Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring nameThe Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[13] Calaway spent the vast majority of his career wrestling for WWE and in 2022 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.[14]
Calaway began his career in 1987, working under various gimmicks for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and other affiliate promotions. He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1989 for a brief stint, and then he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, turned WWE) in 1990.
Calaway was rebranded as "The Undertaker" on joining the WWF. As one of WWE's most high-profile and enduring characters,[15][16] The Undertaker is famed for his undead, funereal, macabre "Deadman" persona, which gained significant mainstream popularity and won him the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Best Gimmick a record-setting 5 years in a row.[17] He is the longest-tenured wrestler in company history at 30 years. In 2000, the Undertaker adopted a biker identity nicknamed "American Badass". Calaway resurrected the Deadman Undertaker in 2004, with residual elements of the "American Badass" remaining.
Mark William Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, on March 24, 1965,[18][19][20] the son of Frank Compton Calaway (died July 2003) and Betty Catherine Truby.[citation needed] He has four older brothers named David, Michael, Paul, and Timothy (died March 2020, age 63).[21] He attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. He graduated in 1983 and began studying on a basketball scholarship at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. In 1985, he enrolled in Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he majored in sport management and played as a center for the Rams in the 1985–1986 season. In 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a career in sports and briefly considered playing professional basketball in Europe, before deciding to focus on professional wrestling.[22][23][24][25]
Calaway began training under Buzz Sawyer in late 1986;[6][26] he disliked Sawyer, who reportedly lacked commitment and provided a limited education.[6][7] Calaway learned "on the job" thereafter.[27] Performing under a mask as Texas Red,[7] Calaway wrestled his first match on June 26, 1987, for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), losing to Bruiser Brody at the Dallas Sportatorium.[8][28] He was accompanied to the ring by Percival "Percy" Pringle III, who would later serve as his manager in the WWF as Paul Bearer.[7][29] Two myths have circulated regarding Calaway's beginnings in the industry, the first being that he made his in-ring debut in 1984,[6] and the second being that he was trained by former WCCW colleague Don Jardine (aka The Spoiler).[30][31] While never trained by Jardine, Calaway was an admirer of his work and would emulate Jardine's top rope walk.[32][33]PWInsider's Mike Johnson stated, "Undertaker using some of Jardine's style eventually morphed into this story that he was trained by Jardine."[27]
He wrestled in Durban, South Africa on August 22, 1987, as "Texas Red Jack", losing to Tiger Singh.[34] He would also wrestle in prison shows under the name Boris Dragu, a Russian grave digger.[2]
In 1988, Calaway developed a military gimmick named The Commando. Under this persona, he mainly wrestled in the Chicago area for Central Illinois Wrestling. He would also have a brief stint in Georgia for Southern Championship Wrestling.
By the end of 1988, Calaway joined the Continental Wrestling Association, wrestling under several gimmicks. On February 2, 1989, managed by Dutch Mantel, he was reintroduced as The Master of Pain, a former murderer.[35] On April 1, The Master of Pain won his first professional wrestling championship by defeating Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion. Just over three weeks had passed when Lawler became the first man to pin him, giving it back to him. While performing as The Punisher upon returning to Dallas, Calaway won the USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5, 1989, when Eric Embry forfeited the title.[36]
By the end of 1989, Calaway joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a villain and adopted the ring name "Mean Mark" Callous, a name devised for him by Terry Funk.[37] He was portrayed as a sinister force, wearing predominantly black ring attire and was described by commentator Jim Ross as having a fondness for pet snakes and the music of Ozzy Osbourne.[38] Callous was promptly drafted into The Skyscraperstag team to replace a legitimately injured Sid Vicious, and made his debut on January 3, 1990, in a match later televised against Agent Steel and Randy Harris.[39] The new team gained some notoriety at Clash of the Champions X when they beat down The Road Warriors after their match.[40] However, Callous's partner Dan Spivey left WCW days before their Chicago Street Fight against the Road Warriors at WrestleWar. Callous and a replacement masked Skyscraper were defeated in the street fight and the team broke up soon afterwards.[41] Now a singles wrestler, Callous took on the guidance of Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman).
Calaway later began to question his future in WCW after being told by company booker, Ole Anderson, during contract renewal discussions that nobody would ever pay money to watch him perform.[6] It was in response to this that Calaway made numerous efforts to join the World Wrestling Federation, going to many lengths to land a meeting with Vince McMahon. However, accessing and securing an interview with McMahon was described by Calaway as a despairing task.[42]
Among routes Calaway took to land a meeting with McMahon was trying to convince individuals acquainted with McMahon or already existing WWF talent to recommend him into the WWF, such as Hulk Hogan, Paul Heyman, and Bruce Prichard, crediting the latter two for arranging the meeting at McMahon's mansion.[43]
Calaway immediately gave notice to WCW before the interview took place. McMahon initially declined to hire Calaway; however, several days later the owner pitched the idea an "Old West Undertaker," a concept he had intended to create for several years but had never found an appropriate wrestler to play the part.[43]
Calaway's final WCW match was on September 7 at a WorldWide taping in Amarillo, Texas in which he defeated Dave Johnson.[39] During his time in WCW, Calaway briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Punisher" Dice Morgan.[44] After leaving WCW, he briefly returned to the USWA to participate in a tournament to determine the new USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; Calaway defeated Bill Dundee in the first round, but lost to Jerry Lawler in the quarterfinals.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE[edit]
In October 1990, Calaway signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), set to portray the "brainchild" of McMahon that he had assigned to him, originally entitled Kane the Undertaker[43] ("Kane" later added on to "the Undertaker" moniker by the time of his arrival at the urgings of Bruce Prichard, who had always desired a Cain and Abel effect for his character).[45] Despite Calaway's perplexed, pessimistic feelings about McMahon's gimmick idea, he was readily accepting of the role, feeling anything better than the laughingstock gimmicks of that time, such as The Gobbledy Gooker.[42][46][43] Kane the Undertaker was characterized as a menacing derivative of the Wild Westundertakers depicted in television westerns. Resulting from that, this first edition of the Undertaker's series of Deadman incarnations[42][46] has been distinguished in external media as "The Old West Mortician".[47][48] He made his overall WWF debut on a November 19, 1990, taping of WWF Superstars quickly defeating his first opponent, Mario Mancini, in a singles match[49] (this match was filmed three days prior to the Undertaker's televised debut at the November 22 Survivor Series, but did not air on television until December 15, 1990). Also prior to his Survivor Series appearance, Kane the Undertaker had a match on November 20 against Rick Sampson, which later aired on the December 9, 1990 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge.[50]
Calaway's official televised debut was the Survivor Series event in which he was presented as the heel mystery partner of Ted DiBiase's "Million Dollar Team".[51] Approximately one minute into the match, the Undertaker eliminated Koko B. Ware with his finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver.[52] (In 2018, Koko B. Ware shared that directly following this match that night, he confronted the Undertaker with serious objections to what he felt was a botched Tombstone. Though Ware also shared that he always admired Mark Calaway and perceived him as a great performer).[53] During the match, the Undertaker also eliminated Dusty Rhodes before being counted out; however, his team won the match with DiBiase being the sole survivor.[52] During the match, Calaway was referred to as simply the Undertaker, omitting the portion "Kane", which was dropped shortly after the event (and seven years later at the urgings of Prichard, given to another wrestler once he took on the role of the Undertaker's younger brother).[45][52] Throughout the end of 1990, the Undertaker mostly picked up squash victories against jobbers on Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge tapings.[52] He was a participant in the 1991Royal Rumble match which was won by Hulk Hogan.[52]
