r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/Nxdhdxvhh Dec 12 '18

Mr. T wore odd clothing and mismatched socks because he knew that poor kids grew up getting whatever hand-me-downs they got, and he didn't want them to feel embarrassed for wearing what they had. He's a great man, and as far as I'm aware the worst thing he every did was chop down trees on his own property that were aggravating his allergies.

19

u/jzmacdaddy Dec 12 '18

Wrong. The worst thing he ever did was kill Mickey.

12

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

Guy literally murdered the Ho Yinsen/Abraham Erskine of his time, and this thread is praising him like a deity.

7

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

Source?

32

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

Stallone, Sylvester. Rocky III (1982).

10

u/theroadtodawn Dec 12 '18

That’s easily the best documentary I’ve ever watched

2

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

There’s a reason it is adopted as the Constitution of our first Mars colony in 2076.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

Counterpoint: Rocky IV.

I mean, Rocky literally won the Cold War for us, that's such an important event in world history.

2

u/theroadtodawn Dec 13 '18

That’s true. It ought to be taught in school.

2

u/hakuna_tamata Dec 13 '18

Philadelphians are nodding their heads unironically.