An almost-unstoppable enemy in Kid Icarus, which was an action platform video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, first released in 1987. The Eggplant Wizard (or, as we affectionately called him, the Eggplant Priest) could turn the protagonist’s (Pit’s) upper body into an eggplant by tossing eggplant projectiles at him. See this evil creature in action.
The official mascot of Japan’s NHK television station. Domo first appeared in stop-motion interstitial sketches in 1998 and later became well known outside of Japan through a Photoshopped image depicting Domos chasing a kitten. This Internet meme originated at Fark.com in 2002 and helped popularize “killing kittens” as a euphemism for masturbation.
A Dutch post-Impressionist painter whose vivid work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art. He is also famous for his mental illness. In 1888, he famously cut off part of his left ear after a confrontation with his friend Paul Gauguin. He died on this day in 1890, largely unknown, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Now his paintings sell for $100 million.
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (AKA “the Bambino” and “the Sultan of Swat”) was a Major League Baseball player from 1914-1935. He is one of the most famous sports heroes in American culture and is considered the greatest baseball player ever. He spent his career with the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox and set numerous MLB records.
The first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports (baseball and football). He won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and became a household name in 1989-90 through Nike’s “Bo Knows” advertising campaign. He was also the most unstoppable athlete in video game history (see “Tecmo Bo” in Tecmo Super Bowl for Nintendo).
A comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his television series and movies (including Pee-wee’s Big Adventure) during the 1980s. On this day in 1991 (it’s the 20th anniversary!), Reubens was arrested for public masturbation in an adult theater in Florida. Oh, the childhood memories.
Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, he worked as a typesetter and a master riverboat pilot on the Mississippi River before turning to journalism. He found his calling in the 1860s as an American humorist. He is most celebrated for his novels, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885).
A noted American aviation pioneer. Born on this day in 1897, she was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for becoming the first aviatrix to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She disappeared over the central Pacific Ocean on July 2, 1937 while attempting an around-the-world flight.
A fictional half-Vulcan character in the Star Trek media franchise. He served as the science officer/first officer and commanding officer of the USS Enterprise. He was first portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series.
A fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Captain Kirk was born and raised in Riverside, Iowa in the year 2233. He was the youngest individual to become a Starfleet captain and served as the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise. He was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series.
An American aviator and former NASA astronaut best known as the first person to set foot on the Moon. The first Moon walk occurred exactly 42 years ago today. Armstrong served as commander of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing mission, which fulfilled U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s goal of reaching the Moon before the Soviet Union by the end of the 1960s.
A Hong Kong American actor, martial arts instructor and founder of the Jeet Kune Do movement. He is widely considered the most influential martial artist, and a cultural icon. While doing work for the movie Enter the Dragon, he suffered a cerebral edema. Two months later, on this day in 1973, he died at age 32 from a mysterious allergic reaction to medication.
In addition to being a derogatory term traditionally associated with African Americans, Rastus is also the name of the Cream of Wheat cereal mascot. The character first appeared in 1893 and is reportedly based on a photograph of Chicago chef Frank L. White. Over 100 years later, his face still appears on the cereal box.
The first President of South Africa to be elected in a fully representative, multi-racial democratic election. Before his presidency, he was an anti-apartheid activist who served 27 years in prison and peacefully negotiated the termination of legal racial segregation in South Africa. He is 93 years old today (born in 1918) and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
P.S. “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
Uncle Ben’s rice was first marketed in 1943 and was the top-selling rice in the U.S. from 1950 until the 1990s. In March 2007, after 61 years as a domestic servant/maitre d’hotel, the image of Uncle Ben was “promoted” to chairman by a new advertising campaign designed to distance the brand from its iconography depicting a servant in the Aunt Jemima tradition.
Aunt Jemima was a prominent character in minstrel shows in the late 19th century who was commercially appropriated to market pancake mix in late 1889. She was meant to embody the idealized domesticity of old Southern hospitality. In 1926, the Quaker Oats Company bought the brand and later attempted to minimize its expression of the “mammy” archetype.
The Noid was a villainous advertising character for Domino’s Pizza created in 1986 by Group 243 advertising agency. This red-suited character attempted to ruin Domino’s pizza but was constantly thwarted. Commercials that featured the character used the slogan “Avoid the Noid.” Domino’s was founded in 1960 and is the second-largest pizza chain in the U.S.
Little Caesars pizza chain was founded in 1959 with Little Caesar, a diminutive toga-clad Roman wearing sandals and a laurel wreath, as its corporate mascot. It is the fourth-largest pizza chain (after Pizza Hut, Domino’s and Papa John’s). The franchise name is an allusion to Julius Caesar, former ruler of the Roman Empire.
“Colonel” Sanders was an iconic American entrepreneur who first served his fried chicken at a gas station in 1930. In 1952, he founded the Kentucky Fried Chicken company, now re-branded as KFC. Despite his death in 1980, Sanders remains a key symbol of the company in its advertising and branding. My dad always referred to him as “Colonel Chicken.”
The Big Boy restaurant chain (including Bob’s Big Boy) started in 1936 and is best known for its trademark chubby boy in checkered overalls. The inspiration for Big Boy’s name, as well as the model for its mascot, was six-year-old Richard Woodruff. After Warner Bros. animation artist Ben Washam sketched the boy’s caricature, he became part of the company identity.