In February 1991, Brother Love delegated his short-lived management role of the Undertaker over to Paul Bearer (real-life funeral director), Love communicating the need for someone who better aligned with the Undertaker's "deadman" themes.[54]Histrionic, wailing and ghostly in character, Bearer complemented the Undertaker and was almost always seen bearing an urn which he raised in the air to transmit supernatural healing powers to the Undertaker; this typically resulted in the Undertaker recovering from attacks and counterattacking his adversaries.[54] During his early years, the Undertaker took to a post-match ritual of placing his defeated opponents (almost always jobbers) in a body bag and carrying them backstage.[55] He continued picking up victories in squash matches leading up to his first feud in the WWF with "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[52]
WWF Champion and beginning of The Streak (1991–1994)[edit]
The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII on March 24, 1991, quickly defeating "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[56] He began his first major feud shortly thereafter, which was with The Ultimate Warrior when The Undertaker attacked him and locked him in an airtight casket on the set of Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor segment.[52] Resulting from this, the Warrior enlisted the assistance of Jake "The Snake" Roberts to get him mentally psyched for The Undertaker's morbid alarmist tactics: Roberts would drill the Warrior with "know your enemy" training, setting up the Warrior in a series of creepy, terrorizing circumstances, such as by locking him in caskets and in rooms with snakes.[57][52] This culminated in a final stage of Roberts's training in which Roberts proved to be stringing Warrior along the entire time by assisting The Undertaker in an ambush.[57] The Undertaker would later suffer his first losses in the WWF to The Ultimate Warrior, including in a first ever body bag challenge, a casket match, and (at house show) standard pin-fall match.[58] The feud was, however, cut short after the Warrior's suspension and ongoing issues with Vince McMahon.[58] In the 1991 King of the Ring, Undertaker defeated Animal in a qualifying match before fighting Sid Vicious to a double disqualification in the semifinal, which saw both men eliminated from the King of the Ring tournament.[59]
The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win his first WWF Championship at Survivor Series with the help of Ric Flair and thus became the youngest WWF Champion in history to that point, 26 years of age—this record was later broken by Yokozuna in April 1993 at WrestleMania IX.[60] The Undertaker's Tombstone of Hogan to win the WWF Championship at the 1991 Survivor Series created real-life, offscreen discord between the two, which Undertaker attributes his short title reign, lack of title runs during his early career and distrust of Hogan.[61] In storyline, however, WWF President Jack Tunney ordered a rematch between the two at This Tuesday in Texas six days later, where The Undertaker lost the title back to Hogan.[60] However, due to the controversial endings of the two title matches between The Undertaker and Hogan, the title was vacated from Hogan the next night by Tunney. The company was without a WWF Champion until Ric Flair earned it by winning the 1992 Royal Rumble match.[62]
In February 1992, The Undertaker's ally Jake "The Snake" Roberts tried to attack "Macho Man" Randy Savage's manager/wife Miss Elizabeth with a steel chair when Undertaker stopped him, turning him (and Paul Bearer) face for the first time. Their face turn was solidified on the February 29 episode of Superstars when Roberts confronted The Undertaker on the Funeral Parlor set over the matter (aired on Saturday Night's Main Event XXX). After demanding to know whose side The Undertaker was on and getting the reply, "Not yours", Roberts attacked both Bearer and The Undertaker, only for The Undertaker to stand his ground and run Roberts off. The Undertaker defeated Roberts at WrestleMania VIII.[56] He then feuded extensively with wrestlers managed by Harvey Wippleman throughout 1992 and 1993, such as Kamala and Giant González. Also during this time, The Undertaker headlined the debut episode of Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993, with a victory over Damien Demento.[63][64] According to Calaway, working with González "...was survival every night trying to figure out what he could do" and "took years off my career".[65] He faced González at WrestleMania IX, which is notable as The Undertaker's only disqualification win at WrestleMania after the use of chloroform.[66] The Undertaker's next rivalry initiated at Survivor Series with Yokozuna when a clash between the two lost control, causing them to be counted out in an elimination tag match.[67] In the weeks following, The Undertaker and Bearer spooked Yokozuna with multiple segments from their wintery and remote rural areaworkshop. There, Bearer presented The Undertaker hard at work carpentering Yokozuna what would eventually become a "double wide, double deep casket" custom-built for Yokozuna's immensely overweight size.[68] The feud culminated in a WWF Championship casket match at the Royal Rumble in January 1994. During the match, Yokozuna sealed The Undertaker in the casket with the assistance of a multitude of heel wrestlers (some of them Whippleman-managed) hired by Yokozuna's vindictive managers Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji, which was in retaliation for Bearer's casket match stipulation that he snuck into their Royal Rumble match contract. After being trapped inside the casket by the pack, green vapor emitted from the casket and the arena lights went out. Undertaker then appeared from inside the casket on the video screen, representing the spirit of his dead corpse, warning that he would produce a future "rebirth" of himself, explaining to his antagonists that he cannot and will not Rest in Peace.[69] The Undertaker did not appear in the WWF for seven months after his loss to Yokozuna. In reality, he was given time off to allow a back injury to heal.[70]
Paul Bearer betrayed The Undertaker by hitting him with the urn that he is seen carrying.
Following the death angle at the Royal Rumble during The Undertaker's absence, the WWF promoted reported sightings of him through video clips of random people claiming to have seen him. After WrestleMania X, Ted DiBiase introduced an Undertaker back to the WWF. This Undertaker, however, played by Brian Lee (one of Calaway's real-life best friends)[71] was an impostor Undertaker (dubbed "The Underfaker" by fans)[72] rejuvenated by Dibiase's money rather than Bearer's urn. His actions led to the return of the real Undertaker at SummerSlam, defeating the impostor and appearing as a reincarnation of his Deadman gimmick, one of a more shadowy, mysterious and secret presence.[73] Represented now by cool colors, The Undertaker replaced details of his wrestling gear that were previously colored gray with purple, and effected scenes with blue/purple semidarkness.[73] Many details that would become associated with The Undertaker for the remainder of his career we
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There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games played in many different parts of the world.[2][3][4] Contemporary codes of football can be traced back to the codification of these games at English public schools during the 19th century, itself an outgrowth of medieval football.[5][6] The expansion and cultural power of the British Empire allowed these rules of football to spread to areas of British influence outside the directly controlled Empire.[7] By the end of the 19th century, distinct regional codes were already developing: Gaelic football, for example, deliberately incorporated the rules of local traditional football games in order to maintain their heritage.[8] In 1888, the Football League was founded in England, becoming the first of many professional football associations. During the 20th century, several of the various kinds of football grew to become some of the most popular team sports in the world.[9]
The action of kicking in (clockwise from upper left) association, gridiron, rugby, and Australian football
The various codes of football share certain common elements and can be grouped into two main classes of football: carrying codes like American football, Canadian football, Australian football, rugby union and rugby league, where the ball is moved about the field while being held in the hands or thrown, and kicking codes such as association football and Gaelic football, where the ball is moved primarily with the feet, and where handling is strictly limited.[10]
Two teams usually have between 11 and 18 players; some variations that have fewer players (five or more per team) are also popular.[12]
A clearly defined area in which to play the game.
