The very first Super Bowl was on January 15, 1967.
The most expensive television commercial air time for the entire year is during the Super Bowl because of the millions of people watching it.
On February 7, 2010, Super Bowl XLIV became the most watched television program in all of American history.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service have designated the Super Bowl as a National Special Security Event.
In 2011, the Pittsburgh Steelers will tie the Dallas Cowboys as the team with the most Super Bowl appearances, each team having been to the Super Bowl a total of eight times.
As of 2010, the Pittsburgh Steelers is the team with the most Super Bowl wins of all NFL teams. That total is six, though it might jump up to seven if the Steelers win Super Bowl XLV in 2011.
Four NFL teams have never made an appearance in the Super Bowl: the Detroit Lions, the Houston Texans, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Cleveland Browns.
The winning Super Bowl team earns the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for famed coach Vince Lombardi.
The city to host the most Super Bowls is Miami, where ten Super Bowl games have been played. New Orleans is a close second with nine games played there.
The stadium that has hosted the most Super Bowls is the Louisiana Superdome, where seven Super Bowls have been played.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were originally called the Pittsburgh Pirates in the team's first season.
When was that first season? Way back in 1933.
The name "Steelers" would not be applied to the team until 1940.
In 1943, the Steelers were merged for one year with the Philadelphia Eagles. Officially the name of this combined team was "Eagles," but fans often referred to it as the "Steagles." Why the merger? Because both teams had lost numerous players to military service for World War II, and each franchise alone did not have enough players to field a full team.
In 1944, the Steelers merged for one year with the Chicago Cardinals, and the team was called "Card-Pitt." The Steelers would go it alone and fully reclaim the name "Steelers in 1945.
Not counting the upcoming 2010 Super Bowl appearance, the Pittsburgh Steelers have gone to the Super Bowl a total of seven times. And they won six times. The team has had more wins at the Super Bowl than any other NFL team.
Only one team, the Dallas Cowboys, has been to the Super Bowl more than the Steelers. The Cowboys have been eight times, and the Steelers will tie that number in a few days at Super Bowl XLV.
The Steelers is the only team in NFL history to regularly place its logo on only one side of its players' helmets.
The Steelers were one of three original NFL teams, along with the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts, to join the new American Football Conference in 1970.
In 2007, the Steelers got their first official mascot, Steely McBeam. More than 700,000 fans of the team made suggestions for the mascot's name before a winner was picked.
Career batting average, .367: The infamous Ty Cobb has held this record since his retirement from the major leagues in 1928. Every now and then a modern player gets close to.400 for a season, but no one is likely to match Cobb's lifetime achievement any time soon.
Most home runs for a season, 73: The days of the steroids might be over. What with the scrutiny players are under nowadays for steroid use, it's not likely this 2001 record by Barry Bonds will be reached again or broken. But who knows? Their might be some power slugger out there waiting in the minors.
Most wins for a pitcher in a season, 60: Set by Charles Radbourn in 1884, this record is nearly impossible to ever be beaten unless the rules of baseball should change drastically. Since the live-ball era of baseball began in the 1920s, it's difficult for a pitcher to get even more than 30 wins a season.
Most strikeouts by a pitcher in a game, 21: Tom Cheney set this one back 1962 during a 16-inning game. It's not impossible this record could be matched or beaten someday, but most starting pitchers just aren't kept in the game that long, especially one that would run to 16 or more innings. Admittedly Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Kerry Wood have come close, each with 20 Ks.
Career most hits, 4,256: Pete Rose holds this one since his retirement from baseball in 1989. Pete played baseball for 26 years, and few players last that long in the game. So, this is another we're probably going to have for a long while.
Most stolen bases in a season, 138: This is another one of those old records that will likely stay around forever because the rules and play of the game have changed so much since it was set. Hugh Nicol has the honor of holding this record since 1887.
Lowest career ERA for a pitcher, 1.82: Ed Walsh has held this record since like forever. Unfortunately, the record is not considered official because the American League did not recognize ERA as an official statistic until 1913, and Walsh's career was winding down by then.
