The Oldest Heavyweight Champion

Today, 30 years ago in 1994, American boxer George Foreman (aged 45) became the world’s oldest heavyweight champion after knocking out Michael Moorer (aged 26) in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

He also broke the record for the greatest age difference between champion and challenger.

Southpaw Moorer had won the WBO title beating Bert Cooper and went on to unify the titles beating Evander Holyfield. Foreman had been on the comeback trail for several years after coming out of a 10-year retirement.

George Foreman

Moorer controlled the pace from the beginning and built up a substantial lead. By the start of the 10th round, trainer Angelo Dundee told Foreman that the only way he could win would be by KO and that the time had come. 

Moorer fended Foreman off for most of the round until a combination caught him flush on the jaw. Foreman was declared the winner by KO and became the champion.

Foreman later stated that his strategy was to let Moorer fight his usual fight and wait for him to slip up, while Moorer insisted that Foreman just got “lucky”.

Foreman v Moorer Highlights

Death of Henri Matisse - 3rd November 1954

Today is the 75th anniversary of the death of French artist Henri Matisse, considered by many as the most important French painter of the 20th century.

Born in December 1869, Matisse is known primarily for his bold use of colour and is one of the founders of fauvism, which characterised strong colour and fierce brushwork (fauves in French translates as wild beasts).

One of his iconic works from this period is Woman with a Hat (1905), which shocked audiences with its use of expressive and vivid colour (see left).

Matisse’s work greatly influenced modern art and continues to inspire modern-day artists in diverse fields. His collaboration with Pablo Picasso and their influence on each other's art became a defining relationship in modern art.

His pieces are celebrated for their playfulness, simplicity, and emotional depth.

Further reading: Henri Matisse (1869 - 1954) Essay - The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Birthday of the UK Newspaper Crossword - 2nd November 1924

The first crossword puzzle to appear in a British Newspaper appeared on this day 100 years ago in the Sunday Express.

This marked the beginning of a crossword craze in the UK, inspired by the earlier popularity of crosswords in the United States. However, British crosswords soon evolved into their own style, with a preference for "cryptic" clues, which require wordplay and lateral thinking.

This was nine years after the world’s first modern crossword puzzle was published in the FUN section of New York World in December 1913. British journalist Arthur Wynne (left) who created it, originally called the puzzle a “Word Cross,” featuring a diamond-shaped grid with simple clues. A topographical error later changed its name to a “Cross-Word.”