Scoringgoals or points by moving the ball to an opposing team's end of the field and either into a goal area, or over a line.
Goals or points resulting from players putting the ball between two goalposts.
The goal or line being defended by the opposing team.
Players using only their body to move the ball, i.e. no additional equipment such as bats or sticks.
In all codes, common skills include passing, tackling, evasion of tackles, catching and kicking.[10] In most codes, there are rules restricting the movement of players offside, and players scoring a goal must put the ball either under or over a crossbar between the goalposts.
There are conflicting explanations of the origin of the word "football". It is widely assumed that the word "football" (or the phrase "foot ball") refers to the action of the foot kicking a ball.[13] There is an alternative explanation, which is that football originally referred to a variety of games in medieval Europe that were played on foot.[14] There is no conclusive evidence for either explanation.
The Chinese competitive game cuju is an early type of ball game where feet were used, in some aspects resembling modern association football. It was possibly played around the Han dynasty and early Qin dynasty, based on an attestation in a military manual from around the second to third centuries BC.[15][16][17] In one version, gameplay consisted of players passing the ball between teammates without allowing it to touch the ground (much like keepie uppie). In its competitive version, two teams had to pass the ball without it falling, before kicking the ball through a circular hole placed in the middle of the pitch. Unlike association football, the two teams did not interact with each other but instead stayed on opposite sides of the pitch.[18] The Japanese version of cuju is kemari (蹴鞠), and was developed during the Asuka period.[19] This is known to have been played within the Japanese imperial court in Kyoto from about 600 AD. In kemari, several people stand in a circle and kick a ball to each other, trying not to let the ball drop to the ground.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος" (Episkyros)[20][21] or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda),[22] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.[23][24][25][26][27] The Roman politician Cicero (106–43 BC) describes the case of a man who was killed whilst having a shave when a ball was kicked into a barber's shop. Roman ball games already knew the air-filled ball, the follis.[28][29]Episkyros is described as an early form of football by FIFA.[30]
There are a number of references to traditional, ancient, or prehistoric ball games, played by indigenous peoples in many different parts of the world. For example, in 1586, men from a ship commanded by an English explorer named John Davis went ashore to play a form of football with Inuit in Greenland.[31] There are later accounts of an Inuit game played on ice, called Aqsaqtuk. Each match began with two teams facing each other in parallel lines, before attempting to kick the ball through each other team's line and then at a goal. In 1610, William Strachey, a colonist at Jamestown, Virginia recorded a game played by Native Americans, called Pahsaheman.[citation needed]Pasuckuakohowog, a game similar to modern-day association football played amongst Amerindians, was also reported as early as the 17th century.
Games played in Mesoamerica with rubber balls by indigenous peoples are also well-documented as existing since before this time, but these had more similarities to basketball or volleyball, and no links have been found between such games and modern football sports. Northeastern American Indians, especially the Iroquois Confederation, played a game which made use of net racquets to throw and catch a small ball; however, although it is a ball-goal foot game, lacrosse (as its modern descendant is called) is likewise not usually classed as a form of "football".[citation needed]
On the Australian continent several tribes of indigenous people played kicking and catching games with stuffed balls which have been generalised by historians as Marn Grook (Djab Wurrung for "game ball"). The earliest historical account is an anecdote from the 1878 book by Robert Brough-Smyth, The Aborigines of Victoria, in which a man called Richard Thomas is quoted as saying, in about 1841 in Victoria, Australia, that he had witnessed Aboriginal people playing the game: "Mr Thomas describes how the foremost player will drop kick a ball made from the skin of a possum and how other players leap into the air in order to catch it." Some historians have theorised that Marn Grook was one of the origins ofAustralian rules football.
The Māori in New Zealand played a game called Kī-o-rahi consisting of teams of seven players play on a circular field divided into zones, and score points by touching the 'pou' (boundary markers) and hitting a central 'tupu' or target.[citation needed]
These games and others may well go far back into antiquity. However, the main sources of modern football codes appear to lie in western Europe, especially England.
The Middle Ages saw a huge rise in popularity of annual Shrovetide football matches throughout Europe, particularly in England. An early reference to a ball game played in Britain comes from the 9th-century Historia Brittonum, attributed to Nennius, which describes "a party of boys ... playing at ball".[33] References to a ball game played in northern France known as La Soule or Choule, in which the ball was propelled by hands, feet, and sticks,[34] date from the 12th century.[35]
An illustration of so-called "mob football"
The early forms of football played in England, sometimes referred to as "mob football", would be played in towns or between neighbouring villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams who would clash en masse,[36] struggling to move an item, such as inflated animal's bladder[37] to particular geographical points, such as their opponents' church, with play taking place in the open space between neighbouring parishes.[38] The game was played primarily during significant religious festivals, such as Shrovetide, Christmas, or Easter,[37] and Shrovetide games have survived into the modern era in a number of English towns (see below).
The first detailed description of what was almost certainly football in England was given by William FitzStephen in about 1174–1183. He described the activities of London youths during the annual festival of Shrove Tuesday:
After lunch all the youth of the city go out into the fields to take part in a ball game. The students of each school have their own ball; the workers from each city craft are also carrying their balls. Older citizens, fathers, and wealthy citizens come on horseback to watch their juniors competing, and to relive their own youth vicariously: you can see their inner passions aroused as they watch the action and get caught up in the fun being had by the carefree adolescents.[39]
Most of the very early references to the game speak simply of "ball play" or "playing at ball". This reinforces the idea that the games played at the time did not necessarily involve a ball being kicked.
An early reference to a ball game that was probably football comes from 1280 at Ulgham, Northumberland, England: "Henry... while playing at ball.. ran against David".[40] Football was played in Ireland in 1308, with a documented reference to John McCrocan, a spectator at a "football game" at Newcastle, County Down being charged with accidentally stabbing a player named William Bernard.[41] Another reference to a football game comes in 1321 at Shouldham, Norfolk, England: "[d]uring the game at ball as he kicked the ball, a lay friend of his... ran against him and wounded himself".[40]
In 1314, Nicholas de Farndone, Lord Mayor of the City of London issued a decree banning football in the French used by the English upper classes at the time. A translation reads: "[f]orasmuch as there is great noise in the city caused by hustling over large foot balls [rageries de grosses pelotes de pee][42] in the fields of the public from which many evils might arise which God forbid: we command and forbid on behalf of the king, on pain of imprisonment, such game to be used in the city in the future." This is the earliest reference to football.
