Discover more from Morning Martini
7/11/2022: Milwaukee Brewers Honor Young Fan
PLUS: Elon Bails on Twitter, Biden’s Approval Ratings Drop, and North Says “STOP”
Today is Monday, July 11, 2022.
It is the 192nd day of the year.
173 days remain.
TRENDING
Saturday was National Sugar Cookie Day.
Ray Allen and Klay Thompson were trending Saturday as NBA fans debated who is the best baller.
Sri Lanka landed in Twitter’s Top 10 Trends over the weekend as the PM and President left their posts over accusations of running the country’s economy into the ground. More in Hit List.
Sunday was National Pina Colada Day.
#WomenAreBestAt was trending Sunday. Tweets included, “smiling regardless of the circumstances around them,” “winning arguments,” “wearing glass slippers and breaking glass ceilings,” and “being in charge of everything.”
Novak Djokovic was trending Sunday after winning at Wimbledon. More in Sports.
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HIT LIST
Lawyers for ELON MUSK have told Twitter he’s bowing out of his bid to acquire Twitter, which has said they’ll take legal action to enforce the $1 billion breakup fee Musk is on the hook for now.
BUT WAIT: Conspiracy-minded analysts see a few different things happening now, though.
Musk’s camp says he’s pulling out of the deal because they can’t very Twitter’s user data to confirm how many accounts are real vs. bots. A trial over the breakup fee would mean a discovery process that exposes Twitter’s real data. If they’re hiding something, this wouldn’t end well for the company.
MEANWHILE: Fortune magazine speculates that Musk’s takeover bid was a smokescreen for him to offload $8.5 billion worth of Tesla stock, which he did to help finance the buyout. The stock options he sold were reportedly about to expire, anyway, and the Twitter purchase gave him cause to offload it.
ALSO MEANWHILE: Upon news of the deal collapse, while at a rally in Anchorage, Alaska, former President DONALD TRUMP called Musk a “[B.S.] artist.”
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The Voyager 1 probe is about 14.5 billion miles from Earth, but continues to send data back as it continues to travel farther into space than any other manmade object. Since launching in September 1977, it’s exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Now, engineers are working to reset computers on the probe to fix garbled data they’ve been receiving – but it’s not totally clear how to do it. Reps for NASA tell Business Insider that as staff who worked on the Voyager project retired in the 1970s and ‘80s, they took a lot of their technical documents and research with them. Officials are working to get in contact with whoever they can and continue to work internally to fully restore communications.
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Revolution against onerous, economy-killing green regulations are brewing in separate outbreaks around the world.
IN SRI LANKA: Last year, the government ordered farmers to stop using fertilizers and pesticides, and instead grow everything organically. The economic effects were felt within weeks, with domestic rice production collapsing 20%; the country was forced to begin importing it to meet demand, causing prices to increase 50%.
Other crops affected were tea, rubber, and coconut, costing hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue for farmers. Since initiating the policies, 500,000 Sri Lankans slipped into poverty.
Now, the people are fighting back. Over the weekend, protestors swarmed the presidential palace and forced out the country’s leadership; the president and prime minister are expected to formally resign on Wednesday.
(h/t: Foreign Policy)
IN THE NETHERLANDS: Dutch farmers continue their strike and protests against nitrogen emissions standards that would destroy the agricultural industry there.
Some farmers say driving them out of business is the point, as the government looks for more land to expand cities and create a cultural hub for Europe centered on Amsterdam.
Much like truckers in Canada earlier this year, Dutch farmers are clogging streets around city centers with their heavy machinery, in order to force the government to change course on their ridiculous emissions standards.
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Researchers have identified a close dinosaur cousin to the Tyrannosaurus rex, according to an article in science journal “Current Biology.”
The Meraxes gigas was 36 feet long and weighed four tons, living about 100 million years ago in South America. Like the T-rex, it also had short little arms.
BY THE WAY: The “Meraxes” name was a nod to a name of a dragon in one of George R. R. Martin’s books.
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The Economist magazine has realized that sweeping lockdowns and keeping children out of schools for years at a time is, actually, very, very bad for their educational development. Some highlights from their report:
The World Bank estimates 70% of ten-year-olds around the world are now illiterate, a near 25% increase since 2019.
Globally, the decrease in reading proficiency will cost $21 trillion in lost earnings over these kids’ lifetimes.
