William Kerslake, American wrestler and engineer (b. 1929)
William Roy Kerslake (December 27, 1929 – September 29, 2015) was an American Olympic heavy weight wrestler and retired NASA engineer.
During his collegiate years at Case Institute of Technology, known today as Case Western Reserve University, he was a three sport varsity athlete in wrestling, football, and track. In 1951, he was voted Case Institute of Technology's "outstanding athlete." Kerslake was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
Kerslake won 15 consecutive national championships in Freestyle and Greco-Roman. He won a gold medal in the 1955 Pan American Games and represented the United States three times in the Olympic Games, placing fifth, eighth and seventh from 1952 through 1960. At the 1956 National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Greco-Roman Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Kerslake achieved a record setting fastest pin, taking only 4 seconds to pin his heavy weight opponent Ralph Bartleman. This feat was captured in the 1986 Guinness Book of World Records in the sports section under “Fastest Pin in National Tournament Competition”.Throughout his wrestling career, and afterward, he was an aerospace research engineer for NASA. He was the co-inventor of the first ion thruster for space propulsion and served as chairman of the technical committee of the AIAA.
2015Sep, 29
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Events on 2015
- 29Apr
2015 Baltimore protests
A baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox sets the all-time low attendance mark for Major League Baseball. Zero fans were in attendance for the game, as the stadium was officially closed to the public due to the 2015 Baltimore protests. - 3May
Charlie Hebdo shooting
Two gunmen launch an attempted attack on an anti-Islam event in Garland, Texas, which was held in response to the Charlie Hebdo shooting. - 14Jul
New Horizons
NASA's New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto, and thus completes the initial survey of the Solar System. - 20Jul
Cuba-United States relations
The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades. - 14Aug
Cuba-United States relations
The US Embassy in Havana, Cuba re-opens after 54 years of being closed when Cuba-United States relations were broken off.