History Book: 50 years since Secretariat wins the Kentucky Derby

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, May 1st. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today a life sentence for the Unabomber. Plus, a come from behind win at the Kentucky Derby. But first, one of literature’s highest honors recognizes a short novel about an old fisherman and a huge fish. Here’s Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: We begin today on May 4th, 1953. Columbia University awards the Pulitzer Prize for Literature to former journalist turned novelist Ernest Hemingway for his novella: The Old Man and The Sea. Read here by Charlton Heston:

HESTON: He was an old man who fished alone in his skiff in the Gulf Stream, and he'd gone 84 days now without taking a fish.

Hemingway’s story follows an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago who bears the shame of failure, as he’s gone nearly three months without catching a fish. The fisherman decides to try breaking his losing streak by sailing into the gulf stream.

Within a few hours he’s hooked a great fish.

HESTON: Then he felt the gentle touch in the line and he was happy, feeling the gentle pulling and then he felt something hard and unbelievably heavy. It was the weight of the fish.

For the next two days, the old fisherman battles the large fish. When he finally kills it, it’s too big to fit in his boat so Santiago must lash it to the side. It’s not long before the first shark appears. It attacks the fish, ripping away 40 pounds of its flesh. Then two more sharks appear.

HESTON: When he saw the first of the two sharks, ah, he said aloud, there is no translation for this word, and perhaps it is just a noise, such as a man might make involuntarily feeling the nail go through his hands and into the wood.

Eventually, sharks consume all but the fish’s head and tail.

Many critics believe the book is autobiographical. After ten years without publishing a novel, Hemingway released Across the River and into the Trees in 1950. Like the sharks in his novella, the critics tore it to shreds.

HESTON: In the night, sharks hit the carcasses, as someone might pick up crumbs from the table. The old man paid no attention to them and did not pay any attention to anything except steering.

In 1952 Scribners published Hemingway’s 127-page novella to great acclaim. Life simultaneously published it in its magazine—within two days readers bought hundreds of thousands of copies of the issue, establishing The Old Man and Sea as a modern-classic.

Next, May 5th, 1973. The 99th running of the Kentucky Derby:

RACE AUDIO: [START OF RACE]

More than 134,000 spectators fill the Churchill Downs. 13 horses and riders speed around the mile and a quarter track.

Out of the gate, the early favorite Secretariat begins the race near the back of the pack. But by the first turn, he moves ahead of two horses. Then over the next quarter mile Secretariat gallops into sixth position.

Jockey Ron Turcotte lets the three-year old racehorse run at its own pace. Each quarter mile faster than the previous one.

In the final furlong Secretariat overtakes the leader. An explosive burst of speed leads to a two and a half length victory, and a Kentucky Derby record: one minute, fifty nine point four [1:59.4] seconds. A record that still stands.

And we end today on May 4th, 1998.

ROBERT CLEARY: The Department of Justice has just accepted a plea of guilty for life in prison without the possibility of parole from Theodore Kaczynski. The Unabomber's career is over.

Federal prosecutor Robert Cleary after a federal judge sentences the “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski to four life sentences plus 30 years.

Kaczynski had been a mathematics prodigy as a youth. In 1969 he gave up a promising academic career to live off the grid. He developed a strong distrust of technology. Over time his views became more and more radical as he took direct action against perceived threats to his way of life.

Starting in 1978, Kaczynski begins a seventeen year bombing campaign—mostly through the mail—injuring 23 and killing three. Kaczynski targets those he believes are promoting modern technology and the destruction of the environment.

In 1995, Kaczynski demands a major newspaper print his 35,000-word anti-technology manifesto in full. If they do, he promises to stop his bombing campaign. The Washington Post runs it. The FBI offers a $1-million reward.

After publication, Ted Kaczynski’s sister-in-law approaches her husband with her suspicions that his brother is the unabomber. On April 3rd, 1996, FBI agents arrest Kaczynski at his cabin. Agents find bomb components, one live bomb, and an original version of the manifesto.

His lawyers push for an insanity defense, but Kaczynski refuses. He eventually pleads guilty to avoid the death penalty. His brother David Kaczynski addresses the press after the sentencing.

DAVID KACZYNSKI: I'd like to say our reaction today's plea agreement is one of deep relief. We feel this is appropriate, just and civilized resolution to this tragedy and to Ted's diagnosed mental illness.

Today the 80-year old Kaczynski is being held in North Carolina’s Federal Medical Center for undisclosed health reasons. His cabin is on display at the FBI museum in Washington, D.C.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

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