Marked This Day

On this day in 1971, the UCLA Men’s Basketball Team coached by legend, John Wooden, beat UC Santa Barbara 74 - 61. Nothing too amazing about that accomplishment, as UCLA was a perennial powerhouse and was coming off a loss at Notre Dame. So beating UC Santa Barbara was not anything to shake your bon-bon about. Their next game was fairly impressive as they beat the 2nd USC squad by four points. The game after that they squeaked out a win against Oregon by a point. Then they beat Oregon State twice and Oregon again. Then Washington State and Washington and Cal and Stanford. That’s ten in a row. Impressive, but still nothing to get all la vida loca over. Except that wasn’t the end. The UCLA Bruins had 8 10 game winning streaks in a row, and then another 8 games for good measure. 88 games without a loss. That’s unbelievable. Like Ricky Martin winning the role of Tupac Shakur in a biopic unbelievable. They eventually lost, to Notre Dame again, in 1974 to end the most incredible streak until...

NSFW On this day in 1920, Walt Disney applied for a job with Kansas City Slide Company, a job he took to draw cartoons and animation for 40 dollars a week. Even the mighty Walt Disney had to start small. The job proved a vital introduction into animation and film production that would later help Disney become Disney . It’s hard to remember that very rarely do things just poof, happen overnight. The lottery perhaps. But then how many stories have you heard about people completely ruining their lives after winning the lotto? Again, I would love the chance to disprove this theory, but for the most part, success in anything comes slowly and with a lot of hard work. It’s easier now than ever before to forget that. Everything is so instantaneous. We get frustrated if it takes longer than 2 seconds for a website to load. But no matter how quickly we can find out vital information like knowing Miley Cyrus twerked a giant teddy bear or Justin Bieber peed in a fast food mop bucket or how quickly...

On this day, also in 1984, a then-record 295,000 dominoes were toppled in Furth, West Germany. The present record is over 4 million dominoes, but I doubt those dominoes could claim the cultural significance that could be attributed to the West German dominoes. Do you think it a coincidence that the Berlin Wall fell a mere five years after those 295,000 dominoes showed that things could be toppled in Germany? You probably also think it a mere coincidence that Clark Kent and Superman are never seen standing next to each other. Or that the Cold War started to thaw after Rocky IV came out. Maybe you think that the Curse of the Bambino was merely a string of really bad luck. Perhaps you think that OJ Simpson simply took the Bronco for a joyride at a most inopportune time. Or that Arnold Schwarzenegger made it in Hollywood because of his mastery of the English language. Or maybe, just maybe, one thing, seemingly unrelated, can actually cause a different thing. Maybe it’s chance. Maybe it’s...

On this day in 1984, The King of Pop, Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial. Jackson was probably the biggest star in the world at the time, but that didn’t make his hair fireproof. The burns may have been more severe than people thought too, as it is thought that MJ got addicted to pain meds at this time, and it was revealed after his death that he wore a wig because much of his scalp was burned and his hair would not grow. It’s crazy how life can turn in the blink of an eye like. I’m not saying that the burning hair incident is solely responsible for making Michael into the very strange star he turned into, but it very well may have started him on the path to messing with his appearance. You ever see that picture Ebony Magazine produced in the 80’s of what MJ would look like in his 50’s? They were way off, as you may imagine. You just never know when a pyro tech is gonna push the button a little too soon, and poof goes your hair. So to speak. Doesn’t ...

On this day in 1960, Danny Heater from West Virginia set the record for the most points ever scored in a basketball game. 135. That record held until 2012 when Jack Taylor, a Division III player scored 138. Heater’s record still holds for high school though, and likely will for a long time, because 135 points in one game (before three pointers mind you) is absurd. Like the body count in Cobra absurd. Or Stallone's matchstick in his mouth for an hour and a half absurd. Or Brigitte Nielsen absurd. That whole movie is absurd. Of course it was also absurd that Heater was 53 of 70 from the field, 29 of 41 from the stripe, grabbed 32 rebounds, and had 7 assists. Burnsville won 173 - 43, meaning some selfish players scored points instead of giving the ball to Heater. Jerks. Some people have to have all the glory. Like Cobra. And surely Heater got recognition for his feat, which like Cobra is absurd, but you can’t tell me you’re not just slightly disappointed that he didn’t break a pitchi...

This night in 1990 was the 17th American Music Awards. Winners included such legendary acts as Bobby Brown, New Kids on the Block, Paula Abdul, Guns N’ Roses, and MC Hammer. Now that is a cornucopia of talent. Who would have thought that NKOTB would be the one group still “Hangin’ Tough.” Ahahahahah. Of course the real reason this particular show was of note, beside the incredible musical talent and fashion choices each of those artists displayed, was the artist that won favorite pop/rock new artist. A little group named Milli Vanilli. A German duo that blazed through the airwaves with amazing dreadlocked hair, spandexed tights, dance moves, and vocal ability. Except that vocal ability wasn’t actually theirs. That ability belonged to Brad Howell, John Davis, Jodie Rocco, Linda Rocco, and Charles Shaw. But for whatever reason Rob and Fab were held up as the singers of the group, even though they weren’t the ones singing, and they barely spoke English. And people ate it up. Because “Girl...

On this day in 1994, Lorena Bobbitt was found not guilty by reason of insanity for slicing off John Wayne’s penis and throwing it in some underbrush on the side of the road. I was only 11 at the time so the intricacies of the case (John Wayne’s abuse) were lost on me. I only knew that some guy had his kibble cut from his bits. And before I forget can we talk about how naming your kid after the Duke has been forever ruined? First, there was John Wayne Gacy. Serial killer with same name as one of the biggest movie stars of all time--pretty sure the name John Wayne took a hit. But the Duke was the Duke. Rooster Freaking Cogburn. People still named their kids after him. But then you get John Wayne Bobbitt, an abusive husband who had his member dismembered, thrown in a bush, and then reattached in a 9hr surgery. You name your kid ‘John Wayne’ now, you’re a nutball. Which is basically what they said Lorena temporarily was when she sliced JW’s lug from his nuts. I’m not going to badmouth Lore...