“Closures were often long in places where teachers’ unions were especially powerful, such as Mexico and parts of the United States,” the Economist notes, adding that Mexico had a nationwide school closure policy that lasted 50 weeks.
MEANWHILE: The CDC estimates that 108,000 people died from drug overdoses last year, a 15% increase over 2020.
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BY THE NUMBERS
📈 Stocks were mostly flat Friday. The Dow lost 46.4 points (0.15%) to close at 31,388. The S&P 500 lost 3.24 points (0.083%) to close at 3,899 and the Nasdaq added 31.96 points (0.12%) to close at 11,635.
🛢 West Texas Intermediate is $104 a barrel, and Brent Crude ticked up to $107.
⛽ The national average price of a gallon of gas was $4.68 on Sunday.
₿ Bitcoin lost more than $600 over the weekend, trading around $21,000.
🛩 There were 2,212 flight delays for routes within, into, or out of the United States, and 223 such cancellations on Sunday.
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CHARTS
Weekend Box Office
10. Mr. Malcolm’s List: $245k (down from 7)
9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: $262k (stayed at 9)
8. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: $340k (up from 11)
7. Lightyear: $2.9 million (down from 6)
6. The Black Phone: $7.6 million (down from 5)
5. Jurassic World Dominion: $8.4 million (down from 4)
4. Elvis: $11 million (down from 3)
3. Top Gun: Maverick: $15.4 million (down from 2)
2. Minions: The Rise of Gru: $45.5 million (down from 1)
1. Thor: Love and Thunder: $143k (new)
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DEATHS
TONY SIRICO has died.
The actor, best known for his role as Paulie Walnuts in “The Sopranos,” passed away on July 8. No word on a cause of death.
He was 79.
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GREGORY ITZIN has died.
The actor, famous for his role as President Charles in “24,” passed away Friday due to complications from an emergency surgery.
He was 74.
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LENNY VON DOHLEN has died.
The actor, known for his role as Harold Smith in “Twin Peaks,” passed away Tuesday at his Los Angeles home after a long illness.
He was 63.
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JIMMY WILLIAMS has died.
The former Vanderbilt football star and All-SEC cornerback passed away Friday. While details were scarce, The Advocate in Baton Rouge reported he had recently suffered an illness.
He was 43.
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L.Q. JONES has died.
The film and television star and producer of “A Boy and His Dog,” passed away from natural causes on Saturday at his home in Hollywood.
He was 94.
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VERNON WINFREY, OPRAH’s father, has died.
He passed away Friday after a battle with cancer, according to a statement posted on Oprah Daily’s Twitter account.
He was 89.
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SHUAN SHUAN, Mexico’s oldest living panda, has died.
The Chapultepec Zoo, located in Mexico City, revealed her passing on July 6, while noting that it was also her 35th birthday.
Zoo officials told ABC News that they were able to celebrate before she died.
No cause of death was revealed.
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BABY NEWS
Actress MISSY PEREGRYM, 40, has welcomed her second child with her husband, actor TOM OAKLEY, also 40.
The “FBI” star announced the birth of their daughter, Mela Josephine Oakley, on Instagram Friday.
The couple are already parents to son Otis, 2.
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Baby #2 is on the way for actors KATE MARA, 39, and JAMIE BELL, 36.
Mara shared the exciting news Sunday on Instagram.
The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter, in May 2019. They have yet to disclose her name publicly.
Bell is also dad to 8-year-old son Jack Matfin, whom he shares with his ex-wife, actress EVAN RACHEL WOOD.
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BREAKUPS
Actress AMANDA BYNES, 36, and 20-something-year-old PAUL MICHAEL have put a pause on their engagement.
A source told Entertainment Tonight that while the pair are not planning to walk down the aisle anytime soon, they have decided to “remain a couple.”
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“GMA” weatherman ROB MARCIANO and his wife ERYN MARCIANO are calling it quits after 11 years of marriage.
Rob confirmed the split in a statement to PEOPLE magazine, saying that he wanted to “save the marriage,” but they are “sadly divorcing.”
He added that he and Eryn are now focusing on co-parenting their two kids, 10-year-old daughter Madelynn and 4-year-old son Mason.
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RELATIONSHIPS
“Bachelor” alum BEKAH MARTINEZ, 27, is engaged to her longtime boyfriend, entrepreneur GRAYSTON LEONARD, 33.
The couple have been dating since 2018 and share two kids, Ruth, 3, and Franklin, 2.