2 grand slams in an inning: This is a fairly recent record, set in 1999 by Fernando Tatis. But the likelihood of this happening again has to be astronomical. The chances of one hitter getting two grand slams in a single inning? It's got to be 5 trillion to one.
Highest batting average for a season, .440: Hugh Duffy holds this one since the 1894 season. Again, with the game being so different now than it was back then, it's not likely this record will be erased soon. Still, there are plenty of players who keep trying.
Most career no-hitters, 7: Many consider Nolan Ryan to be the greatest pro baseball pitcher of all time, and it's not surprising considering he holds a slew of records, including this one. He also has the most career strikeouts at 5,714.
If you've ever bitten into a Nathan's Famous hot dog, whether from the grocery store or one of the Nathan's Famous restaurants, you have probably enjoyed it. But did you know there's more to Nathan's Famous than just good hot dogs? There's history than goes back nearly a century.
Nathan Handwerker, a Polish immigrant to the United States, started the first Nathan's Famous hot dog stand in Coney Island, New York, in 1916 with the help of his wife, Ida.
That original hot dog stand is still open to this very day.
Originally, Nathan's Famous hot dogs only cost a nickel. Before going into business for himself, Handewerker had worked for another hot dog vendor who had sold hot dogs for a dime apiece.
In 1939, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt served Nathan's Famous hot dogs to the visiting King George VI and the Queen consort Elizabeth of England.
Nathan's Famous sells hot dogs in more than 20,00 restaurants and stores combined.
The Handewerker family has not been directly tied to the company since 1993 when the founders grandson, Bill Handwerker, left the company.
A Nathan's Famous stand was destroyed on September 11, 2001, during the collapse of Two World Trade Center.
An episode of the Seinfeld television show was about a trip to the original Nathan's Famous stand.
Barbara Streisand once had this company's hot dogs shipped to London for a party.
The late actor Walter Mathau had Nathan's Famous hot dogs served at his funeral.
War at sea. Two combatants. One against the other. Mystery. Subterfuge. Explosions. What could be better? Oh yeah, add in destroyers and submarines and aircraft carriers. This game of hide-and-seek with ships on a peg board is a long-time favorite.
Candy Land
This might seem to be a game for the kids, but its really for all ages. It’s basically a racing game around the board to see who can get to the end first. Cards drawn can send a player forward and back. Lots of color to this game.
Chutes and Ladders
Another one for the kids. Believe it or not, this game of climbing up and sliding down is based up an ancient game of morals from India. And the morals are still there. If you do something good, you advance by climbing up a ladder. Do something bad and you slide down.
Clue
Okay, an adult game. Why? Because it involves murder. Murder most foul. The drift of the game is to find out who did the killing, where they did it and what weapon they used. It can be a laugh riot trying to figure all this out.
LIFE
Much like real life, in this game you take your chances and win big or fall low. Money and getting to the end are the big rewards. That, too, sounds kind of like real life. In another “believe it or not moment,” this game was originally created all the way back in 1960.
Monopoly
This is possibly the most iconic of board games. You move around the board while buying property and hoping you don’t land on someone else’s property and have to pay them rent. With so many different house rules, sometimes Monopoly games can seem to go on forever. In the official rules, the winner is the player who has bankrupted everyone else; in other words, it’s the player who has all the properties. But this can take hours. Probably the best way to shorten the game is to set a time limit, then the winner is decided by who has a combination of the most money and property values.
Mouse Trap
You move your mouse around the board and hope it doesn’t get caught in the trap. It sounds like a game for little kids, but what with all the fancy pieces of the actual trap, it looks like something that could draw the interest of many adults, especially guys who like those Sharper Images catalogs.
Risk
Another war game, but this time the goal is to take over the whole world. Yes, you too can be a conqueror. This is another of those games that seemed to last forever and there was no end in sight. It seemed like no one could ever win. Even if you were down big time, a few lucky dice rolls and you could be back on top.