In 1363, King Edward III of England issued a proclamation banning "...handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock-fighting, or other such idle games",[43] showing that "football" – whatever its exact form in this case – was being differentiated from games involving other parts of the body, such as handball.
"Football" in France, circa 1750
A game known as "football" was played in Scotland as early as the 15th century: it was prohibited by the Football Act 1424 and although the law fell into disuse it was not repealed until 1906. There is evidence for schoolboys playing a "football" ball game in Aberdeen in 1633 (some references cite 1636) which is notable as an early allusion to what some have considered to be passing the ball. The word "pass" in the most recent translation is derived from "huc percute" (strike it here) and later "repercute pilam" (strike the ball again) in the original Latin. It is not certain that the ball was being struck between members of the same team. The original word translated as "goal" is "metum", literally meaning the "pillar at each end of the circus course" in a Roman chariot race. There is a reference to "get hold of the ball before [another player] does" (Praeripe illi pilam si possis agere) suggesting that handling of the ball was allowed. One sentence states in the original 1930 translation "Throw yourself against him" (Age, objice te illi).
King Henry IV of England also presented one of the earliest documented uses of the English word "football", in 1409, when he issued a proclamation forbidding the levying of money for "foteball".[40][44]
There is also an account in Latin from the end of the 15th century of football being played at Caunton, Nottinghamshire. This is the first description of a "kicking game" and the first description of dribbling: "[t]he game at which they had met for common recreation is called by some the foot-ball game. It is one in which young men, in country sport, propel a huge ball not by throwing it into the air but by striking it and rolling it along the ground, and that not with their hands but with their feet... kicking in opposite directions." The chronicler gives the earliest reference to a football pitch, stating that: "[t]he boundaries have been marked and the game had started.[40]
Oldest known painting of foot-ball in Scotland, by Alexander Carse, c. 1810"Football" in Scotland, c. 1830
Other firsts in the medieval and early modern eras:
"A football", in the sense of a ball rather than a game, was first mentioned in 1486.[44] This reference is in Dame Juliana Berners' Book of St Albans. It states: "a certain rounde instrument to play with ...it is an instrument for the foote and then it is calde in Latyn 'pila pedalis', a fotebal".[40]
Women playing a form of football was first described in 1580 by Sir Philip Sidney in one of his poems: "[a] tyme there is for all, my mother often sayes, when she, with skirts tuckt very hy, with girles at football playes".[46]
The first references to goals are in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. In 1584 and 1602 respectively, John Norden and Richard Carew referred to "goals" in Cornish hurling. Carew described how goals were made: "they pitch two bushes in the ground, some eight or ten foote asunder; and directly against them, ten or twelue [twelve] score off, other twayne in like distance, which they terme their Goales".[47] He is also the first to describe goalkeepers and passing of the ball between players.
The first direct reference to scoring a goal is in John Day's play The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (performed circa 1600; published 1659): "I'll play a gole at camp-ball" (an extremely violent variety of football, which was popular in East Anglia). Similarly in a poem in 1613, Michael Drayton refers to "when the Ball to throw, and drive it to the Gole, in squadrons forth they goe".
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Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale (pronounced[ˌinternattsjoˈnaːle]) or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries,[5][6][7] is an Italian professional footballclub based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is the only Italian side to have always competed in the top flight of Italian football since its debut in 1909.
Founded in 1908 following a schism within the Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club (now AC Milan), Inter won its first championship in 1910. Since its formation, the club has won 36 domestic trophies, including 20 league titles, nine Coppa Italia, and eight Supercoppa Italiana. From 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles, equalling the all-time record at that time.[8] They have won the European Cup/Champions League three times: two back-to-back in 1964 and 1965, and then another in 2010. Their latest win completed an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble, with Inter winning the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto the same year.[9] The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Inter's home games are played at the San Siro stadium, which they share with city rivals AC Milan. The stadium is the largest in Italian football with a capacity of 75,817.[10] They have long-standing rivalries with Milan, with whom they contest the Derby della Madonnina, and Juventus, with whom they contest the Derby d'Italia; their rivalry with the former is one of the most followed derbies in football.[11] As of 2019,[update] Inter has the highest home game attendance in Italy and the sixth-highest attendance in Europe.[12] Since May 2024, the club has been owned by American asset management companyOaktree Capital Management.[13] Inter is one of the most valuable clubs in Italian and world football.[14]
"Questa notte splendida darà i colori al nostro stemma: il nero e l'azzurro sullo sfondo d'oro delle stelle. Si chiamerà Internazionale, perché noi siamo fratelli del mondo."
"This wonderful night will give us the colours of our crest: black and blue against a backdrop of stars. It shall be called International, because we are brothers of the world."
The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, when a group of players left the Milan Cricket and Football Club (now AC Milan) to form a new club because they wanted to accept more foreign players.[17] The name of the club derives from the wish of its founding members to accept foreign players as well as Italians.[18] The club won its first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920.[19] The captain and coach of the first championship winning team was Virgilio Fossati,[20] who was later killed in battle while serving in the Italian army during World War I.[21]
In 1922, Inter was at risk of relegation to the second division, but they remained in the top league after winning two play-offs.
Six years later, during the Fascist era, the club merged with the Unione Sportiva Milanese and, for political reasons, was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana.[22] During the 1928–29 season, the team wore white jerseys with a red cross emblazoned on it; the jersey's design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan.[23] In 1929, the new club chairman Oreste Simonotti changed the club's name to Associazione Sportiva Ambrosiana and restored the previous black-and-blue jerseys; however, supporters continued to call the team Inter, and in 1931 new chairman Pozzani succumbed to shareholder pressure and changed the name to Associazione Sportiva Ambrosiana-Inter.
Giuseppe Meazza still holds the record for the most goals scored in a debut season in Serie A, with 31 goals in his first season (1929–30).
Their first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 1938–39, led by the Giuseppe Meazza, after whom the San Siro stadium is officially named. A fifth championship followed in 1940. After the end of World War II, the club's name changed back to its original one, Internazionale,[2] winning its sixth championship in 1953 and its seventh in 1954.
In 1960, manager Helenio Herrera joined Inter from Barcelona, bringing with him Spanish midfielder Luis Suárez, who won the European Footballer of the Year in the same year for his role in Barcelona's La Liga/Fairs Cup double.[24] He would transform Inter into one of the leading teams in Europe.[25] He modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the "Verrou" ("door bolt"), which created greater flexibility for counterattacks.[26] The catenaccio system was invented by an Austrian coach, Karl Rappan.[27] Rappan's original system was implemented with four fixed defenders, playing a strict man-to-man marking system, plus a playmaker in the middle of the field, who plays the ball together with two midfield wings. Herrera would modify it by adding a fifth defender, the sweeper or libero, behind the two centre backs. The sweeper or libero, who acted as the free man, would deal with any attackers who went through the two centre backs.[28] Inter finished third in the Serie A in his first season, second the next year and first in his third season. Then followed a back-to-back European Cup victory in 1964 and 1965, earning him the title "il Mago" ("the Wizard").[28] The core of Herrera's team were the attacking full-backsTarcisio Burgnich and Giacinto Facchetti, Armando Picchi the sweeper, Suárez the playmaker, Jair the winger, Mario Corso the left midfielder and Sandro Mazzola, who played on the inside-right.[29][30][31][32][33]
Sandro Mazzola played for the highly successful Inter team remembered by the name of "La Grande Inter", during the 1960s.