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WEDDINGS
Actors KIRSTEN DUNST, 40, and JESSE PLEMONS, 34, have tied the knot.
The couple said “I do” last weekend in Jamaica, a source confirmed to Page Six. No other details were given.
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Pittsburgh Steelers MVP -- and Wisconsin native -- TJ WATT, 27, married soccer superstar DANI RHODES, 24, on Saturday.
The couple, who met while attending college at the University of Madison-Wisconsin, got engaged last year.
WHAT’S MORE: Rhodes plays for the Chicago Red Stars -- the same team as KEALIA OHAI, who is married to TJ’s older brother, fellow football player JJ WATT. Their other brother, DEREK WATT also plays in the NFL.
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BRIA MURPHY, 32, the eldest daughter of actor EDDIE MURPHY, tied the knot with actor MICHAEL XAVIER, 36, on Saturday.
The private ceremony was held in Beverly Hills, with 250 close friends and family in attendance.
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THE SWAMP
A new Civiqs poll puts President JOE BIDEN at historically low numbers for this length of his presidency: 30% approve, while 57% disapprove. He’s underwater now matter how you slice it by age, education, and gender, with his highest approval rating at 40%.
WORTH REMEMBERING: In the 2021 book “Lucky” by reporters JONATHAN ALLEN and AMIE PARNES, which tells the story of Biden’s unlikely win for the presidency, the writers detail that Biden would carry favorable polling with him everywhere he went and pulled them out of his jacket pocket to show anyone and everyone.
WORTH ASKING: Does he do that when the numbers are bad too? Can a man lead when he’s more preoccupied with what people think of him?
IT GETS WORSE: Despite two impeachments and relentless haranguing by an antagonistic media, academia, and collusive internet apparatus, former President DONALD TRUMP’s approval in Rasmussen polls never dipped below 38%. That same poll puts Biden at 37%.
MEANWHILE: As media outlets continue to say out loud what many Americans have been saying for years – that Biden is old, fragile, and unfit for the job – reporter MATT TAIBBI pointed out on Twitter the raging double standard between critiquing Biden and Trump.
Taibbi was certainly no ally of Trump’s, either. But he notes on Twitter, “After Trump was elected I had psychiatrists call, willing to go on record to diagnose Trump from afar as removable under the 25th amendment. I called those same people back while on the road with Biden in 2019 and they refused to comment on ‘ethical’ grounds.’”
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In addition to copies of HUNTER BIDEN’s laptop, there are now reportedly copies of his personal devices and iCloud account circulating around the web.
The New York Post reports that Hunter is no fan of stepmother JILL BIDEN, who he called a “vindictive moron” and a word that rhymes with runt in text messages to other family members.
Other messages show Hunter upset that neither Jill nor his father, President JOE BIDEN, ever visited him while he was in rehab.
MEANWHILE: A group of hackers say they’ve breached Hunter’s iCloud account, but we’re waiting to verify how legitimate it is.
BUT WAIT: If true, data shows that Hunter’s account was used on 46 different devices since 2011, “including over 20 iPhones, eight Mac computers, nine iPads, and three Apple TVs,” according to one security expert working for the Washington Examiner.
WORTH ASKING: Does someone who has nothing to hide go through 20 iPhones, eight computers, and nine iPads in ten years?
ASKING OUT LOUD: Hunter has been spotted spending a lot of time at the White House and in the middle of his father’s inner circle in recent weeks. Now that the Biden Family Crime Syndicate knows that independent news outlets have their own copies of Hunter’s laptop and the horrors contained within, is Hunter sticking closely with his dad inside the White House and its security detail to make it a whole lot harder to serve him with legal papers?
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Wisconsin’s Supreme Court has ruled that ballot drop boxes are – and were – illegal and inappropriate for the November 2020 election.
IN OTHER WORDS: County clerks that allowed for remote dropbox sites broke the law. But there will be no charges or investigation into whether these boxes were used improperly.
WHAT’S THE WORD FOR THAT? Rigged.
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LOTTERY
No winner for Friday night’s Mega Millions drawing. Tuesday night’s drawing will be for a $440 million jackpot or a $247.8 million cash payout.
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No winner for Saturday night’s Powerball drawing. Tonight’s drawing will be for a $56 million jackpot or a $31.8 million cash payout.
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SHOWBIZ NEWS
JOHNNY DEPP is using his music as an outlet to share his feelings toward his ex-wife, actress AMBER HEARD.
