History is one huge butterfly effect. While the following dates in history saw notable events and changes for the bridge world, entirely unrelated events were taking place in other parts of the universe on the same day or year.
Here’s what else was going on in the world on these notable bridge dates.
The ACBL Founding Date
The original event:
The American Contract Bridge League was brought into existence on the 23rd of December, 1937.
What else happened:
A scandal erupted in the broadcasting world as NBC Radio bans the mention of Mae West’s name after a now-notorious “Adam and Eve” skit written by Arch Oboer is broadcast on the Chase and Sanborn Coffee company hour. (Source: The San Pedro News Pilot)
The “Most People Ever” Bridge Tournament
The original event:
The official record for the largest-ever offline bridge tournament was set on the 21st of May, 2000 by the Dutch Bridge Federation with 3, 086 people participating (and half as many pairs).
What else happened:
Maria, Maria by Santana was the top song on the US Charts. According to sites like On This Day, not many other notable things took place on this day – and the large bridge tournament might have just been the coolest event of the day.
The Launch of Bridge Base Online
The original event:
The 23rd of April, 2001 saw the official release of the Bridge Base Online platform: Yes, it’s been around for that long!
What else happened:
Other big games of the time are Black & White and Ace Attorney.
If you ignore the year and focus only on the day, the first ever YouTube video was uploaded on the 23rd of April, 2005.
Maybe the number 23 is just a great number for tech milestones or weird coincidences (or the title of the weirdest Jim Carrey movie ever made).
The Vanderbilt Bridge Cruise
The original event:
Harold Vanderbilt takes a cruise that’s known to most bridge players by now, refining the rules of bridge closer to what we have today. It definitely happened in the year 1925, although some sources say October while some say November.
What else happened:
In March, President Coolidge was the first president with a radio broadcast inauguration. Alaska had their wettest September and the same year saw the first National Spelling Bee for the US.