A year later, Inter repeated the feat by beating two-time winner Benfica in the final held at home, from a Jair goal, and then again beat Independiente in the Intercontinental Cup, becoming the first European team to win two times in a row the competition. Inter came close to winning the Treble for the first time in European football history that year, after having also won the Serie A title, but lost the Coppa Italia final against Juventus.
Inter again reached semifinals of the European cup in 1966, but this time lost against a Real Madrid team that would go on to win the tournament.
In 1967, after Inter eliminated Real Madrid in quarterfinals, with Suárez injured, Inter lost the European Cup Final in Lisbon 2–1 to Celtic[35]. During that year, the club changed its name to Football Club Internazionale Milano.
A line-up of F.C. Internazionale Milano during the Scudetto winning 1970–71 season
Following the golden era of the 1960s, Inter managed to win their eleventh league title in 1971 and their twelfth in 1980.[36] Inter were defeated for the second time in five years in the final of the European Cup, losing 0–2 to Johan Cruyff's Ajax in 1972. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Inter also added two to its Coppa Italia tally, in 1977–78 and 1981–82.
Hansi Müller (1975–1982 VfB Stuttgart, 1982–1984 Inter Milan) and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (1974–1984 Bayern Munich, 1984–1987 Inter Milan) played for Inter Milan. Led by the German duo of Andreas Brehme and Lothar Matthäus, and Argentine Ramón Díaz, Inter captured the 1989 Serie A championship. Inter were unable to defend their title, despite adding fellow German Jürgen Klinsmann to the squad and winning their first Supercoppa Italiana at the start of the season.
The 1990s was a lackluster period. While their great rivals Milan and Juventus were achieving success both domestically and in Europe, Inter enjoyed little success in the domestic league standings, their worst coming in 1993–94 when they finished just one point out of the relegation zone. Nevertheless, they achieved some European success, with three UEFA Cup victories, in 1991, 1994 and 1998.
With Massimo Moratti's takeover from Ernesto Pellegrini in 1995, Inter twice broke the world record transfer fee in this period (£19.5 million for Ronaldo from Barcelona in 1997 and £31 million for Christian Vieri from Lazio two years later).[37] However, the 1990s remained the only decade in Inter's history, alongside the 1940s, in which they did not win a single Serie A championship. This persistent lack of success led to poor relations between the fanbase and the chairman, the managers, and even some individual players.
Jerseys of Ronaldo (number 10), Zamorano (one plus eight) and Figo (seven) in the San Siro museum
Moratti later became a target of the fans, especially when he sacked the much-loved coach Luigi Simoni after a few games into the 1998–99 season, five days after Inter have defeated Real Madrid 3-1 at San Siro in Champions League group stage with two goals from Roberto Baggio, and having just received the Italian manager of the year award for 1998 the day before being dismissed.
That season despite 4 coaches changes Inter reached Champions League quarter Finals when it will be eliminated from Manchester United; Inter failed to qualify for any European competition for the first time in almost ten years, finishing in eighth place.
In the previous season 1997-1998 under Simoni Inter had won his third UEFA Cup defending in Paris final Lazio 3-0, and nearly won Serie A title, with many controversial referee decisions culminated in the decisive match against Juventus in Turin with Inter behind only 1 point with 4 games left, when referee didn't concede a penalty on Ronaldo, that generated a turmoil on the pitch and a big scandal, with president Moratti that left the building shortly afterwards.
The following season 1999-2000, Moratti appointed former Juventus manager Marcello Lippi, and signed players such as Angelo Peruzzi, Laurent Blanc and Clarence Seedorf from Real Madrid, together with other former Juventus players Vieri and Vladimir Jugović and sold important players like Diego Simeone, and Gianluca Pagliuca. The team came close to their first domestic success since 1989 when they reached the Coppa Italia final, only to be defeated by Lazio, in a match remembered for the second severe injury on right knee of Ronaldo that was returning after 5 months of inactivity.
Inter's misfortunes continued the following season, losing the 2000 Supercoppa Italiana match against Lazio 4–3, after initially taking the lead through new signing Robbie Keane. They were also eliminated in the preliminary round of the Champions League by Swedish club Helsingborgs, with Álvaro Recoba missing a crucial late penalty. Lippi was sacked after only a single game of the new season following Inter's first ever Serie A defeat to Reggina. Marco Tardelli, chosen to replace Lippi, failed to improve results, and is remembered by Inter fans as the manager who lost 6–0 in the city derby against Milan.
In 2002 with new coach Hector Cuper, the acquisition of the second most expensive goalkeeper in the world at that time Francesco Toldo and the return after injury of Ronaldo in pair with Vieri, not only did Inter manage to make it to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, but were also only 45 minutes away from capturing the Scudetto when they needed to maintain their one-goal advantage away to Lazio. Inter were 2–1 up after only 24 minutes. Lazio equalised during first half injury time, and then scored two more goals by Simeone and Simone Inzaghi in the second half to secure victory that saw Juventus win the championship, Roma ended second and Inter third.
After brillant performances and have won 2002 World Cup with Brazil, Ronaldo demanded and ottened to be sold to Real Madrid, and was replaced by Hernan Crespo from Lazio, Seedorf was sold to AC Milan and Fabio Cannavaro was acquired from Parma.
The next season Inter finished as league runners-up and also reached the 2002–03 Champions League semi-finals against AC Milan, losing on the away goals rule with two draw in the same stadium in San Siro.
Other members of the Inter "family" during this period who suffered were the likes of Vieri and Fabio Cannavaro, both of whom had their restaurants in Milan vandalised after defeats to the Rossoneri 3-2 on February 2004 in Serie A.
Comeback and unprecedented treble (2004–2011)[edit]
On 8 July 2004, Inter appointed former Lazio manager Roberto Mancini as its new head coach, with players that will make the history of Inter like Esteban Cambiasso, Julio Cesar, and in 2005 Walter Samuel and Luis Figo.[38] In his first season, the team collected 72 points from 18 wins, 18 draws and only two losses, as well as winning the Coppa Italia against Roma with two goal from Adriano and later the Supercoppa Italiana in Turin against Juventus.[39][40] On 11 May 2006, Inter won the Coppa Italia title for the second season in a row after defeating Roma with a 4–1 aggregate victory (a 1–1 scoreline in Rome and a 3–1 win at the San Siro).
Jeffery Michael Gordon[2] (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series and Sprint Cup Series (now called NASCAR Cup Series), and also served as a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in select races during the 2016 season.[3] He is regarded as one of the best and most influential drivers in NASCAR history, helping the sport reach mainstream popularity.