“I think you’ve said enough for one [mother-effing] night,” he sings on a new record he made with British guitarist JEFF BECK.
In another track, titled “Sad [Mother-effin’] Parade,” Depp sings “You’re sitting there like a dog with a seven-year itch.”
Other tracks are cover songs, including “Caroline No” and “Venus and Furs,” The Times reports.
The new record drops Friday.
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Author GEORGE RR MARTIN recently dropped some insight into his forthcoming novel “The Winds of Winter,” the sixth in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga that served as the basis for HBO series “Game of Thrones.”
Writing on his website, Martin said the book will be “quite different” than the storyline from “Game of Thrones.” He also said there will be new characters introduced.
A release date has not yet been announced.
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During her recent appearance on CHELSEA HANDLER’s podcast, MARTHA STEWART joked that she wishes her friends would die so she can date their husbands.
She explained that the only men she meets are married to her friends, so while it may be “tempting” to have an affair, Stewart said that sometimes she thinks “Oh gosh, couldn’t that person just die? Not painfully, just die.”
Stewart was married to publisher ANDREW STEWART from 1961 to 1990. She later dated actor ANTHONY HOPKINS, though only briefly because she struggled to separate him from his creepy Hannibal Lecter character in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
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A TikTok video of METALLICA rocking out to their song “Master of Puppets” has gone viral.
The ‘80s hit gained new found momentum after being featured in the “Stranger Things” Season 4 finale.
Posted Friday, the video had over 7.3 million views and over 1.7million likes by Saturday evening.
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CARLOS SANTANA has paused his tour to focus on his health after collapsing on stage last week.
As previously reported, the 74-year-old was taken off the stage by paramedics after being overcome by heat exhaustion in Michigan last Tuesday night.
While he recently told fans that he is “feeling back to normal,” out of an abundance of caution he has also announced that he is pushing back six shows of “Miraculous Supernatural” 2022 Tour.
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SHAWN MENDES has decided to postpone three weeks worth of shows in his highly-anticipated world tour so he can focus on his mental health.
The 23-year-old told fans in an Instagram post that he has “hit a breaking point” and needs time away to reset.
Mendes’ “Wonder: The World Tour,” kicked off in Portland in June, with dates scheduled through August 2023.
WORTH NOTING: This includes Tuesday night’s performance at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.
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HBO has responded to PETA’s request that they address the death of a horse on the set of the drama series “The Gilded Age.”
After the animal rights organization demanded the network “take accountability” and “reevaluate” its animal wrangling practices, HBO said in a letter that the animal died of “natural causes.”
The network further explained that “horse wranglers, as well as a veterinarian, confirmed the horse hadn’t displayed signs of discomfort in the outdoor environment…” and the animal “had not been overworked.”
PETA called the incident an example of why animals “should not be used in film or television productions at all.”
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CASTING CALL
Following the huge success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” MILES TELLER, who plays Rooster, told Entertainment Tonight that he has been talking with his co-star TOM CRUISE about a follow-up flick.
“It’s all up to Tom,” Teller said.
As previously reported, the movie flew past the $1 billion mark at the global box office, becoming the world’s highest-grossing film of 2022.
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CHRIS HEMSWORTH recently revealed that a different Hemsworth almost landed the role of Thor.
Speaking to MensXP, the 38-year-old said that he suggested to casting directors his younger brother LIAM HEMSWORTH audition for the role after he felt he tanked his own tryout.
While Liam got a callback and Chris didn't, producers ultimately decided that the younger Hemsworth was “too young” for the role, so they decided to give his brother another shot. And the rest is history.
Chris first appeared as Thor in 2011’s “Thor.” He reprised the role in three films since, including the recently released “Thor: Love and Thunder.”
Liam wasn’t left heartbroken as he landed a major role in the “Hunger Games” the following year.
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“Real Housewives” newbies NOELLA BERGENER and DR. JENNIFER ARMSTRONG are leaving the Bravo franchise.
The pair, who made their debuts on the “Real Housewives of Orange County” during Season 16, announced Friday they are exiting the show.
While both posted about their departures on Instagram, only Bergener revealed that she was fired.
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Two docuseries based on USC football player turned drug kingpin OWEN HANSON are in the works.
The first is being developed by MARK WAHLBERG, and the second is coming from Netflix.
Both will focus on the drug lord who was arrested by the FBI in 2015 for operating an empire that spanned the US, Latin America and Australia. He was sentenced to more than 21 years in federal prison in 2017.
