new memories. Yeah, you only get one go at life, right? So make 2025 an epic year. Come on, people. All right, so do you need a great gift idea for your loved one? Well, in addition to retelling the stories you just learned about this day in history, you can have them open up a gift that is customized to their birthday. And I have several great ideas for you. And as always, you can find links to these in the gift ideas section of the show notes. Now, most days, I make the claim that these gifts are so unique, there's no way your loved one will have any of these. And today is definitely no exception. We'll start with the greatest beer run story. You can get them Chickie's actual memoirs. Yeah, but what would really be fun? is the Pabst blue ribbon decor that I found. There is no way your loved one has the crew socks I found with the Pabst colors and logo. Yep, check them out. And when it comes to the Tour de France, there are books and decor that would be great. But you want that good one? Do you think your loved one has a yellow cycling jersey? No way. Maybe it's time you added one to their collection. And if your loved one likes desk trinkets, there are many Zeppelin models that would definitely be a fresh addition to their collection. The famous folks that were born today, they all have some great gift ideas too. Usually my famous folks have posters or movies, but today obviously is cookbooks. Yeah, Dolly has a cookbook, and of course Paula has dozens of cookbooks. Similarly, today's special holidays, they have unique gift ideas too. Obviously, you can get popcorn online and popcorn decor, but to celebrate Brew a Potion Day, you'll not only find neat brewing materials, but also some interesting potion cookbooks. Yeah, check those out. But the best idea? Definitely, Good Memory Day opens the door to an awesome gift that you can give. An empty journal. That's right, because... You can give them a journal and then you can take your loved one on an adventure and start making great new memories and put those into the blank pages. Come on, fill them up. You can do it. Go make some memories. All right. So like I said, there are actually lots of customized gifts for folks who wake up ready to celebrate January 19th. And these ideas are unique to only this day of the year. But if you really want to up your gift-giving game, you have the chance to really make someone's birthday special, you can dedicate a personalized shout-out right here on this podcast, and they'll be memorialized forever. Yep, I can do the shout-out for you if you email me their name and something fun you want to share, or you can do your own by using the SpeakPipe link available in the show notes. But today, we don't have a shout-out. Instead, we have a creepy, rhythmic ode to a master. Are you ready? In chambers black as midnight's heart Where spectral shadows dance apart I scratch these birthday lines to thee While ravens lurk with grim decree The bells toll soft, the spirits sing As ancient terrors spread their wing Happy birthday from death's door. Your heart shall beat nevermore. Ah, so that's a great shout out, huh? Very nice. All right, so this episode happens to be my first one in the 2025 calendar year. And we have a lot we want to accomplish, but I need your help. One pattern that I've always followed is that I release episodes on the day that's being celebrated. So, for example, today's episode about January 19th was published on January 19th. The one before that was about December 27th, again, published on that day. The question is, does this approach appeal to you as the listener? To have the episode date be attached to that day in history. Why am I asking? Well, I've received tons of suggestions from listeners. And so far, I've gotten lucky enough to weave several of them in to this about-the-day, on-the-day schedule. For example, today. My friend Muddy Grimes, back in the fall of 24, he suggested I do the greatest beer run ever. And I was able to work it in today. Yeah, thanks, Muddy. But I could change that approach. I could just bounce around and every three to four weeks make an episode about any given day. As long as they keep rolling out once every three to four weeks. What do you think? All right, it's time to vote, people. Click on the link in the show notes and let me know. Today's tales or any time adventures. We'll see how many of you actually respond. In the meantime, I'm going to start working on the next episode for February. Alrighty. Thanks so much for listening. And like I said before, make 2025 an epic year. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time, this is Truman Pastworthy, reminding you that every day has a great story. And we'll be striding through them all to find some more goodies for you. Now get out there and make your own great story today.