Wild About Harry

In 1939, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney sang "I'm Just Wild About Harry" in the musical Babes in Arms. These days, everyone seems to be wild about Harry Potter. This got us to wondering: Who were some other popular Harrys? Let's find out.

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Harry Houdini
1. The feats performed by American magician Harry Houdini continue to baffle the public years after his death in 1926.
Harry Belafonte
2. Harry Belafonte achieved his first and biggest hit in 1956 with the release of the song "Banana Boat Song," also known as "Day-O."
Truman Mocks Wrong Headline
3. On November 2, 1948, the Chicago Tribune released an edition with the headline "Dewey Beats Truman." However, when the votes in the presidential election were counted, Harry Truman had actually beaten Dewey by over 2 million votes.
4. Harry Frazee was unpopular with Red Sox fans, but probably very popular with Yankees fans. In 1920 Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth's contract to the Yankees. Red Sox fans never forgave him for starting "The Curse of the Bambino."
5. Dancer and comedian Harry Fox is credited with originating the foxtrot in his 1913 Ziegfeld Follies routines.
Clint Eastwood is Dirty Harry
6. Clint Eastwood first portrayed police officer "Dirty" Harry Callahan in 1971. He reprised this popular character in four more films.
Harry Blackmun
7. Harry Blackmun, a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, began his tenure as a conservative member of the Court, but by the time he retired in 1994 he had become one of the Court's biggest civil liberties advocates.
8. Harry Wright*, known as the Father of Baseball, was the innovator of pregame batting practice, hand signals, and the double steal. In 1869, he started the first professional baseball team.
9. British golfer Harry Vardon won the British Open championship in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, and 1914. He popularized the so-called overlapping grip.

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