He is third on the all-time Cup wins list with 93 career wins, while having the record for the most wins in NASCAR's modern era (1972–present) and the most wins in one modern era season, with 13 during the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Gordon's 81 pole positions led all active drivers and is third all-time, and also a modern era record; Gordon won at least one pole in 23 consecutive seasons, making this a NASCAR record. Other records include the most restrictor plate track wins with 12 and the most road course wins with 9,[4] and he was the active "iron man" leader for consecutive races participated in with 797 through the 2015 season.[5]
In 1998, NASCAR named Gordon to its 50 Greatest Drivers list. Ten years later in a 2008 article, ESPN's Terry Blount ranked him 10th in the 25 Greatest Drivers of All-Time.[6]Foxsports.com named him as the fifth best NASCAR driver of all time.[7] He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2019. As of 2016, Gordon was considered the highest-paid NASCAR driver ever and the 18th highest-paid athlete of all-time with $515 million in career earnings, per Forbes.[8]
Gordon, along with Rick Hendrick, co-owns the No.48 Chevrolet previously driven by Jimmie Johnson, who won seven Cup championships from 2006 to 2010, 2013, and in 2016. Gordon also has an equity stake in the No.24 team.[9] Gordon also owned a Busch Series team between 1999 and 2000, Gordon/Evernham Motorsports (co-owned with Ray Evernham; later solely owned as JG Motorsports), winning twice.
When he was four years old,[17] Gordon rode a BMX bike that his stepfather bought for him[16] and began racing quarter midgets at the age of five. The Roy Hayer Memorial Race Track (previously the Cracker Jack Track) in Rio Linda, California is noted as the first track Gordon ever competed on. By the age of six, Gordon had won 35 main events and set five track records.[18] In 1979 Gordon won 51 quarter midget races. When he was 11, Gordon won all 25 of the karting races he entered.[15] At age 12, Gordon became bored with cars and decided to start a career in waterskiing before switching back to driving one year later.[19] In 1986, Gordon began racing sprint cars, winning three races. The next year, Gordon was awarded a USAC license at age 16, the youngest driver to do so.[15]
During the 1980s,[15] Gordon and his family had to overcome an insurance hurdle. The minimum age for driving the sprint cars was 16, and his persistence paid off with an all Florida speed weeks. Supporting his career choice, Gordon's family moved from Vallejo to Pittsboro, Indiana, where there were more opportunities for younger racers. In the late 80's, he drove in the World of Outlaws series and picked up some feature wins. He became the youngest driver in the World of Outlaws at the time.[20] He also won races at Bloomington and Eldora Speedways.[21] After graduating from high school in 1989, he quickly changed and went to Bloomington to race that night.[22][16] Before the age of 18, Gordon had already won three short-track races and was awarded USAC Midget Car Racing Rookie of the Year in 1989. That season was highlighted by winning Night Before the 500 midget car race on the day before the Indianapolis 500.[23] During the decade, Gordon also ran sprint cars in Australia and New Zealand.[15] In 1990, Gordon won his second consecutive Night Before the 500, the Hut Hundred, and the Belleville Midget Nationals on his way to winning the USAC national Midget title.[23] In 1991, Gordon captured the USAC Silver Crown, and at the age of 20 became the youngest driver to win the season championship.[23] He also won the 4 Crown Nationals midget car race that season.[23] In his midget car career between 1989 and 1992, he finished in the Top 3 in 22 of 40 USAC midget car events.[23] In 1992, Gordon competed in the Slim Jim All Pro Series' Winchester 400, but finished 24th after crashing on lap 172.[24] The following year, he ran a Featherlite Southwest Tour race at Sears Point Raceway, finishing 29th after suffering an engine failure.[25]
In the early 1990s, Gordon expressed interest in IndyCar racing, but was not able to find a ride due to low funding.[19] However, former Formula One driver Jackie Stewart offered Gordon a test drive in Europe, in what Gordon assumed was Formula Three or Formula 3000; Gordon did not perform the test due to being in contact with NASCAR.[26]
In 1990, Gordon met Hugh Connerty, who owned some Hooters restaurants and was also a partner in Outback Steakhouse. Connerty secured some sponsorship for a car through Outback, and they tested for the last few Busch Grand National races left in 1990. Ray Evernham was called in to work with Gordon in his stock car debut. His first Busch race came on October 20, 1990 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the AC-Delco 200. Gordon drove the No. 67 Outback Steakhouse Pontiac for Connerty. Gordon ran the second fastest lap during qualifying and started on the outside of the front row of the field. Gordon would, however, get involved in a wreck on lap 33. He ended up with a 39th-place finish.[27]
In 1991 and 1992, Gordon began racing in the Busch Series full-time, driving Ford Thunderbirds for Bill Davis Racing. In his first year as a Busch driver he won Rookie of the Year. In 1992, Gordon set a NASCAR record by capturing 11 poles in one season.[16] He was sponsored by Carolina Ford Dealers in 1991 and Baby Ruth in 1992.[28]
In 1999, Gordon along with Cup crew chief Evernham formed Gordon/Evernham Motorsports (GEM) in the Busch Series with Gordon and Rick Hendrick's son Ricky Hendrick as drivers, the Rainbow Warriors as pit crew and Patrick Donahue as crew chief.[29] The co-owned team received a full sponsorship from Pepsi and ran six races with Gordon as driver and Evernham as crew chief. GEM only survived one year as Evernham left Hendrick Motorsports, citing tension between him and the team,[30] ending one of the most dominant driver/crew-chief combinations in NASCAR history. Gordon extended his Busch experiment one more year, through 2000 as co-owner, with Rick Hendrick buying Evernham's half, and GEM becoming JG Motorsports. In two seasons, Gordon won twice, in 1999 at the Outback Steakhouse 200, the inaugural race[31] at Phoenix,[32] and 2000 at Homestead.[33]
In 1992, Roush Racing owner Jack Roush planned to sign Gordon, but Gordon's stepfather John Bickford had insisted that Roush hire Ray Evernham; due to Roush's policy of hiring his own crew chiefs, Bickford declined.[34] Later in the year, Rick Hendrick watched Gordon race in a Busch Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and Gordon joined Hendrick Motorsports two days later.[35] Gordon made his Winston Cup debut in the season-ending race, the Hooters 500 at Atlanta, finishing 31st after a crash.[36]
The following year, Gordon began competing full-time in the Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 24 car for Hendrick. He was originally supposed to race the No. 46, but complications with licensing related to Days of Thunder forced Gordon to the 24.[37] He opened the season with a win in the Gatorade Twin 125's race,[38] while also recording his first-career pole position at the fall Charlotte race,[39] and concluded 1993 with a 14th-place points finish and the Rookie of the Year Award.[16] Gordon's early success in the sport reshaped the paradigm and eventually gave younger drivers an opportunity to compete in NASCAR. However, during the season, many doubted Gordon's ability to compete at such a level at such a young age because of his tendency to push the cars too hard and crash. His last-place finish at the 1993 First Union 400 was a firm example of this theory.[40] Additionally, driver Darrell Waltrip wrote he told Hendrick during the season that Gordon had "hit everything but the pace car that year."[41]
In 1994, Gordon won the Busch Clash exhibition race at Daytona.[42] In May, Gordon won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600, and eventually the race after electing to take two tires on a green flag pit stop.[43] Three months later, he scored a hometown victory at the inaugural Brickyard 400, capitalizing on Ernie Irvan's tire going down late in the race.[44]
