One of its members was Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer from Virginia. He had been a leader in Virginia, and Virginia had elected him to the Continental Congress. The others on the committee were too busy with the revolution to work on the declaration, so Jefferson wrote it alone.
Major League Baseball is vowing to shorten the average length of its games. Officials have other ideas in mind in an effort to move things along. Last year's average was 2 hours and 54 minutes. Under the theory that most baseball games should not last longer than Ben-Hur, action is being taken.
The average time to complete a nine-inning game in the 1970s -- not including on-field delays -- was two hours and 30 minutes. That increased to an average of 2:57 in the 10-year span from 2000-09. Through Thursday, this year's league average was 2:51, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. In the playoffs, game times have been longer.