On this day in 1965, Mick Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana. The professional wrestler is best remembered for his characters of Mankind, Dude Love and Cactus Jack and for his amazing ability to sustain punishment. However, I feel his greatest contribution to the sport will be his 1999 book, Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, arguably one of the best autobiographies ever written.
On this day in 1944, American soldiers successfully stormed the beach at fucking Normandy. I can’t imagine ever doing anything in life that will require more courage than what these men did on that day.
On this day in 1956, Elvis Presley performed “Hound Dog” for a nationwide audience for the first time on The Milton Berle Show. Take a look.
On this day in 1926, Robert Earle Hughes was born in Fish Hook, Illinois. Thanks to a rare gland disorder, Hughes would became the heaviest man who ever lived. When he died of measles that turned into uremia in 1958, he weighed between 1,041 and 1,069 pounds. If you read the “Guiness Book of World Records” when you were a kid, you probably remember seeing his picture.
On this day in 2009, actor David Carradine died in Bangkok, Thailand, yesterday. While he will be best remembered for his role as Kwai Chang Caine on the television series, “Kung Fu”, Carradine will also be remembered for his cool screen presence. It was last seen in peak form when he played the title character in “Kill Bill Vol. 1 and 2″. However, for me it was best exemplified in his portrayal of Cole Younger, alongside his brothers Keith and Robert, in “The Long Riders”, the best retelling of the Jesse James’ Gang ever put on film.
Courtesy: USA Today
On this day in 2004, Ken Jennings first appearance on Jeopardy aired. Jennings would go on to win that contest en route to a 74-game Jeopardy win streak. During that run, Jennings amassed $2.52 million. His streak and earnings are both game show records.
Jennings run came to an end on the November 30, 2004 broadcast when he answered the Final Jeopardy clue of ”Most of this firm’s 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year,” with “What is FedEx?” His opponent, Nancy Zerg, had the correct answer of “What is H&R Block?”
On this day in 1796, Congress approved Tennessee’s admittance into the United States as the 16th state.
On this day in 1971, Americans officially began celebrating Memorial Day on the last Monday in May. Prior to 1971, Memorial Day was celebrated on May 30 but the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the holiday to its current date, establishing a three-day weekend for all federal employees and millions of other Americans too.
Courtesy: www.guitaronthedge.co.uk
On this day in 1964, Tom Morello was born in 1964. The guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and The Nightwatchman (his solo side project), emerged as a guitar virtuoso with Rage’s self-titled debut album and is as well-known for his controversial political views as he is for his playing. When I saw Rage at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium in 1999, I had to walk through a Fraternal Order of Police protest formed because of the band’s advocacy for the release of Leonard Peltier, an activist with the American Indian Movement who was convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shoot-out at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Below is the video to “Freedom”, which explains the band’s views on that particular case.
Courtesy: Associated Press
On this day in 1973, Thomas J. ”Tom” Bradley became the first African-American to be elected Mayor of Los Angeles. After defeating incumbent Sam Yorty and State Assembly Speaker Jesse Unruh in the Democratic primary, Bradley carried 54 percent of the vote in the general election and went on to serve an unprecedented five terms as Mayor.