Scrabble
A lot of adults love this game, but the kids can enjoy it, too. Being able to spell helps big time, as does have imagination with letters and words. You score
Stratego
Yet another war game. This time, generals face off with their armies fronting one another. The way to win is by capturing your enemy’s flag or by making it so he or she can’t make any more moves. A fairly simple game of tactics, it can also be a lot of fun.
Little is known of Billy the Kid's birth. In fact, historians often disagree about Billy's younger days. His birth date is often given as November 23, 1859.
Even his real name is not known for sure. The most common names given for Billy the Kid are William H. Bonney, William Henry McCarty Jr., and Henry Antrim.
The Kid was apparently arrested for the very first time in 1875. Some sources claim it occurred in April for stealing some cheese. Other sources say Billy was arrested in September of 1875 for being caught with some stolen laundry.
Some accounts record that Billy was first called "the Kid" in 1877.
The first man killed by Billy was a blacksmith named Frank Cahill. Supposedly Cahill and Billy got into an argument and Cahill picked Billy up and threw him to the ground. Billy then reportedly got up with a revolver drawn and gunned Cahill down.
Though history does record that Billy was an acquaintance of Pat Garrett, the man who eventually killed the Kid, there is no evidence the two were actually friends.
The exact number of men killed by Billy the Kid is not known. Some historians have suggested Billy only killed as many as five men, while others speculate Billy killed as many as 25.
Billy reportedly could speak Spanish as well as he could English.
Despite rumors to the opposite, Billy was right handed. A backward photograph of the Kid has often given the impression he was left handed, but he was not.
Billy was killed July 14, 1881, shot to death by then Sheriff Pat Garrett near Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
MAGPUL FMG
The FMG stands for folding machine gun. What this is is basically a semi-automatic handgun (in the images below the MAGPUL representative uses a Glock) that is encased in a rectangular case about the size of a large book. This collapsible case can fit in the back of your pocket, and a small flashlight can be attached to the top of the case so it appears as if you're just carrying a flashlight with one of those big battery packs attached. This FMG is a weapon for concealment that would draw little if any attention from anyone who happened to see the thing, that is until you swiftly unfolded it. But even then, it might not appear to be a firearm except maybe by someone who is familiar with guns and/or trained to spot them. Even though the MAGPUL FMG is technically a handgun, for handling purposes it looks as if you'd use it more like a mini-submachine gun, think Mac 10 or Mini Uzi.
As of 2008, MAGPUL was not selling their FMG, and I couldn't find it on their Web pages. Perhaps it will be available in the future. However the Web site FullAutoClassics.com is purporting to sell a folding machine gun marketed as the UC-M21 (to my knowledge not affiliated with MAGPUL) available in 9mm, taking Uzi magazines and comes in full auto.
Interestingly enough, the Magpul FMG isn't the first such device ever created, though it is the most recent one. Gun manufacturer ARES created one back in the early 1980s, though it was not a handgun, but more of a true mini-submachine gun, and was never sold on the market. And, of course, there's the UC-M21 mentioned above.
Coilguns
Technically, coilguns aren't firearms. There's no fire. Without getting into a bunch of science, it's difficult to explain how a coilgun works, but basically it's a projectile weapon (often similar in shape and size to a handgun or small rifle) in which coils of electromagnets are used to launch a magnetic projectile.
Apparently no one has perfected a coilgun as of yet, so they're not very common nor popular. To my knowledge, after much research, no company professionally manufacturers coilguns. Instead, most coilguns are created by hobbyists, those with a love of coilguns. If you'd like to know more, and to see a whole bunch of different designs for coilguns, check out the World's Coilgun Arsenal.
The video below shows a weak coilgun at work and gives a little detail on how the device operates.
Miniature ring pinfire revolver
This one is an antique apparently built in London back about 1870. It's literally a ring you wear on your finger, and it's a miniature revolver with sevenshots. Built for the ladies, this weapon was dubbed the "Femme Fatale." It fires .06 caliber pinfire projectiles. Comes with its own, engraved case. To be honest, I'm not sure I'd feel safe firing this thing off, especially seven times. I'd be afraid my hand would blow up. And considering this thing would have a relative distance of only ... oh, a foot! ... I think I'd just stick with a trusty knife if I needed a weapon at such a close range.
