Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/b7uzv9/Episode_30abul2.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss the Dick Shikat double-cross
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
Rarely does one fundamentally alter their profession but Stanislaus Zbyszko did just that on April
Tom Hyer won the American Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship in 1841. Like most prizefighting champions
On Wednesday, November 26, 1902, 110 couples arrived at the St. Louis Marriage License Bureau to be officially married on Thanksgiving. The 110 couples broke the previous record set in 1901. This record would also only stand for one year until 1903. Beginning at 9 a.m. and continuing until 5 p.m., Recorder Hahn issued license after license as three ministers
From 1931 to 1954, Lum and Abner occupied a spot among the most popular shows during the Old Time Radio era. Chester Lauck and Norris Goff attended the University of Arkansas together. Lauck and Goff later developed their show Lum and Abner based on life in Arkansas. The show struck a cord with many listeners. My wife’s grandmother once told
I recently watched the Eddie Bravo Invitational 13: The Lightweights, where über talented Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Gary Tonan defended his title. I enjoy the EBIs more than most of the other non-UFC events on UFC Fight Pass, the Ultimate Fighting Championship subscription streaming service. Tonan is famous for his leg locks but I noticed most of the competitors were
In early March 1873, bare knuckle prizefighter Ned “The Irish Giant” O’Baldwin was preparing for a potential match with Jem Mace, who claimed the World Bare Knuckle Prizefighting Championship. However, before O’Baldwin could face Mace, he served as a second for a friend and fellow prizefighter named Hicken. Professional fighting in the 19th Century enjoyed a poor reputation outside of
John Berg was a good enough wrestler to beat Martin “Farmer” Burns twice but was mostly thought of as a good lighter wrestler. Berg held the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in the late 1910s and competed for the Middleweight Title, which was contested at 158 pounds. Berg missed weight by four pounds but won the match. Berg wrestled in
The Vampire Bat (1933) is a genre bending film (affiliate link) starring Lionel Atwill. Ostensibly, it is a horror film but is actually more of a mystery. It would fall into the “B” movie category, a short film meant to be the appetizer for the main film on a double bill. Majestic Pictures produced the film, which was directed by
After Theodore Roosevelt won reelection in his own right during November 1904, TR impetuously announced he would not run for another term. His inner circle, particularly his wife Edith, would think the decision a mistake. However, once Theodore Roosevelt made a pronouncement, he intended to keep his word. Roosevelt picked his Secretary of War and former Governor of the Phillipines
On January 10, 1927, Universum Film (UFA) released Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) (affiliate link). The German film company produced a science fiction class, which still holds up today. On the Internet Movie Database website (IMDB), users rate it 8.3 out of 10 stars. It is #104 on the Top 250. In a theme society has wrestled with since the beginning
When it comes to machine politics and organized crime, Kansas City has always outshone St. Louis. Kansas City’s Pendergast political machine helped land Harry S. Truman in the White House. Kansas City was also home to several high-profile gangland shootings. St. Louis’ last organized crime leader was arrested for playing cards. We did have a Democratic party political machine around
21-year old Charles Merrell had already served a term in the Missouri Penitentiary for stealing a car in Scotland County, when he got the idea to hold up the Morris Packing Company on Saturday, April 22, 1922. Merrell could not pull the job by himself, so he recruited another ex-convict, 33-year-old Hugh Pinkley. Merrell was employed as a mechanic at