January 25, 1995: Eric Cantona Kung-Fu Kicked a Fan in One of the Most Infamous Incidents in Premier League History

On January 25, 1995 Manchester United striker Eric Cantona was involved in an incident that attracted headlines and controversy worldwide. In an away match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, Cantona was sent off by the referee for kicking Palace defender Richard Shaw after Shaw had frustrated Cantona throughout the game by closely marking him. As he was walking towards the tunnel, Cantona launched a ‘kung-fu’ style kick into the crowd, directed at Crystal Palace fan Matthew Simmons, a fan who had run down 11 rows of stairs to confront and shout abuse at Cantona. Simmons was alleged to have used the words “F**k off back to France, you French bastard.” Cantona followed the kick with a series of punches.

A lengthy ban from the game was regarded as inevitable, with some critics calling for Cantona to be deported and never allowed to play football in England again, while others called for him to be banned from football for life.

As well as disciplinary action from his club and The FA, Cantona was also faced with a criminal charge of assault, which he admitted to on March 23, resulting in a two-week prison sentence, although he was freed on bail pending an appeal. This was overturned in the appeal court a week later and instead he was sentenced to 120 hours of community service, which was spent coaching children at Manchester United’s training ground. At a press conference called later, Cantona said, in a slow and deliberate manner:

“When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much.” —Cantona’s brief, and much publicized, statement

Cantona then got up from his seat and abruptly left, leaving behind him a packed media room surprised and baffled – some roared with laughter – with those in the room trying to decipher his cryptic words. In accordance with The FA’s wishes, Manchester United’s initial action was to fine Cantona £20,000 for the assault and to confirm that he would not play for the first team for the rest of the season, although Manchester United were still in the hunt for a second double. He was also stripped of the captaincy of the French national football team by national coach Aimé Jacquet. The FA then increased the ban to eight months and fined him a further £10,000. The FA Chief Executive Graham Kelly described his attack as “a stain on our game” that brought shame on football. FIFA then confirmed the suspension as worldwide, meaning that Cantona could not escape the ban by being transferred or loaned to a foreign club. Cantona never played for the French national team again. His club eventually lost the Premier League title to Blackburn Rovers.

In 2011, Cantona said that the attack on the Crystal Palace supporter was “a great feeling” and a memory he is happy for fans to treasure, but “... it was a mistake.” In 2002, the notoriety of the Kung fu kick saw it ranked number 12 on Channel 4’s poll of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments.

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20 Amazing Photographs That Show Italian Immigrants Living Conditions at the Turn of the Century

Urban life was often filled with hazards for the new immigrant, and housing could be one of the greatest dangers. At the turn of the century more than half the population of New York City, and most immigrants, lived in tenement houses, narrow, low-rise apartment buildings that were usually grossly overcrowded by their landlords. Cramped, poorly lit, under ventilated, and usually without indoor plumbing, the tenements were hotbeds of vermin and disease, and were frequently swept by cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis. The investigative journalist Jacob Riis, himself a Danish immigrant, launched a public campaign to expose and eradicate the exploitative housing new immigrants were forced to endure.

For Italians, this way of living came as an enormous shock. In Italy, many rural families had slept in small, cramped houses; however, they spent most of their waking hours out of the house, working, socializing, and taking their meals in the outdoors. In New York, they found themselves confined to a claustrophobic indoor existence, using the same small room for eating, sleeping, and even working. A substantial percentage of immigrant families worked at home performing piecework—that is, doing work that paid them by the piece, such as stitching together garments or hand-assembling machinery. In a situation like this, an immigrant woman or child might go days without seeing sunlight.

Immigrants’ work places could be as unhealthy as their homes. A substantial number of southern Italian immigrants had only worked as farmers, and were thus qualified only for unskilled, and more dangerous, urban labor. Many Italians went to work on the growing city’s municipal works projects, digging canals, laying paving and gas lines, building bridges, and tunneling out the New York subway system. In 1890, nearly 90 percent of the laborers in New York’s Department of Public Works were Italian immigrants.

By no means was all Italian immigrants’ work grim and hazardous. Italians found work throughout the city, in many of the improvised trades that have long been a haven for immigrants, such as shoemaking, masonry, bartending, and barbering. For a time, some observers felt that Italians operated every fruit-vendor's cart in the city. For many immigrants, though, and especially women and children, work could only be found in sweatshops, the dark, unsafe factories that sprang up around New York. When a fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory in 1911, killing 146 workers, nearly half of the victims were young Italian women.

Poverty was a main reason for immigrating, but political hardship and the dream to return to Italy with enough money to buy land were motivators as well. For 80% of Italians, agriculture was their livelihood. Many of the farming tools were inefficient due to their antiquity and lack of modern technology, which did not allow for prospects for improvement. Often the farmers lived in harsh conditions, residing in one-room houses with no plumbing or privacy. In addition, many peasants were isolated due to a lack of roads in Italy. Landlords ruled the land—and charged high rents, low pay, and provided very unsteady employment.

The idea of immigrating to America was attractive because of the higher wages American workers received. For example, agricultural workers who farmed year-round would receive a meager 16-30 cents per day in Italy. A carpenter in Italy would receive 30 cents to $1.40 per day, making a 6-day week’s pay $1.80 to $8.40. In America on the other hand, a carpenter who worked a 56-hour week would earn $18. Besides the already unfortunate situation of many Italian farmers, a 19th century agricultural crisis in Italy led to falling grain prices and loss of markets for fruit and wine. Specifically a disease, phylloxera, destroyed grape vines used to produce wine. Therefore, the United States was pictured as a nation with abundant land, high wages, lower taxes, and interestingly enough, no military draft.

