1858 On October 13, an Austin, Texas, newspaper called theSouth-
ern Intelligencerreports that “it is a common thing here to
see boys from 10 to 14 years of age carrying about their per-
sons Bowie knives and pistols” (Hollon 1974, 54). The model
for the statement was probably Ben Thompson, a 16-year-old
typesetter for the newspaper who fancied himself quite the
thug. In Thompson’s case, the weapons were somewhat orna-
mental: Although Thompson once fired a shotgun from am-
bush at a black youth, he did not actually kill anyone until- Texas gunslingers were much more likely to shoot un-
armed blacks and Mexicans than armed anything. John Wesley
Hardin, for instance, was 15 when he shot and killed a black
man for shaking a stick at him. William Preston Longley was
similarly 15 when he shot and killed two black men for danc-
ing in the street. These youthful Texas gunmen somehow al-
ways managed to avoid meeting equally notorious black or
Mexican gunslingers. The most notorious black gunslinger was
probably Jim Kelly, a rider with the Print Olive outfit in Kansas
and Nebraska during the 1870s. The Olive outfit was truly
mean, and known for shooting, hanging, and then burning
rustlers it found on its range.
1858 As part of their post–Crimean War reforms, the British intro-
duce Swiss calisthenics into their recruit training programs.
1859 New York State bans prizefights, and places severe restrictions
on sparring matches. The goal was to stop working-class men
from traveling around the state watching prizefights.
1859 A Greek grain merchant named Evangelios Zappas convinces
King Otto of Greece to host an Olympic festival at Athens in
order to inspire Greek patriotism and promote international
trade. Besides running and jumping, the events held at this fes-
tival include both standing and ground wrestling.
1861 Under the influence of the physical culture movement, Amherst
becomes the first United States college to have a physical edu-
cation department.
1861 Feng Guifen introduces zi qiang(self-strengthening) into the
Chinese political lexicon. Although the phrase originally meant
using European arms and manufacturing methods to defend
traditional Chinese values, by 1935 it also meant using foreign
calisthenics to strengthen Chinese bodies and spirits for military
service.
1862 With the help of Henry Fugner, Dr. Miroslav Tyrs creates the
Sokol (Falcon) system of national gymnastics in Bohemia. This
system offered women a greater part than did German gymnas-
tics, and also supported Czech nationalism better than Prussian
Turnverein.Sokol methods influenced czarist Russian sport
during the 1890s and Soviet sport after 1918.
1864 In volume 1 of a text called Principles of Biology,the English
philosopher Herbert Spencer coins the phrase “survival of the
fittest.” Spencer sees nature as a state of pitiless warfare, with
the elimination of the weak and unfit as its goal. People who
did not read him closely soon applied this theory to social dy-
namics, and called the result Social Darwinism.
820 Chronological History of the Martial Arts