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Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan looks down on Charlotte Hornets guard Muggsy Bogues, one of the NBA's shortest players in a 1995 game.
AP / File
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All things SHORT
Web posted Wednesday, February 25, 2004
By Patrick Verel
Even during a leap year, February can't catch a break in the length department.
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Get Shorty (1995)
John Travolta, Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito and Rene Russo team up for an irreverent look at loan sharking, mobsters and Hollywood-style movie making. You can probably guess which is the most sleazy.
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Spiritual leader Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, was 5 feet tall.
AP / File
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Short Circuit (1986)
"Number 5," a military robot runs amok, in this fish-out-of-water comedy.
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Twenty-nine days still makes it the shortest month of the year, but, as Stuart Smalley from Saturday Night Live would say, that's OK.
The month more than holds its own when it comes to holidays, with Presidents' Day, Valentine's Day, Flag Day, Mardi Gras and Ash Wednesday all celebrated during February.
So let's raise a glass to our favorite diminutive month and celebrate something short.
Some famous short people
Circus performer General Tom Thumb, 1838-1883, 2 feet 9 inches
Actor/musician Emmanuel Lewis (Webster), born 1971, 3 feet
4 inches
Psychologist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, born 1928, 4 feet 7 inches
Actor Gary Coleman (Diff'rent Strokes), born 1968, 4 feet 8 inches
Gymnast Mary Lou Retton, born 1968, 4 feet 9.5 inches
Spiritual leader Tammy Faye Messner, born 1942, 4 feet
11 inches
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, born 1940, 4 feet 11 inches
Actress/musician Nell Carter, 1948-2003, 4 feet 11 inches
Musician Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones, born 1975, 4 feet 11 inches
Writer Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811-1896, 4 feet 11 inches
Actress/musician Judy Garland, 1922-1969, 4 feet 11.5 inches
Musician Pat Benatar, born 1953, 5 feet
Actor/director Danny DeVito, born 1944, 5 feet
New York City Mayor Fiorello Henry La Guardia, 1882-1947,
5 feet
Musician Dolly Parton, born 1946, 5 feet
Spiritual leader Mother Teresa, 1910-1997, 5 feet
Civil rights activist Harriet Tubman, 1820-1913, 5 feet
Chinese political leader Deng Xiaoping, 1904-1997, 5 feet
Spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, born 1911, 5 feet
Actress Pia Zadora, born 1954, 5 feet
Source: www.shortsupport.org
All things short
In song
Sort Music for Short People, Fat Wreck Chords, 1999
Can you say marketing stunt? In 1999, Berkeley, Calif.-based Fat Wreck Chords released a compilation compact disc with 101 songs, by 101 mostly punk bands. The catch? None of the songs last longer than 30 seconds, and quite a few are even shorter - hence the title. Highlights include brief contributions by Rancid, The Offspring, NOFX, Green Day, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Blink 182 and the Misfits.
Bobby Short
Born in Danville, Ill., in 1926, Bobby Short has been performing classical American standards from Cole Porter and the duo Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart since the '50s. He has been playing piano at Manhattan's Hotel Carlyle since 1968.
On film
Short Circuit (1986)
With Steve Guttenberg and Ally Sheedy playing the straight men to "Number 5," a military robot run amok, this fish-out-of-water comedy did well enough at the box office to warrant a sequel. Thankfully, Short Circuit 3, the Meltdown was never given the green light.
Short Cuts (1993)
In Robert Altman's Southern California urban drama, the lives of 22 Los Angeles residents intersect and crisscross like so many strands of a spider web. It's one of those pieces where one person's bad day leads directly to someone else's glee, and it takes nearly three hours to has it all out. The stellar cast includes Jack Lemmon, Robert Downey Jr., Andie McDowell, Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Jason Leigh and many more.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1994)
The eccentric and acclaimed classical pianist Glenn Gould, who died in 1982 at age 50, is the subject of this most unorthodox documentary. As the title suggests, Canada's most celebrated modern-day musician (not counting Celine Dion) has his life recreated through 32 self-contained but inter related vignettes. Directed by Francois Girard and starring Colm Feore, 32 Films ... was the inspiration for The Simpsons episode 22 Short Films About Springfield.
The animal world
The Thread Snake (Leptotyphlops bilineata) and Brahminy Blindsnake (Ramphotyplops braminus) both have a maximum length of 4.25 inches, making them the shortest snakes in the world.
The smallest true primate is the pygmy mouse lemur, which, like all lemurs, can only be found in Madagascar and the neighboring Comoro Islands. It has a head/body length of 2.4 inches, a tail length of 5.4 inches, and an average weight of 1.1 ounces.
Source: www.ecoworld.org
The smallest, and thus shortest horse, is Black Beauty, a miniature black mare that stands 18.75 inches tall and weighs 41.5 pounds. The horse was foaled in 1997 in Kitrell, N.C., and is owned by Donald Burleson
Source: Guinness Book of World Records
In politics
William Henry Harrison served the shortest term, 32 days (March 4, 1841-April 4, 1941). Harrison, the oldest man at age 68 (before Ronald Reagan) to be inaugurated president, died after serving only one month as the nation's ninth president. He had become ill after delivering his inaugural address out‚doors in the cold March weather without a hat or a coat and died of a respiratory infection, probably pneumonia. He was the first president to die in office.
James Madison (1809-1817) was the shortest president in stature at 5 feet 6 inches tall. The nation's third president, Madison also was probably the lightest U.S. leader in history, as he weighed in at only 100 pounds.
Source: www.americanpresidents.org
Sports world
The shortest basketball player: Tyrone "Mugsy" Bogues, at 5 feet 3 inches, was a first-round draft pick for the Washington Wizards in 1987 and played until 2001 with them and the Toronto Raptors.
Shortest baseball game: 51 minutes, Sept. 28, 1919; New York Giants vs. the Philadelphia Phillies in New York. The Giants won 6-1
Shortest double header: 2 hours 7 minutes, Sept. 26, 1926; Yankees vs. St. Louis Browns in St. Louis; The Browns won 6-1 and 6-2.
Source: Elias 2003 Book of Baseball Records
In literature
According to Thomas Nelson, the largest publisher of Christian books, the shortest book of the Bible is generally accepted to be John 2, with 13 verses.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, the shortest poem on record is On the Antiquity of Microbes, a title that is actually longer than the poem itself, which is: Adam/Had 'em. Ogden Nash, the creator of quips such as "Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker," is credited as the author.
Reach Patrick Verel at (706) 823-3332 or patrick.verel@augustachronicle.com
--From the Thursday, February 26, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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