Neostad shotgun
Look at the image below. At first glance, it looks like a short semi-auto rifle or maybe even a paintball gun. It's not. It's a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun meant for law enforcement and military applications and not for sporting. Made by the Truvelo Armory company out of South Africa, this shotgun sports dual top mounted magazine feeds. That's right, those big round things atop the barrel (where the pump grips can be seen) are actually removable magazines. Looks awesome, too, in my opinion.
Gyrojet weapons
A gyrojet firearms are simple to describe. They fire a miniature rocket instead of a traditional bullet. Because of the high spin rate of the projectile and the lack of recoil, modern gyrojet weapons are supposedly quite accurate.
An organization known as MB Associates originally began to develop gyrojet pistols and rifles in the 1960s, and eventually a few of these firearms were placed on the market and even tested by United States military. Probably the best known of these early gryojets was an MB Associates pistol called the Mark 1 model B, which fired a 13mm rocket projectile. As the picture below will show, there were even carbine versions made. Unfortunately the weapons never caught on for a variety of reasons, including a lack of accuracy and firepower in these early gyrojet projectiles.
Still, today, there are manufacturers and hobbyists looking at the potential of gryojet weapons. One of these modern projects can be found online as The "Deathwind" Project.
Palm Pistol
The modern Palm Pistol isn't available for sale just yet, but Constitution Arms is gearing up to place this interesting little weapon on the market.
And what exactly is a Palm Pistol? It appears to be a single-shot firearm you trigger by pushing a button on top with your thumb. See the images below for a better idea.
This would seem to be a concealed-carry weapon, and/or perhaps a last-defense weapon.
Also, while this particular Palm Pistol is quite modern looking, the basic idea of a roundish one-shot firearm that can fit in the palm of your hand is an old idea going back at least as far as the mid-1800s. Still, the new Palm Pistol appears interesting and to be a major improvement over older, similar weapons.
The following image is of an old palm-like pistol from the 1800s. This particular version was made in France.
TKB-022
Looking like something out of an old Flash Gordon movie, the TKB-022 was an experimental Soviet assault rifle back in the 1960s. It fired a 7.62 mm round and its housing was a hard plastic, unusual for the times.
The Soviet military tested various versions of this rifle for several years, but eventually passed on the design. Why? Who knows? Perhaps the weapon was just too unusual looking for the Soviet brass. Or maybe it was because the traditional Soviet weapon of choice, the AK-47, was just too good a weapon to let drop. The answer probably lies in some secret Russian files somewhere.
COP .357 Derringer
This handgun is a four-shot derringer chambered for .357 magnums, which means it should also be able to fire .38 rounds. Manufactured by COP Inc., which no longer exists, this firearm was meant to be a concealed carry gun no bigger than many of those cheap .25 semi-autos you can find in most pawn shops.
Besides its looks, what makes this derringer unusual? For one thing, it had a floating firing pin. As you can tell in the image below, the COP has four chambers. You load each one separately. Then as you pull the trigger, the firing pin moves internally so it is over each chamber before firing. This handgun was also double action, which didn't give it a very easy trigger pull.
Unfortunately for gun lovers, the COP is no longer being manufactured, so it's not easy to find one. Still, every once in a while one will pop up at a gun show or online.
Borchardt C-93
Before the famous Luger, there was the Borchardt C-93. For all its impracticalities, this ungainly-looking sidearm was actually the first semi-automatic pistol marketed in Europe and one of the first semi-auto pistols made in any numbers throughout the world in the 1890s.
Chambered for a 7.65X25mm Borchardt cartridge, this handgun had massive recoil and just wasn't very easy to use. All that bulk also added to difficulties of handling and storing, even simply holstering.
However, without the Borchardt there might never have been the Luger or the Mauser pistol. George Luger made a study of the Borchardt, improved upon it drastically and came up with the now famous Luger pistol. As for the Borchardt and the Mauser, the 7.65X25mm Borchardt cartridge played a big influence on the Mauser C96 pistol which fired a 7.65X25mm Mauser cartridge.
