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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
In American football, a touchback is a ruling that is made, and signaled by an official, when the ball becomes dead on or behind a team's own goal line (i.e., in their end zone) and the opposing team gave the ball the momentum, or impetus, to travel over the goal line, but did not have possession of the ball when it became dead. Such impetus may be imparted by a kick, pass, fumble, or in certain instances by batting the ball. Thus, a touchback is not a play, but a result of events that may occur during a play. The result of a touchback is that the team in whose end zone the ball became dead receives possession of the ball and starts play with a first down at its own 20-, 25-, or 35-yard line, depending on the situation and league. A touchback is the opposite of a safety with regard to impetus since a safety is scored when the ball becomes dead in a team's end zone after that team — the team whose end zone it is — caused the ball to cross the goal line. Since the 2018 season, touchbacks have also been awarded in college football on kickoffs that end in a fair catch by the receiving team between its own 25-yard line and goal line. In the 2023 season, the NFL adopted the same rules as college football in regard to awarding touchbacks on kickoffs that end in a fair catch. In 2024, the NFL changed its touchback rule on kickoffs to provide for different placements depending on how the ball entered the end zone. If the kick went into the end zone on the fly, or sailed over the end zone, the ball would be placed on the 30-yard line. The placement remained at the 20 for touchbacks resulting from kicks that bounced into the end zone. This was part of a radical change to the league's kickoff procedure. For the 2025 season, the placement on touchbacks following kickoffs that sail over the end zone or enter it on the fly was moved to the 35-yard line.
Touchback is a 2011 American sports film, written and directed by Don Handfield and starring Brian Presley, Melanie Lynskey, Kurt Russell, and Christine Lahti. It premiered on home video in Finland and Sweden on September 28, 2011, and had a limited theatrical run in the United States the following year. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Sir Purr is the mascot of the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He is an anthropomorphized panther wearing a Panthers football jersey, Number 00. The character was introduced in 1995. On his page at the Panthers' web site, he describes his favorites snacks as "birds like falcons and eagles and seahawks." He has a running rivalry with Jaxson de Ville, the mascot of the Jacksonville Jaguars (the Panthers' expansion brethren). Sir Purr also has family that occasionally joins him in games, such as Mini Meow, a younger version of Sir Purr. He caused a stir in a 1996 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers; on a Panthers punt, he jumped on the ball even though it was a live ball, turning the play into a touchback. In 2020, Sir Purr made a number of headlines when Panthers wide receiver Robby Anderson mistook him for a bear. This created a running joke within the Panthers organization which is still referenced today in Sir Purr's Instagram bio.
Marcus Paul Blucas (; born January 11, 1972) is an American actor. Prior to his acting career, he played college basketball with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He had his first starring role as soldier and love interest Riley Finn on the WB supernatural drama series Buffy the Vampire Slayer from 1999 to 2000, and later starred as football team manager Matthew Donnelly on the USA drama series Necessary Roughness from 2011 to 2013. Blucas starred alongside Katie Holmes in the romantic comedy film First Daughter (2004) and also had lead roles in the thriller films Three (2006) and The Killing Floor (2007). He had supporting roles in the romance films I Capture the Castle (2003), After Sex (2007), and The Jane Austen Book Club (2007); the horror films They (2002), Deadline (2009), and Unearth (2020); the thriller films Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017) and Looking Glass (2018); and the drama films Prey for Rock & Roll (2004) and Touchback (2011). Knight and day with tom cruise.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.