Playing a key role in his takedown was gambler RJ CIPRIANI, who was being threatened by Hanson after losing $2.5 million.
Deadline reports that Cipriani has refused to be part of either docuseries as he feels its “his story to tell.”
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MICHAEL RAYMOND-JAMES will take on the role of mob boss Joe Colombo in the upcoming third season of Epix drama series “Godfather of Harlem.”
The show tells the story of infamous crime boss Bumpy Johnson, played by FOREST WHITAKER, who in the early 1960s returned from an 11-year prison stint to find his neighborhood in shambles.
Season three will also feature JASON CARVELL as Malcolm X.
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WANDA DE JESUS has joined the cast of Paramount+ series “Fatal Attraction.”
She will play Marcella Leyva, a District Attorney, and boss of central character Dan, played by JOSHUA JACKSON.
The series explores the themes of marriage and infidelity through modern attitudes, according to a description from Deadline. LIZZY CAPLAN and AMANDA PEET also star.
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JULIUS ONAH will direct Marvel’s “Captain America 4.”
Deadline confirmed the news over the weekend, while also sharing that plot details are being kept under wraps.
The outlet did report that ANTHONY MACKIE is set to return as Sam Wilson, who took on the role of Captain America in Disney+ series, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.”
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CELEBRITY CELLBLOCK
Celebrity fashion designer NANCY GONZALEZ was arrested in her native Columbia after allegedly smuggling crocodile handbags in the US.
According to investigators, she smuggled hundreds of handbags by paying airplane passengers to carry them in their personal luggage. She advised them to say the bags were gifts if they were questioned by customs agents.
Gonzalez will likely be extradited to the US, where she could face 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Celebs known for owning some of the designer handbags include BRITNEY SPEARS, VICTORIA BECKHAM and SALMA HAYEK.
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THE DAILY KARDASHOPUS
KIM explained why her daughter NORTH WEST held up a piece of paper with the word “STOP” written on it at the Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show.
“North I guess had it with the people taking pictures of her so she wrote on her invite STOP and held it up and wanted them to focus on the show…” Kim wrote on Instagram alongside a video featuring a photo of her daughter holding the sign.
Despite what it appears, Kim says North had a really good time.
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WE’LL NEVER BE ROYALS
A High Court judge in London ruled Friday that PRINCE HARRY can take his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday to trial.
The royal is suing the outlet over an article that alleged he tried to keep the details of his legal fight to reinstate his taxpayer-funded security protection in the UK a secret, and in response, his reps tried to put a positive spin on it.
According to court documents obtained by PEOPLE magazine, JUSTICE NICKLIN ruled that the article did not suggest Harry was trying to keep it a secret, but it was suggested by the headline if “read alone.”
The title of the article read: “How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret…then minutes after MoS broke the story his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute.”
WORTH NOTING: Last year MEGHAN MARKLE received $1.3 million in damages from the Mail on Sunday after winning her legal case against them for publishing a personal letter she wrote to her father in 2018.
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SPORTS
The Milwaukee Brewers hung a jersey in their dugout Friday in honor of 8-year-old COOPER ROBERTS who was wounded during the shooting at the 4th of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois.
The jersey featured the name Roberts and player CHRISTIAN YELICH’s jersey number, 22.
“The strength to go through something like that is unimaginable,” Brewers manager CRAIG COUNSELL said before the game. “We’re happy he’s a Brewer fan and want to recognize that and let the family know we’re thinking about them,” he later added.
Cooper, who was shot in the chest, suffered a severed spine and is now paralyzed from the waist down. He regained consciousness on Friday for the first time since the shooting, according to a statement from his family.
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NOVAK DJOKOVIC defeated NICK KYRGIOS in the men’s final at Wimbledon on Sunday to win his 21st Grand Slam singles title.
The victory gave Djokovic his seventh singles title at Wimbledon and his fourth in a row.
It was his 32nd Grand Slam final
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DAY OF THE YEAR
National Cheer Up The Lonely Day
World Population Day
National Rainier Cherry Day
National Blueberry Muffin Day
All American Pet Photo Day
National Mojito Day
National 7-Eleven Day
Cow Appreciation Day
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ON THIS DATE
1798 - Congress re-establishes the US Marine Corps. It first consisted of:
1 major
4 captains
16 first lieutenants
12 second lieutenants
48 sergeants
48 corporals
32 drums and fifes
720 privates
The President was to direct its formation of companies and detachments, with officers and musicians appropriately allocated. The major was allotted four daily rations and $50 a month.
