Pop Culture Happenings: July

Nixon says “nothing to hear here,” twin Italian-American plumbers battle creatures emerging from the sewers and Mike Tyson bites off more than he can chew.

__1973__

50 years ago

On July 23, 1973, President Nixon told the investigators of the Watergate scandal he wouldn’t surrender recordings of conversations between himself and his staff from between 1971 and 1973. Nixon claimed “executive privilege” and “national security” as reasons for not releasing the tapes. Nixon dug his heels in for a year, but the Supreme Court ruled against Nixon, who finally turned over the subpoenaed tapes on Aug. 5, 1974. One of the tapes, later dubbed the “Smoking Gun,” recorded a conversation between Nixon and H.R. Haledman discussing plans to cover up the Watergate break-in. Nixon resigned on Aug. 9, 1974.

__1983__

40 years ago

On July 14, 1983, Nintendo released the first Mario Brothers game in arcades in Japan. The game followed twin Italian-American plumbers, Mario and Luigi, as they battled creatures such as “shell creepers” and “sidesteppers” emerging from the New York sewers. The game was similar to its predecessor, “Donkey Kong,” and players directed the plumbers to run and jump to knock enemies on their backs and squish them. “Mario Brothers” evolved over the years, moving out of arcades and into gamers’ homes. It became one of the most popular video game franchises ever produced, spawning multiple sequels, as well as television series and animated and live-action feature films.

__1998__

25 years ago

On July 1, 1997, the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Mike Tyson indefinitely and withheld the $20 million purse for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear during their heavyweight title fight on June 28, 1997. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and was a rematch between Tyson and Holyfield dubbed “The Sound and the Fury;” it has since been infamously known as “The Bite Fight.” Tyson actually bit Holyfield twice, once on each ear, severing a one-inch piece of Holyfield’s right ear. The fight was allowed to continue, but afterwards, Tyson was disqualified.

Later, Tyson’s boxing license was revoked, and he was fined an additional $3 million. However, after appeal, the Boxing Commission reinstated Tyson’s license on Oct. 18, 1998. Years later, after each had retired from boxing, Tyson and Holyfield patched things up on Oct. 16, 2009, on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”