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Daily Bread for 8.17.24: Jai Alai, The Sport That America Forgot About

Good morning.

Saturday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 78. Sunrise is 6:04, and sunset is 7:52, for 13h 47m 18s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 93.3 percent of its visible disk illuminated.

On this day in 1936, the state of Wisconsin issued the first Unemployment Compensation Check in the United States for the amount of $15. The recipient was Neils N. Ruud who then sold it to Paul Raushenbush for $25 for its historical value. The check is now at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin was the first state to establish an Unemployment Compensation program.

On this day in 1978,  Double Eagle II becomes the first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean when it lands in Miserey, France 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine.


Jai Alai: The Sport That America Forgot About:

For much of the 20th century, jai alai dominated the Miami sports scene, attracting crowds as large as 15,000. Today, the sport is barely hanging on in America. So what happened? Well, it’s a wild story, one involving gangs, organized crime and murder. We caught up with decorated jai alai athletes Benny Bueno and Leon Shepard to get the scoop on the meteoric rise and subsequent fall of America’s forgotten sport.

Progress cargo spacecraft docks with space station in time-lapse:

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