Jarre Harmonica Pistol
This oddity can bring a hefty collection at auction houses nowadays, usually at least $10,000 if the gun is in decent condition. Originally this handgun was built in the 1800s in the hopes of being one of the first multi-round weapons. It was, but it's obvious just looking at the gun that it wasn't very practical. The revolver stood out. Thank Sam Colt. The Jarre wasn't the only harmonica pistol of its day, but it's probably the best-known. It fired .38 rounds.
The leagues: The minor league Durham Bulls baseball team of Durham, North Carolina, has been in five different regional leagues over the years. In 1902, the team was a member of the North Carolina League. From 1913 to 1917, the team joined the North Carolina State League. From 1920 to 1933 and then again from 1936 to 1943, the Bulls were in the Piedmont League. The Bulls were in the Carolina League from 1945 to 1971 and then again from 1980 to 1997. Since 1998, the team has been in the International League.
No show: For 12 years, the Durham Bulls did not strictly exist, at least in name. In 1968, the team combined with a ball club from Raleigh, North Carolina, to form the Raleigh-Durham Mets. Then in 1971 the team folded altogether. It would not be until 1980 that the Durham Bulls were revived as a baseball franchise.
Honor: Through all the years, this baseball team has only retired one jersey number. That number is 18, and it belonged to Hall of Famer Joe Morgan who played for the Bulls in 1963.
Stardom: This baseball team became famous with the release of the 1988 movie Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. The Bulls played a major part in the movie, almost a character unto itself. Costner played veteran catcher "Crash" Davis and Robbins played up-and-coming pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh.
Mmm, steak: As is seen in the movie Bull Durham, there was a large wooden bull sign on the outfield wall and if a batter hit the bull with a ball, the batter won a free steak. The tradition has continued, though the original wooden bull has been replaced.
New home: In 1995, the Durham Bulls got a new ballpark. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park became the new home of the Bulls, who had played nearly all home games in the older Durham Athletic Park, which still exists to this day and is used for concerts, festivals and college baseball games.
Blast from the past: In May 2010, the Bulls returned for one game to the old Durham Athletic Park, playing the Toledo Mud Hens. Plans are supposedly in the works for the Bulls to return to the old park for other games, perhaps one per season.
Early beginnings: The team that would eventually become the Bulls was known as the Durham Tobacconists and formed in 1902. Unfortunately, they played only one season before the league collapsed. But the team would live again, this time as the Durham Bulls, in 1912.
Major links: The Durham Bulls have been affiliate for ten different major league teams over the years. In 1933, the team was an affiliate of the New York Yankees. From 1936 to 1940, with the Cincinnati Reds. From 1941 to 1943, the Brooklyn Dodgers. From 1945 to 1947, the Boston Redsox. From 1948 to 1961, the Detroit Tigers. From 1962 to 1966, the Houston Astros. From 1967 to 1968, the New York Mets. From 1980 to 1997, the Atlanta Braves. From 1998 to present day, the Tampa Bay Rays.
Lots of class: The Bulls have played at five different class levels of baseball over the years. In 1902, then from 1913 to 1917 and then again in 1920, the team was Class D. From 1921 to 1931 and then from 1945 to 1948, Class C. From 1932 to 1933, 1936 to 1943, 1949 to 1962, the team was Class B. From 1963 to 1967 and 1980 to 1997, the Bulls were Single-A. From 1998 to present, the Durham Bulls are a Triple-A ball club.
Everyone has heard of Burger King, but do you remember Burger Queen? There's no relation, actually. The two companies weren't connected in any way other than the fact both served burgers and fries. Burger Queen originated out of Lousville, Kentucky, but by the early 1980s all the Burger Queen restaurants had become Druther's. Below is a coffee mug showing the Burger Queen logo. And guess who is next on the list?
Druther's
Yes, all those Burger Queen restaurants eventually became Druther's. But Druther's isn't going too strong anymore itself. In fact, there's only one Druther's restaurant left, and that's in Campellsville, Kentucky. Druther's had burgers, but the also were one of the first fast food chains to have a salad bar and potato wedges.
