Evening, my friends.
Hope you’re all enjoying the weekend.
So, given that we are now at Day 18, why don’t we pay tribute to some of the accomplishments of who else? – 18-year-olds.
History has shown us that you don’t necessarily need to be around all that long to make an impact. Upstarts, underdogs, rookies, longshots – those are the folks for whom we often cheer the loudest. They’re the ones who inspire us just because we want to see them succeed. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
So, in tribute to those who wowed us way ahead of schedule, here’s a short list of those 18-year-old whirlwinds who captured our hearts. (We’ll be jumping back and forth across centuries, gang, so look alive!)
- ALEXANDER THE GREAT – By age 18, Alexander was conquering countries. (Man, at 18, I was cleaning pools!) Alexander never lost a battle, but he burned out all too quickly, dying from a fever at age 32.
- LEBRON JAMES JR. (AKA BRONNY JAMES) – Can’t imagine that it has always been a smooth ride, as managing fame in the modern era can be a tall order. But by all accounts, the young Mr. James is already someone to watch.
- JOAN OF ARC – The bloody Hundred Years War badly crippled France, but thanks to history’s most famous teenage peasant girl (who actually began her journey to prominence when she was as young as 13), Joan of Arc turned everything around by age 18. Shortly after her death in 1431, she was canonized and became Saint Joan of Arc.
- Leonardo DiCaprio – As big a star as there is in film today, DiCaprio earned his first Oscar nomination at age 18 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? (And he went on to win the Best Actor award in 2015 for his work on The Revenant.)
- Ferdinand Magellan – When Magellan was just 18 years old, King Charles I of Spain granted him the support he needed, promising the young Portuguese sailor that a westward sea voyage would bring immeasurable riches. It’s certainly a subjective thing, but you could argue that Magellan ultimately became history’s most fabled explorer.
See you tomorrow for Day 17, gang.
Make it a good one.
JFish