Michael Gerard Tyson, (Mike Tyson) was born on this day, June 30th, 1966. He is a former American World Heavyweight boxing Champion. Tyson, the youngest man to have won a heavyweight title belt, was rated in 1999 by Ring magazine as the fourteenth greatest heavyweight of all time.

At the height of his fame and career in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, Tyson was one of the most recognized sports personalities in the world. Apart from his many sporting accomplishments, his numerous outrageous and controversial behavior both in the boxing ring and in his private life has kept him constantly in the public eye.







Produced in 1988, before Tyson turned himself into a joke, it highlights Tyson during the brief period the great sporstman he was shone through.




10 years and 2 days ago today, during a boxing match between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield on June 28, 1997, Mike Tyson bit off a portion of Holyfield's ear. (twice)

The fight was billed as "Holyfield-Tyson II, The Sound And The Fury". The fight began with Holyfield dominating the smaller Tyson but doing no real damage. Tyson seemed slow in the first two rounds and lost both.

In addition, Holyfield was headbutting Tyson above his right eye, and by the beginning of the third round had swelled the eye to grotesque proportions. Tyson complained to Mills Lane about the butting (which was also a problem in their first fight, which Holyfield won by TKO in the 11th round), but Lane ruled the butts unintentional.

At one point in the third round, Tyson and Holyfield were clenched, with Tyson holding Holyfield's arms at his sides. Then, out of nowhere, Tyson sought out Holyfield's right ear and bit it hard, causing Holyfield to yelp in pain and jump away. Tyson had actually bit part of the ear off, and spat it across the ring shortly thereafter.

Referee Mills Lane called time and examined Holyfield. Meanwhile, Tyson went to his corner and waited. After seeing the damage Tyson had caused, he went to ringside and told Nevada state athletic commissioner Bruce Ratner that he was going to disqualify Tyson immediately. However, Lane stopped himself and checked with ringside doctor Flip Homansky, who assured him that Holyfield could continue the fight. With that bit of information, Lane deducted two points from Tyson for the bite, and ordered the fight to continue.

After a few more seconds, Tyson sought out Holyfield's left ear and bit it, though not with as much force as the other ear. Lane immediately disqualified Tyson, who went ballistic in the ring, fighting off anyone who tried to control him. He even went as far as to shove Holyfield from behind, touching off a melee that the police had to be called in to control.

As a result of this and other behavior, Tyson was banned from boxing for one year and fined $3 million for biting Evander Holyfield on both ears. It also shocked the 16,000 people at ringside and the millions watching. Tyson's excuse was that Holyfield was headbutting and Tyson was retaliating. One of Tyson's former trainers, Teddy Atlas had actually predicted before the fight that Tyson would deliberately get himself disqualified.

Labels: boxing, celebrity, Mike Tyson, sport, usa

On 30th June 2002 Brazil won it's fifth FIFA World Cup title, defeating Germany 1-Nil in the final.

Interestingly, this was the two country's first ever meeting in a World Cup match.

Labels: Brazil, germany, japan, soccer, south korea, world cup

Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933—29 June 1967) was an American actress and Playboy centerfold.

She was killed in a car accident on this day, 29th of June, 1967.

One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s, like Marilyn Monroe, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, dramatic hourglass figure, and cleavage-revealing costumes. She was a recipient of a Golden Globe Award and a Theatre World Award for two early screen and stage performances.

Labels: car accident, celebrity, Jayne Mansfield, Sam Brody

The Stonewall Inn was the site of the famous Stonewall riots of 28th June 1969, which have come to symbolize the beginning of the gay liberation movement in the United States. It is located at 53 Christopher Street, between West 4th St. and Waverly Place, in Greenwich Village, New York City. Stonewall is regarded as the single most important event that led to the modern movement for gay and lesbian civil rights.






The riot took place in the night at about 1:20 of June 28, 1969, hours after Judy Garland's funeral. Some believe those who fought back against police at Stonewall were saddened over Garland's death. (She died in London on June 22, 1969). She had been a gay icon, particularly in the latter half of her career in the 1950s and 1960s. Whether Garland's funeral played a part in the riots is cause for question, but it has become part of gay history and lore.



NOTE: This is a live recording at Carnegie Hall in 1961. If you listen closely, Judy Garland forgot the lyrics about 57 seconds into the video, and, in a funny ad-lib, sang "with...and I forgot the god-darn words...(garbled)."

Labels: gay pride, greenwich village, human rights, judy garland, new york, stonewall

On 27th June 2005 BTK serial killer Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders in the Wichita, Kansas area. He was later sentenced to serve 10 consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole for 175 years.

