They watched their own parents suffer during the Depression, they went overseas for years on end when our nation asked them to save the world, and when they came home, to the prosperity of the Eisenhower years, they crossed their fingers and hoped the good times were not an illusion.

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The match started in glorious sunshine, however, the players' fingers took some time to warm up judging by the number of times the ball was dropped in the scrappy opening exchanges.

BBC: Italy 16-12 Scotland

In fact, Bejan and his colleagues found that interactions between the hand and the water when the fingers are slightly spread increase the total force a swimmer can exert, translating to faster times in the pool.

MSN: Fastest swimmers make webbed hands out of water