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race,[1][2] and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclavesuburb of Indianapolis. The event is traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, usually the last weekend of May. It is contested as part of the IndyCar Series, the top level of American open-wheel car racing, a formula colloquially known as "Indy car racing". The track itself is nicknamed the "Brickyard", as the racing surface was first paved in brick in the fall of 1909. One yard of brick remains exposed at the start/finish line. The event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,[3] is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport along with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix, with which it typically shares a date.[4]
The event is steeped in tradition, in pre-race ceremonies, post-race celebrations, and race procedure. The most noteworthy and most popular traditions are the 33-car field lining up three-wide for the start, the annual singing of the chorus of "Back Home Again in Indiana", and the victory lane bottle of milk. Also unique is that qualifying requires the driver to complete four, rather than one, timed laps, and the time trials are conducted on a separate weekend. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards of 250,000, and infield patrons raise the total race-day attendance to a range of approximately 300,000–350,000.[5]
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a smattering of small events, including ones for motorcycles.[6] The first long-distance event, in "fearful conditions", was the 100-lap Prest-O-Lite Trophy in 1909, won by Bob Burman in a Buick.[7] The breakup of the track surface led to two fatal accidents in the first two long-distance events (a 250 mi (400 km) and 300 mi (480 km), which was shortened to 235 mi (378 km) after two severe wrecks).[8]
That these spectacles had attracted 15,000 paying customers (and crowds of up to 40,000)[9] persuaded principal owner Carl G. Fisher to spend $155,000[10] on repaving the track with 3.2 million bricks;[11] he also added a 33-inch (0.84 m) concrete wall around the track's circumference.[10] During the 1910 Decoration Day weekend, the first events on the newly paved circuit drew 60,000 spectators; Ray Harroun won the 200-mile (320 km) Wheeler-Schebler Trophy in a Marmon.[10]
The crowds grew progressively smaller for the rest of the season, however, so the track owners chose to focus on a single race, and considered a 24-hour contest, in the fashion of Le Mans, or a one-thousand-mile (1,600 km) event.[10] They decided on 500 miles (800 km), the estimated distance a race car could run before dark descended on the track,[12] and a spectacular purse of $25,000, equivalent to 82.93 pounds (37.62 kg) of pure gold.[10] The combination allowed the track to rapidly acquire a privileged status for automobile races.
The first "500" was held at the Speedway in 1911 on Decoration Day, May 30,[13] (as it was known from its inception in 1868 to 1967, when federal law made "Memorial Day" the official name), run to a 600-cubic-inch (9,800 cc) maximum engine size formula.[10] It saw a field of 40 starters,[10] with Harroun piloting a Marmon Model 32-based Wasp racer—outfitted with his invention, the rear-view mirror.[14] Harroun (with relief from Cyrus Patschke)[15] was declared the winner, although Ralph Mulford protested the official result. Eighty thousand spectators were in attendance, and an annual tradition had been established. Many considered Harroun to be a hazard during the race, as he was the only driver in the race driving without a riding mechanic, who checked the oil pressure and let the driver know when traffic was coming.[16]
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In 1912, the purse was raised to $50,000,[15] the field was limited to 33 (where it remains), and a riding mechanic was made mandatory.[17] This second event was won by Joe Dawson in a National,[18] after Ralph DePalma's Mercedes broke.[15] Although the first race was won by an American driver at the wheel of an American car, European makers such as the ItalianFiat or FrenchPeugeot companies soon developed their vehicles to try to win the event, which they did from 1912 to 1919. The 1913 event saw a change to a 450-cubic-inch (7,400 cc) maximum engine size.[15]
After World War I, the native drivers and manufacturers regained their dominance of the race, and engineer Harry Miller set himself up as the most competitive of the post-war builders.[19] His technical developments allowed him to be indirectly connected to a history of success that would last into the mid-1970s.[citation needed]
For musical entertainment before the start of the race, the Purdue All-American Marching Band has been the host band of the race since 1919. In 1946, American operatic tenor and car enthusiast James Melton started the tradition of singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" with the Purdue Band before the race when asked to do so on the spur of the moment by Speedway president Tony Hulman. This tradition has continued through the years, notably by actor and singer Jim Nabors from 1972 until 2014.[20] Nabors announced in 2014, citing health-related reasons, that the 2014 Indy 500 would be the last at which he would sing the song. In 2015, the a cappella group Straight No Chaser sang the song before the race, and in the two races held after Nabors' retirement (and before he became the regular singer), the singing of the song was done on a rotating basis, with the Spring 2014 winner of The VoiceJosh Kaufman performing in 2016.[21] However, the Speedway has returned to a standard singer with Jim Cornelison doing it since 2017.[22]
Following the European trends, engine sizes were limited to 183 cu in (3,000 cc) during 1920–1922, 122 cu in (2,000 cc) for 1923–1925, and 91 cu in (1,490 cc) in 1926–1929.[15] The 1920 race was won by Gaston Chevrolet in a Frontenac, prepared by his brothers, powered by the first eight-cylinder engine to win the 500.[15] For 1923, riding mechanics were no longer required.[23] A supercharged car, ID, first won the race in 1924.[23] In 1925, Pete DePaolo was the first to win at an average over 100 mph (160 km/h), with a speed of 101.13 mph (162.75 km/h).[15]
In the early 1920s, Miller built his 3.0-liter (183 in3) engine, inspired by the PeugeotGrand Prix engine which had been serviced in his shop by Fred Offenhauser in 1914, installing it in Jimmy Murphy's Duesenberg and allowing him to win the 1922 edition of the race.[19] Miller then created his own automobiles, which shared the 'Miller' designation, which, in turn, were powered by supercharged versions of his 2.0- and 1.5-liter (122 and 91 in3) engine single-seaters, winning four more races for the engine up to 1929 (two of them, 1926 and 1928, in Miller chassis).[24] The engines powered another seven winners until 1938 (two of them, 1930 and 1932, in Miller chassis), then ran at first with stock-type motors before later being adjusted to the international 3.0-liter formula.
After purchasing the Speedway in 1927, Eddie Rickenbacker prohibited supercharging and increased the displacement limit to 366 cu in (6,000 cc), while also re-introducing the riding mechanic.[23]
In 1935, Miller's former employees, Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goossen, had already achieved their first win with the soon-to-become famous 4-cylinder Offenhauser or "Offy" engine. This motor was forever connected with the Brickyard's history with a to-date record total of 27 wins, in both naturally aspirated and supercharged form, and winning a likewise record-holding 18 consecutive years between 1947 and 1964.[25]
European incursions and links to Formula One[edit]
Meanwhile, European manufacturers, gone from the Indianapolis 500 for nearly two decades, made a brief return just before World War II, with the competitive Maserati 8CTF allowing Wilbur Shaw to become the first driver to win consecutively at Indianapolis, in 1939 and 1940.[26][27] With the 500 having been a part of the World Drivers' Championship between 1950 and 1960,[28][29]Ferrari made a discreet appearance at the 1952 event with Alberto Ascari,[30] but European entries were few and far between during those days. Among the Formula One drivers who did drive at the speedway was five-time world champion ArgentinianJuan Manuel Fangio, though he failed to qualify for the 1958 race.
