Just hours away from America’s biggest game of the year, the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams will square off in Super Bowl LVI. A thread on its exquisite Indian connection. (1/9)
When Paul Brown, an American football coach from Ohio, was fired by his previous employer, he founded his new franchise Cincinnati Bengals. (2/9)
Brown, named the franchise after another Cincinnati football team named Cincinnati Bengals who played between 1937 and 1942 and was forced to close down due to World War II. (3/9)
Benzoo, the Royal Bengal Tiger from West Bengal, a unique specimen of Cincinnati Zoo, was chosen as the mascot for the Bengals. Benzoo proudly enjoyed her Sunday outings to the stadium in front of 50,000 fans in the 70s. (4/9)
Now, the original Bengal team that played in the 1930s had a fascinating story behind their naming. When Hal Pennington, the founder of the newly formed Cincinnati Bengal, sat in his mother’s kitchen one late summer day in 1937, he observed a stove. (5/9)
The logo of the stove caught his attention - it was a mighty roaring Bengal Tiger. The stove line, manufactured between 1870 and 1940 by Floyd-Wells, was named Bengal Stoves. (6/9)
It is this Bengal Stove line that influenced the name of the franchise playing the Super Bowl LVI today. While why ‘Bengal Stove’ was named after a Bengal Tiger is not clearly understood, many believe it was due to the owner’s fascination with safaris. (7/9)
It is rumoured that the president once went on a safari to hunt the Bengal tigers, and he was enchanted with the beast leading to the name of his stove line. Note to remember: it was common for Americans in that era to visit India for Tiger ‘shikar’. (8/9)
This Government-issued advertisement in the "Field & Stream" magazine, USA in 1956 luring Americans to contact the local office (at NYC & SFO) for Tiger hunting information, is a testimony to the above. (9/9)
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
On this day, as the cricketing world fondly celebrates the birthday of Sunil Gavaskar, it's worth remembering that in 1993, in a city fractured by bombs and riots, Gavaskar didn’t just stand tall, he stood between life and death.
1/11
1993.
Bombay was still reeling from the serial blasts. The air was thick with fear and suspicion. Communal riots had turned neighbours into enemies.
2/11
But in this chaos, on a tense afternoon, Gavaskar looked out from his balcony and saw something no one should have to witness — an armed mob surrounding a taxi carrying a terrified family.
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone was born on this day in 1925. His name was changed Gurudatta Padukone after a childhood accident.
Guru Dutt remains a legendary figure in Indian cinema. Here is a story about one of his most popular films at the time of its release. 1/10
The 1942 film Khandan, featuring Noorjehan and Pran, was a massive success. Written and directed by her husband, Shaukat Hussein Rizvi, the film showcased his strong scriptwriting skills. Following partition, Rizvi moved to Pakistan, leaving the film's story and script ownership with Asia Theatres. 2/10
Guru Dutt purchased a script written by Rizvi from Asia Theatres for a substantial amount of 5,000 rupees, only to find it was in Urdu. He then tasked his close friend, confidante and collaborator, Abrar Alvi, with translating the script, including dialogues, into English. 3/10
Charles de Gaulle, the founder of France’s Fifth Republic, is said to have survived more than 30 assassination attempts. One in particular stands out — here’s why. 1/20
On 22 August 1962, Charles de Gaulle, founder of France’s Fifth Republic and then-President, was en route to his country home in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. Accompanied by his wife Yvonne and protected by elite security personnel, the journey was meant to be routine. 2/20
At around 8 p.m, the presidential convoy passed through Petit-Clamart near Place de la Résistance on Route Nationale 10. 3/20
What began as a policy rift spiraled into one of the most bitter face-offs in 20th-century geopolitics. Indira Gandhi vs. Richard Nixon — a diplomatic Cold War drama, soaked in ego, war, and unfiltered racism. Let’s rewind to the early 1970s. Thread.
1/16
The world was on edge. India was on the brink of war with Pakistan. Bangladesh was fighting for freedom.
Millions of refugees were pouring into India.
And the White House—was furious.
Why? Because Indira Gandhi wouldn’t bend to U.S. pressure.
2/16
In 1971, Indira Gandhi visited the U.S. to explain the refugee crisis and the brewing genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
But President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger weren’t interested in moral arguments.
3/16
Magnus Carlsen’s dramatic fist slam this week after an unexpected defeat by Gukesh Dommaraju sparked waves worldwide. But, chess has always been war. In 1978, a world title match featured hypnotism, black magic, yogurt conspiracies, and a murder trial in India.
Thread
1/20
On the surface, it was a game of 64 squares. But in the shadows, it was war. Not metaphorical war — real, ideological, psychological, and bizarre. It’s a game of strategy and psychology, yes, but history tells us it’s also a theater of madness. 2/20
The 1978 World Chess Championship between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines, was unlike any chess match before or since. This wasn’t just Karpov vs. Korchnoi. It was the USSR vs. a defector. Communism vs. exile. 3/20
In just a few hours, PSG will face Inter Milan—one of Italy’s most iconic clubs—in the UCL final. Indian fans have long held a soft spot for Italian football, yet few remember that it was a group of Italians who sparked Bengaluru’s passion for the game. Thread
1/15
Karnataka has produced many cricket legends — Vishwanath, Kumble, Dravid. In a city that lives and breathes cricket, home to the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium, there’s one neighborhood that worships football: Gowthampura.
2/15
How did the beautiful game take root here? Surprisingly, the answer: Benito Mussolini.
To understand how a small, working-class suburb in Bangalore became one of India’s football nurseries, we need to wind the clock back to 1941 — the world deep in the throes of WWII.