The Executive Branch would decide on compensation for the peons.
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1804 - Aaron Burr mortally wounds Alexander Hamilton in an arranged duel.
The bout culminated a longtime rivalry between the two. Political maneuvering by one constantly inhibited the other's political future. Burr had earlier beaten Hamilton's father-in-law for a Senate seat.
In the 1800 election, Hamilton intentionally influenced the vote to bump Burr off the president's slot. Hamilton actively campaigned against Burr's bid for the New York governorship in 1804. A final, public exchange of vitriolic letters impelled the death match Ultimately, Burr was indicted for murder but was acquitted.
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1864 - Union forces hold off a Confederate attempt to break through Fort Stevens.
Breaking the fort would be the confederacy's ticket to taking Washington, DC. Fighting was so close that Abraham Lincoln was able to survey the fighting with his wife.
In fact, they were so close, that a bullet wounded a surgeon standing next to the president. Meanwhile, Confederate Major General John Breckinridge, who challenged Lincoln in the 1860 presidential election, was on the other side of the battle firing shots.
It is the only time presidential opponents also fought on opposing sides in battle.
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1897 - Salomon Andree and two others fire up their hot air balloon on the island of Danskon in the Svalbard Archipelago en route to the north pole. The islands are just inside the Arctic Circle.
Without steering mechanisms, the crew depended on large ropes dangling from the gondola to act as rudders as they dragged across the ground.
But wind and ice quickly screwed up their course, and they lost two of these ropes. The men hit ground in a controlled crash on the arctic pack ice. Their three months of rations were substantial, supplemented by the meat and hides of polar bears they murdered.
They made way for Kvitoya, a Russian island amidst the ice.
It is there they died: one man was buried, though without a marker; Adree and another died in their tent. Historians suggest they died not from the weather conditions, but rather from ingesting parasites found in polar bear meat.
Their camp was not found until 1930.
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1914 - Babe Ruth makes his professional baseball debut for the Boston Red Sox at age 19. He pitched against the Cleveland Naps and won the game.
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1960 - “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is first published.
The following year Lee would be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for the novel.
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1972 - American Bobby Fischer plays his first chess match of the 1972 World Chess Championship against Soviet Boris Spassky, the reigning champ.
The tournament ended at the end of August, with Fischer victorious, 12-and-a-half games to 8-and-a-half games.
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2013 - “Orange Is the New Black” debuts on Netflix.
The show follows the comedic and dramatic ins and outs of a female prison.
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2015 - Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman escapes prison again.
After stepping into the shower, he slipped into a tunnel where he was able to exit the maximum-security Altiplano Federal Prison, located near Mexico City.
Authorities discovered a lighted and ventilated tunnel that was nearly a mile long, stretching from the prison to a half-built home.
El Chapo escaped from a high-security prison in 2001 and was not recaptured until 2014.
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2021 - Richard Branson flies to the edge of space on his Virgin Galactic rocket.
Five others joined him on the flight, which was part of the company’s test of space tourism.
The spacecraft reached an altitude of 53.5 miles.
After the flight, Virgin Galactic reports they have 600 reservations for tickets on future flights. A seat costs between $200,000 and $250,000.
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BIRTHDAYS
Alessia Cara - pop singer - 26
David Henrie - actor, “Wizards of Waverly Place” & “That’s So Raven” - 33
Derek Sanders - rocker singer, Mayday Parade - 36
Tyson Kidd - wrestler - 42
Jax Taylor - reality star, “Vanderpump Rules” - 43
Nadya Suleman - Octomom - 47
Lil Kim - rapper - 48
Justin Chambers - actor, “Grey’s Anatomy” - 52
Debbe Dunning - Tool Time Girl on “Home Improvement” - 56
Cassi Davis - actress, “House of Payne” - 58
Lisa Rinna - reality star & soap actress, “Days of Our Lives” - 59
Richie Sambora - guitarist, Bon Jovi - 63
Mindy Sterling - actress, Frau Farbissina in “Austin Powers” films - 69
Giorgio Armani - fashion designer - 88
Born On This Date
Bonnie Pointer - pop singer, Pointer Sisters - 1950 (d. 2020)
E.B. White - author, “Stuart Little” & “Charlotte’s Web” - 1899 (d. 1985)
John Quincy Adams - 6th POTUS - 1767 (d. 1848)
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