It was not until the Indianapolis 500 was removed from the World Championship calendar that European entries made their return. In 1963, technical innovator Colin Chapman brought his Team Lotus to Indianapolis for the first time, attracted by the large monetary prizes, far bigger than the usual at a European event. Racing a mid-engined car, ScotsmanJim Clark was second in his first attempt in 1963,[31] dominated in 1964 until suffering suspension failure on lap 47, and completely dominated the race in 1965, a victory which also interrupted the success of the Offy, and giving the 4.2-liter Ford V8 its first success at the race.[32] The following year, 1966, saw another British win, this time Graham Hill in a Lola-Ford.[33]
The Offenhauser engine was also paired with a European maker, McLaren, obtaining three wins for the chassis, one with the Penske team in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue,[34] and two for the McLaren works team in 1974[35] and 1976 with Johnny Rutherford.[36] This was also the last time the Offy would win a race, its competitiveness steadily decreasing until its final appearance in 1983. American drivers continued to fill the majority of entries at the Brickyard in the following years, but European technology had taken over. Starting in 1978, most chassis and engines were European, with the only American-based chassis to win during the CART era being the Wildcat and Galmer[37] (which was technically built in Bicester, England) in 1982 and 1992, respectively. Ford and Chevrolet engines were built in the UK by Cosworth and Ilmor, respectively.
As of 2023, the most recent active Formula One driver to have entered the 500 is Fernando Alonso, who drove in the 2017 race. Alonso was the first Formula One driver to enter the 500 since Teo Fabi in 1984.
After foreign cars became the norm, foreign drivers began competing in the Indianapolis 500 regularly, choosing the United States as their primary base for their motor racing activities. BrazilianEmerson Fittipaldi, ItalianTeo Fabi, and ColombianRoberto Guerrero were able to obtain good outings in the 1980s, as was DutchmanArie Luyendyk. In 1993, reigningFormula One World Champion Nigel Mansell shocked the racing world by leaving Formula One for CART. While he came in only third in the 500, he won the 1993 CART championship.[38] Foreign-born drivers became a regular fixture of Indianapolis in the years to follow. Despite the increase in foreign drivers commonly being associated with the CART era, three of the first six Indianapolis 500 winners were non-American drivers.
The Chrysler 300 pace setter used in 1963 in the 47th running of the Indianapolis 500
In 2009, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway began a three-year-long "Centennial Era" to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the track (1909), and the 100th anniversary of the first Indy 500 (1911).[39] As a gesture to the nostalgic Centennial Era celebration (2009–2011), tickets for the 2009 race donned the moniker "93rd 500 Mile International Sweepstakes".[40] It is the first time since 1980 that the "Sweepstakes" title has been used. In May 2009, the ordinal (93rd) was used very sparingly, and for the first time since 1981, was not identified on the annual logo. Instead, in most instances in print, television, and radio, the race was referred to as the "2009 Indianapolis 500". Since the race was not held during the United States' participation in the two World Wars (1917–1918, 1942–1945), the advertised Centennial Era occurred during the 93rd to 95th runnings. To avoid confusion between the 100th anniversary, and the actual number of times the race has been run, references to the ordinal during the Centennial Era were curtailed.
In the 2014 meeting, the road course became part of the race meeting for the first time. The GMR Grand Prix road course event, and the three upper tiers of Road to Indy, participated in road course events at the Speedway during the first week of activities.
Six years later, in 2016, the race celebrated its 100th running with about 350,000 in attendance.[41]
Four local actors were hired to portray the Founding Four of James Allison, Carl Fisher, Frank Wheeler, and Arthur Newby during multiple Centennial Era events and the 100th race. Harold Hefner (Allison), Tom Harrison (Fisher), Jeff Angel (Wheeler), and Matthew Allen (Newby).[42]
In 2020, the race was delayed for the first time from its usual Memorial Day running to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was no audience in attendance, so as to comply with pandemic guidelines. The road course race was moved to the NASCAR weekend in July (which led to an IndyCar road course race added to the NASCAR weekend permanently in 2021), and the support races on the road course moved to its own September weekend. As races were cancelled because of local restrictions, the Speedway added two more road course races in October as part of the Intercontinental GT Challenge meeting, where attendance was capped to 10,000 per event.[43]
In 2024, the race was delayed for over four hours due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area.[44]
The race was originally advertised as the "International 500-Mile Sweepstakes Race"[13] from 1911 to 1916. However, from its inception, the race has been widely known as the Indianapolis 500 or, more simply "the 500", as for many years, it was the only noteworthy auto race of such distance. In 1919, the race was referred to as the "Liberty Sweepstakes" following WWI.[45] From 1920 to 1980, the race officially reverted to the "International Sweepstakes" moniker, as printed on the tickets and other paraphernalia, with slight variations over the years.
Following WWII, the race was commonly recognized as "The 500", "The 500-Mile Race", "Indianapolis 500-Mile Race", "Indianapolis 500", or the simple form "Indy 500". Usually the ordinal (e.g. "50th") preceded it. Often the race was also advertised on the radio as the "Annual Memorial Day race", or similar variations. By the late 20th century, the term "Indy 500" had slowly emerged as the most common and most popularly used moniker. As such, since 2016, the official race logo has used the contemporary and colloquial term "Indy 500".
For the 1981 race, the name "65th Indianapolis 500-Mile Race" was officially adopted, with all references as the "International Sweepstakes" dropped. Since 1981, the race has been formally advertised in this fashion, complete with a unique annual logo with the ordinal almost always included. Around that same time, in the wake of the 1979 entry controversy, and the formation of CART, the race changed to an invitational event, rather than an Open, rendering the "sweepstakes" description inappropriate.
For nearly a century, the race eschewed any sort of naming rights or title sponsor, a move, though uncommon in the modern sports world, that was well received by fans. This tradition finally ended in 2016 when a presenting sponsor, PennGrade, was added for the first time. In the 21st century, the facility has also slowly added sponsorship ads on the retaining walls and infield grass. The ESPN-produced ABC telecast of the event did not recognize this sponsorship and instead had Firestone Tires as its presenting sponsorship.[46]
The Borg-Warner Trophy, introduced in 1936,[47] proclaims the event as the "Indianapolis 500-Mile Race", with no reference at all to the name "International Sweepstakes".
The Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile (4 km) oval circuit. The track is a rounded rectangle, with four distinct turns of identical dimensions, connected by four straightaways (two long straightaways and two "short chutes"). Traditionally, the field consists of 33 starters, aligned in a starting grid of eleven rows of three cars apiece. Drivers race 200 laps, counter-clockwise around the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles (800 km). Since its inception in <
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
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Ancient Greek athlete balancing a ball on his thigh, Piraeus, 400–375 BC
Paint of a Mesoamerican ballgame player of the Tepantitla murals in Teotihuacan
A group of indigenous people playing a ball game in French Guiana
An illustration from the 1850s of indigenous Australians playing marn grook
A revived version of kemari being played at the Tanzan Shrine, Japan, 2006
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