Burger Chef
Burger Chef started in Indiana in 1954, and for a long time was one of the most popular burger places in the United States and giving McDonald's a run for its money. Burger Chef restaurants were one of the first to toast their buns, and they had such sandwiches as the Super Shef and Big Shef. The last one closed in 1996 after the lot of Burger Chefs had been converted to Hardee's restaurants.
Taco Tico
Taco Tico started in Kansas in 1962, and a few of these places can still be found in the South and Midwest. If you're a fan of Tex-Mex food, you should give this place a try. Their foods have a little more kick to them than the much more popular Taco Bell, but the food is not overly hot. Taco Tico offers four different sauces from mild to volcano.
White Tower Hamburgers
These restaurants look a lot like White Castle, but that's probably because White Tower Hamburgers was started in 1926 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, by a group of fellows who had been White Castles investors. White Tower Hamburgers were quite popular for a while, but they've mostly died out nowadays. There was still one in Toledo, Ohio, and rumor is there are a handful of others throughout Ohio.
The Chillicothe Paints baseball team formed in 1993 in Chillicothe, Ohio.
From 1993 until 2008, the Paints were part of the independent Frontier League.
Since late 2008, between seasons, the Paints helped form and joined The Prospect League, a collegiate world bat league.
Dr. Chris Hanners has been the owner of the Chillicothe Paints since the team's creation.
The team's colors are red, white and navy blue.
During its Frontier League era, the Paints made it to the league championships a total of six times, but never won.
In 2010, the Chillicothe Paints finally won a championship, beating out the Danville Dans for the Prospect League Championship.
Brian Tollberg, a pitcher for the Paints, was the first Frontier League player to be picked up by a major league team. Tollberg went on to play for the San Diego Padres from 2000 to 2003.
The owner's father, Roger Hanners, was manager of the Paints from 1993 until his untimely death in 2000. His jersey number, 50, is one of seven retired by the team.
As of 2010, the Paints hosts an average of 1,800 fans during home games in VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe, Ohio.
Mark Twain was born under the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835 in the town of Florida, Missouri.
In 1839, when Twain was four years old, his parents moved the family to Hannibal, Missouri, where Twain would grow up.
In 1884, Twain helped form a company called Charles L. Webster and Company, which went bankrupt in 1894. The company had been a printing office, but had also tried to sell an automatic typesetting machine known as the Paige Compositor.
Twain was born in the year of Halley's Comet and died in the year of Halley's Comet. His death was by heart attack in Redding, Connecticut, on April 21, 1919.
Twain got his first job in 1847 as an apprentice printer working at the Missouri Courier newspaper.
In 1859, he received his license as a steamboat pilot. It had taken him two years of study and he had to memorize 2,000 miles of land and water along the Mississippi River.
He first used his famous pen name of "Mark Twain" on February 3, 1863, under an article for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper in Nevada.
In 1907, Oxford University awarded Twain an honorary doctorate degree, making Twain a Doctor of Letters.
Though remembered today mostly as a humorist novelist, Twain's early literary works were mostly travel pieces (though often enough filled with humor) and his later works are usually darker pieces of literature.
Twain was a popular public speaker during his lifetime, and spoke at hundreds of rallies, clubs, events and other gatherings.
The very first Super Bowl was on January 15, 1967.
The Pittsburgh Steelers were originally called the Pittsburgh Pirates in the team's first season.
Career batting average, .367: The infamous Ty Cobb has held this record since his retirement from the major leagues in 1928. Every now and then a modern player gets close to.400 for a season, but no one is likely to match Cobb's lifetime achievement any time soon.
If you've ever bitten into a Nathan's Famous hot dog, whether from the grocery store or one of the Nathan's Famous restaurants, you have probably enjoyed it. But did you know there's more to Nathan's Famous than just good hot dogs? There's history than goes back nearly a century.
Little is known of Billy the Kid's birth. In fact, historians often disagree about Billy's younger days. His birth date is often given as November 23, 1859.
Stardom:
Mark Twain was born under the name Samuel Langhorne Clemens on November 30, 1835 in the town of Florida, Missouri.