A Brief History On February 10, 1933, Primo Carnera, a heavyweight boxer called “The Monster” by Time magazine, dealt Ernie Schaaf fatal blows during a boxing match in New York City. The hapless Schaaf died 4 days after the match. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Carnera as the heaviest heavyweight boxing champion of his day (a record held until 2005) and at 6’7″ (an exaggeration by an inch and a half), also listed as the tallest (again until 2005 when Nikolay Valuev won a title). Also known as the “Ambling Alp,” Carnera was an Italian fighter who was dogged his…
Author: Major Dan
A Brief History February 9, 1959 opened a new and scary chapter in the atomic age when the U.S.S.R. fielded the first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) armed with a nuclear warhead, the R-7 Semyorka. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find the United States (and allies) and the U.S.S.R. (and its allies) engaged in a scary Cold War from the end of World War II until 1991 when the U.S.S.R. finally disintegrated. The reason for the scariness can be summed up in one word: Nukes! The prospect of total nuclear war was sobering, since mutual nuclear destruction could actually have ended…
A Brief History On February 8, 1993, General Motors Corporation announced a lawsuit against NBC’s Dateline “news” show for falsely portraying Chevrolet pickup trucks as fire hazards! Digging Deepr Digging deeper, we find the announcement accompanied by a 2+ hour rebuttal to the November 1992 show where Dateline showed Chevrolet trucks exploding from side impacts. It turns out, however, that Dateline could not get the trucks to burst into flame by broadsiding them with another vehicle, so they used explosives to make their “news” happen! The show generated much disgust and hatred toward General Motors and encouraged lawsuits against them, although…
A Brief History On February 7, 1882, John L. Sullivan became the last of the bare-knuckle boxing champions with an eighth-round knockout of Paddy Ryan. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Sullivan, known as “The Boston Strong Boy,” fighting his way across America challenging any man any time any where! His victory in Mississippi over Paddy Ryan, the man recognized as the heavyweight boxing champion of America, if not the world, made Sullivan the last of the bare-knuckle champs and the first of the gloved boxing champs. Sullivan fought all comers, including Europeans, giving him legitimate claim as “world champion.” Fighting…
A Brief History On February 6, 1988, Michael Jordan soared into basketball history with his unique slam dunk, taking off from the free throw line! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find this stunning feat earning him the moniker “Air Jordan” and the genesis of the Jumpman logo. Although his incredible jumping ability commanded the attention of basketball fans, Jordan was much more than just a flashy slam dunk artist. A fine ball handler and one of the best defensive players of all time, “MJ,” as he was frequently called, was a complete player with no deficiencies in his game and…