“Mario Andretti,” and “M*A*S*H ends,” - This Day in History – Feb 28th

Future Racing Champ, Mario Andretti is born

Back in 1940, future-racing legend, from Montono, Italy, Mario Andretti was born.  Mr. Andretti has a record of 67 Champ Car pole positions and led 7,587 Champ Car laps within his 52 career Champ Car victories. 

According to history.com, “As a boy, Andretti spent seven years with his family in an Italian refugee camp after fleeing their hometown, which became part of Communist-ruled Yugoslavia following World War II. In 1955, the Andrettis moved to America and settled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Four years later, Mario and his twin brother Aldo began racing at a local track in a 1948 Hudson Hornet Sportsman stock car. By the early 1960s, Mario was competing full time. In 1965, he was named Rookie of the Year at the prestigious Indianapolis 500, where he placed third, and went on to win the first of his four Champ Car championships. (Then officially known as United States Auto Club and later known as CART, the series merged with the Indy Racing League in 2008.) In 1967, Andretti won the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)'s Daytona 500 and also claimed his first victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race. In 1969, he won the Indy 500, as well as his third Champ Car championship. In 1971, he collected his first Formula One victory, driving for Ferrari at the South Africa Grand Prix. In 1978, driving for Team Lotus, he became the Formula One World Champion, just the second American (after Phil Hill in 1961) to do so.” 

Biography.com stated a quote from Andretti regarding Desire which is, “the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” 

A list of Mr. Andretti’s wins can be found here.

M*A*S*H says goodbye after 11 seasons

Back in 1983, the popular comedy series set in the Korean War, called,  “M*A*S*H,” came to a close after 11 seasons.  The two-and-a-half hour episode was watched by an impressive 77 percent of all TV viewers in its time slot.  The television show was based on the 1968 novel and 1970 film by writer Richard Hooker and directed by 20th Century Fox’s Robert Altman. 

According to history.com, “At the heart of M*A*S*H were the surgeons Dr. Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce (Alan Alda) and Dr. “Trapper” John McIntyre (Wayne Rogers); these roles were played in the Altman movie by Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, respectively. Hawkeye and Trapper’s foils on the TV show were Dr. Frank Burns (Larry Linville) and Senior Nurse Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan (Loretta Swit), who disapproved of the surgeons’ boozing, womanizing and disregard for military authority. Other key characters in the series were the bumbling camp commander, Lt. Col. Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) and his clerk and right-hand-man, Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly (Gary Burghoff).” 

After the success of M*A*S*H, an unsuccessful spinoff aired for two seasons named, “AfterMASH,” debuted with a few of the cast members of the original series: Colonel Potter (Harry Morgan), Klinger, (Jamie Farr) and Father Mulcahy, (William Christopher).

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/buddy-holly39s-glasses-lost-since-his-death-in-1959-are-found-in-mason-city-iowa?catId=13