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.
