Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
The 1900 St. Louis Streetcar Strike was a shooting war between the working class and the upper class. It started as a job action by streetcar workers of the newly consolidated streetcar lines. However, it quickly divided the city with the working class supporting the strike while the upper and professional classes defied the strike. The result was a deadly
When I was growing up, I often heard Grandma Ellis, Alvina M. Mosblech Ellis, talk about her two lost sisters. She lost her oldest sister Margaret and her little sister Loretta before her 40th birthday. Margaret B. Mosblech was the first of fourteen children born to Eduard and Magdalena Mosblech. Great Aunt Margaret was born on June 10, 1908. As
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released After The Thin Man (1936), the sequel to the popular Thin Man (1934), on Christmas Day 1936. The film is one of 14 films William Powell and Myrna Loy made together. Powell and Loy play Dashiell Hammet’s characters Nick and Nora Charles respectively. Nick Charles formerly worked as a private detective before marrying the wealthy heiress Nora.
Jack Johnson has always been a tough subject for me. I admire his courage and strength in confronting hatred and bigotry in a time when doing so put his life in danger. He refused to conform and accept a position of inferiority to white Americans. Yet, like many human beings he was a flawed man. He beat his first wife
In this post, which was previously a podcast, we will discuss the epic sixty-one round draw between James J. Corbett and Peter Jackson in 1891. This bout prepared Corbett for his successful challenge of John L. Sullivan in 1892. On March 21, 1891, the most serious contender for the inactive John L. Sullivan’s world championship broke the color line to
Sam McVey, who was considered the Idol of Paris, during his boxing career from 1902 to 1921, is largely forgotten today. One of the greatest black heavyweights of his time, he was frozen out of fighting for the world title even after Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns in 1908. McVey lost to Jack Johnson three times early in his career
On a cold January night in 1904, when the city of St. Louis was preparing for the World’s Fair which would make it famous, overzealous co-workers killed seven boys and a man. It was 5:45 p.m. on January 13th at the old Brown Shoe Company factory at the corner of Washington Avenue and North Eleventh Street. Time for the men to
How often have you heard it best to use short copy or long copy for Internet marketing. Copy editors will advocate short copy, while other copy writers advocate long copy. One person who believed in the use of long copy for selling his services was William Muldoon. Muldoon was the Greco-Roman World Wrestling Champion until he retired to become a
In the sixth of eight Mr. Moto films released between 1937 and 1939, Interpol police officer Kentaro Moto pursues a group of international saboteurs. Twentieth Century – Fox Film Corporation released Mr. Moto’s Last Warning (1939) (affiliate link) on January 20, 1939. Peter Lorre returns as the cerebral but deadly Mr. Moto. Ricardo Cortez plays Fabian the Great, a ventriloquist,
George Baptiste spent about twenty years serving as St. Louis’ resident all-around athlete before taking over the company, Baptiste Tent and Awning, founded by his father Alexander Baptiste. Besides plying his trade as an occasional but accomplished professional wrestler, Baptise was a powerful swimmer. On August 11, 1900, Baptiste used his swimming skills to save another St. Louisan from drowning.