Rader was particularly known for sending taunting letters to police and newspapers over the 30 years he remained at large. Ironically (or perhaps inevitably) one of these messages was traced to a personal computer at his Lutheran church resulting in his capture on February 5th 2005.





This British documentary was produced just months before the arrest of BTK and gives a fascinating perspective on exactly what was known of this criminal prior to his arrest and provides an interesting contrast to the A&E documentary below, which was produced after the BTK trial and sentencing.





The BTK killer's last known communication with the media and police was a padded envelope which arrived at FOX affiliate KSAS-TV in Wichita on February 16 2005. A purple, 1.44-MB Memorex floppy disk was enclosed in the package. Police found metadata embedded in a Microsoft Word document on the disk that pointed to Christ Lutheran Church, and the document was marked as last modified by "Dennis". A search of the church website turned up Dennis Rader as president of the congregation council. Police immediately began surveillance of Rader.

This A&E documentary was produced post sentencing...





On August 18th 2005, Rader faced sentencing. The victims' families made statements, followed by Rader, who apologized for the crimes. He was sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms, which requires a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole. Because Kansas had no death penalty at the time the murders were committed, this was the maximum sentence allowed.




At his sentencing hearing on August 18, 2005, BTK killer Dennis Rader gave a rambling statement for 25 minutes addressing the court.



He was sentenced to serve 10 consecutive life sentences (one life sentence per victim), without possibility of parole for 175 years. This includes nine life sentences each without the possibility for parole for 15 years, and one life sentence without the possibility for parole for 40 years.

Labels: BTK, crime, Dennis Rader, Kansas, serial killer, usa, Wichita

On June 26, 1963, President Kennedy visited West Berlin, where he made his famous declaration: "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner).

Labels: cold war, famous speeches, john f kennedy, presidents

The states of North Korea and South Korea had recently been created out of the post-World War II Soviet and American occupation zones in Korea when on 25th June 1950, the NKPA (North Korean Peoples Army) launched a massive surprise attack on its neighbor to the South.

For the next three years, the United Nations (USA) and the Communists (USSR) would wage a bloody and brutal war over the peninsula which finally ended in ceasefire on 27th July 1953.

In South Korea, the war is often called 6/25, from the date of the start of the conflict.






The Korean War is often described as 'The Forgotten War'. It is estimated that four million people died in it.

17,000 Australians served in Korea. 339 were killed and 1,215 wounded. This is a tribute to those men.




But not everyone agrees on the official version of the war's outcome... particularly not in places North of the 38th parallel. :p

On June 25th 1950 the criminal US imperialists invaded the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in a mad bid to stifle the progressive force of revolutionary socialist country-building along man-centered mass-based Juche lines of the Korean people to enslave them and perpetrate the entire genocide as a stepping-stone towards their mad dream of conquering the world to subject it to the darkness of capitalist oppression.

However the Korean people solidly united behind the Great Leader Eternal President Marshal Kim Il Sung defeated the aggressors and honorably defended the young republic. The Fatherland Liberation War ended on July 27 1953 with the surrender of the US imperialists and the total victory of the Korean people.

July 27th is since then a day of celebrating the courage and mettle of the Korean People's Army and the greatness of the Great Leader Eternal President Kim Il Sung. By: Songun





A BBC documentary alleging American atrocities against civilians during the Korean War, contradicting the findings of a Pentagon report. Eyewitness accounts recall one of the largest massacres of civilians in American military history at No Gun Ri in South Korea in July 1950, and recently declassified documents reveal how US commanders issued orders to open fire on non-combatants.

Labels: korean war, north korea, south korea, united nations

Actor Jackie Gleason died on 24th June 1987. Raised by a single mother who worked at a subway token booth in New York, Gleason dropped out of high school and began performing on the vaudeville circuit in his teens. Signed to a movie contract by the time he was 24 years old, Gleason played character roles in a handful of movies in 1941 and 1942, but found much more success in television. He became one of TV's most popular stars in a number of shows, including The Jackie Gleason Show, which ran throughout most of the 1950s and '60s. On the show, he created the character of Ralph Kramden, a bus driver who became the beloved star of the spin-off television show The Honeymooners.


Jackie Gleason's start in television as told by head writer, Harry Crane; courtesy of ShowTime, 1988.







This was the opening for a Richard Nixon fundraising telethon, taken from the National Archives.

Labels: Family Guy, honeymooners, Jackie Gleeson, Nixon