Many Italians wanted to acquire land in Italy. Therefore, they moved to America to work and earn money, then repatriated. Political hardship was also a factor in motivating immigration.

Starting in the 1870s the government took measures to repress political views such as anarchy and socialism. In general, Italians came to the United States to escape political policies.

These amazing vintage photographs captured Italian immigrants conditions at the turn of the century:

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Swimmer Norma Campbell in Her Rubber Diving Suit With Autographs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, 1965

Should she swim in her new fashionable rubber diving suit or not? If she does, four precious words written on her suit may be washed off. And that means Beatles fan, Norma would lose her autographs of John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Norma Campbell was the top women diver of the Subaqua Club at Scarborough, Yorks at the time. She let the suit to a television company who wanted to use it in a Lennon-McCartney “spectacular” due to be seen in December 1965.

“The names were written with a felt tip pen, and I must try to preserve them,” said Norma. “Someone told me their hair lacquer is waterproof, so I think I’ll spray them with that before I take a dip.”

Whimsical Stereo Cards From the Victorian Era Show How Different the Courtship Process Used to Be

These vintage stereo cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries vary from the romantic to the humorous. From preparing to spank their partner to suggestively holding a butter-churning handle, they show the quaint history of love from courtship to marriage in a bygone age.

The photos appear to have all been taken in the United States, judging from the clothing and names on the original copyrights, which include E. W. Kelley - whose Chicago-based publishing office dealt in stereographs; H. C. White, who produced stereo cards in a small factory in Vermont; and R. Y. Young who established the American Stereoscopic Company circa 1896.

Stereo cards were invented in the mid-19th century. When pairs of them were viewed through a binocular apparatus, known as a stereoscope, it created a 3D effect.

Another Button Off (1875)

Retouching Portraits (1889)

Country Love (1897)

Before Marriage (1900)

After Marriage (1900)

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Rare Images of Louis Armstrong on His Visit to Prague in 1965

When Louis Armstrong visited Prague in March of 1965, at which time he was truly an international star. These rare images from TresBohemes captured moments of this Jazz great on his visit to Prague in 1965.

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45 Amazing Canadian Propaganda Posters During World War I

The armistice of November 11, 1918, brought relief to the whole world. Never before had there been such a conflict. For a nation of eight million people Canada’s war effort was remarkable.

Canadian propaganda posters during World War I

More than 650,000 men and women from Canada and Newfoundland served — over 66,000 gave their lives and more than 172,000 were wounded. It was this immense sacrifice that lead to Canada’s separate signature on the Peace Treaty.

No longer viewed as just a colony of England, Canada had truly achieved nation status. This nationhood was purchased by the gallant men who stood fast at Ypres, stormed Regina Trench, climbed the heights of Vimy Ridge, captured Passchendaele, and entered Mons on November 11, 1918.

A collection from Toronto Public Library that shows amazing Canadian propaganda posters during World War I.

“Be Yours to Hold It High!” Buy Victory Bonds

“Faith, There's No Wan Could Be Bolder” - Come on Boys! Join the Irish Canadian Overseas Battalion Rangers

“If ye break faith, we shall not sleep” - Buy Victory Bonds

“We are saving you - You save Food”

48th Highlanders - 1200 Men Wanted at Once for the 134th Highlanders Overseas Battalion

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Portraits of MME Abomah “the African Giantess”, the Tallest Lady in the World

Ella Williams who went by the showbiz name of Mme Abomah was once the world’s tallest hot and beautiful lady in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reportedly 7ft 6 inches (2.28 meters). Though she was born in South Carolina in USA, her show managers claims she was born in Dahomey (now Republic of Benin).

 “I was born near Cross Hill in Laurens county. None of my sisters or brothers are unusually large. For years every time a show man saw me he would want  me to sign a contract, but I never could make up my mind to leave Columbia. Finally in the fall of 1896 while I was cooking for a prominent family in Columbia, Manager F.C. Bostock got me to sign up for a tour.” – Mme Abomah once said in 1915.

Born in October of 1865, Ella Grigsby narrowly missed being born a slave as the 13th Amendment to the U.S Constitution was ratified only 10 months previous. Ella came to work for Elihu and Harriet Williams when as a teenager. Perhaps because Grigsby was the family name of her parent’s slave holders Ella took the Williams surname as her own. The “tour” that Frank Bostock signed Ella up for was a tour of the British Isles. Bostock understood that Ella’s act would not go over well in her native country because at that time another Ella – Ella Ewing – a white giantess from Missouri was touring.  Racism in Europe was not as pronounced as in the States so Miss Williams was ultimately to find greater success on foreign soil.

Like so many performers of her time Abomah’s manager mixed a little fact with fiction in promoting his ward. Her stage name came from Abomey, the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin).  Abomah was initially promoted as being one of the legendary Dahomey Amazons, which was a real, all female fighting force that existed right up to the time the giantess began touring. “One of King Dahomey’s Amazons who has been brought over to England for show purposes is a giantess indeed. Her height is eight feet, and she is both broad and muscular.” – American press, June 1900.

During her 30-year-career, Abomah did not only tour Britain but most of continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, and South America. Abomah also had very expensive and extensive clothing, making the Amazon Giantess always appear elegant and royal.

When Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914, Abomah cancelled her tours and came back to the U.S in March 1915. In later years, now an ageing and destitute pensioner, she appeared in the Coney Island sideshow and with Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Congress of Freaks.

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