AMERICA the UNIQUE
Parade celebrates some of the people, places and things that are true NATIONAL TREASURES
KATHERINE JOHNSON
A mathematics genius, Johnson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015 at age 97. The longtime NASA researcher and analyst recently got more recognition when Taraji P. Henson played her (she was the “girl” John Glenn asked to provide calculations for his Friendship 7 mission) in the movie Hidden Figures.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
On June 6, 1939, the first Little League Baseball game was played at Park Point in Williamsport, Pa. (Lundy Lumber defeated Lycoming Dairy, 23–8.) Since then, the pint-size version of America’s favorite pastime has knocked it out of the park as the world’s largest organized youth sports program, boasting 200,000 teams in all 50 states and 80 countries. This year’s Little League Baseball World Series is Aug. 17–27 in South Williamsport, Pa.
CRASH TEST DUMMY
The full-scale anthropomorphic test device was invented by the late Samuel W. Alderson in 1960 to gauge the impact of car wrecks on humans. It was widely put into use after the publication of consumer advocate Ralph Nader’s book Unsafe at Any Speed.
In the 1980s and ’90s, commercials starring crash test dummies Vince and Larry (“You can learn a lot from a dummy”) led to an increase in safety belt usage (from 14 to 79 percent), saving an estimated 85,000 lives, according to the Ad Council.
DOUG THE PUG
Known as the King of Pop Culture, Doug is not your average pooch. He’s a New York Times best-selling author (with “momager” Leslie Mosier) and social media star whose millions of adoring fans follow his pizza-eating, worldtraveling adventures on Instagram (@itsdougthepug) and Facebook. He’s made appearances on the Today show, Billboard ’s Hot 100 Festival and the CMT Music Awards, and he’s taken selfies with everyone from Justin Bieber to the cast of The Big Bang Theory—but napping is still his favorite thing. Visit
Parade.com/pug for our exclusive interview and behind-the-scenes photo shoot with Doug.