Useless But Compelling Facts - August 2008
As the Olympics came to a close, I was reminded of Thomas Hicks in the 1904 Olympic marathon in Missouri who, when starting to fail around the 19th mile, had his coach hand him a prepared cocktail—cognac, egg whites and 1/60th grain sulfate of strychnine—yes, the rat poison! A second dose with only a few miles to go apparently kept him going (another would likely have killed him), but alas, he crossed the finish line second. But the person who came in first was disqualified and Hicks was ultimately awarded the Gold Medal—notwithstanding his almost comatose state. Who was the disqualified athlete and for what? Send your answer to me.
