Unruly History in the News #15
Superb Owl Edition
Hey everyone,
It’s Super Bowl Sunday, a holiday for football fans and people raised in the South. (I am only one of those things.) I do not care about the game—I don’t know who is playing, don’t ask—but I do care about commercials and snacks. In honor of that, I thought it would be fun to do a football-themed history link round-up today!
Before we dive into that, did you check out what was posted here this week?
Ask Me Anything, Really
The Third and Final Installment in the Unbelievable Tale of Catherine de Medici
Bonus Episode: What Is Up With Italian Poisoners?
This week, in history (and football) acting unruly….
Fun fact: The Super Bowl is basically the product of American businessmen being annoyed that the NFL refused to expand beyond the teams they had in 1960. They created the American Football League in protest, and the rivalry between the leagues spawned the famous game.
What do you know about Sing Sing’s famous football team of incarcerated men?
“A program for a Black Sheep football game, comprised of prisoners at Sing Sing Prison. Courtesy Lewis Lawes Papers, Lloyd Sealy Library, John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY” Source. Remembering Walter Camp, who helped transform American football from its soccer/rugby hybrid to the sport we know today.
And, as a pairing, a timeline of concussion science and NFL denial.
The US has a long (and strange) tradition of rioting when a team wins.
Of course, it’s not just the US—here are history’s 10 craziest riots related to a sporting event. The list goes back to 532 CE.
Seriously, why do people riot to celebrate? Here’s the science behind it.
A 2000-year-old butter ‘football’ was found in a bog in Ireland. Okay, I know it’s not technically football, but I couldn’t resist.
While building Oregon State University’s football stadium, the construction team found mammoth bones.
Of the many places investigators have searched for labor leader Jimmy Hoffa’s body, the idea that he might be buried at Giants Stadium was a favorite American legend. The demolition of Giants Stadium in 2010 unfortunately disproved it.
But construction workers did find a Red Sox jersey in the concrete of Yankee stadium. It was apparently placed there by die-hard Red Sox fan and Yankee stadium construction worker, Gino Castignoli. Okay, I know, I know, this is baseball. But it’s too good not to share.
