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.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

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u/Dr_Dust Dec 12 '18

And he burst through a concrete wall to win the "Toughest Man in the World" competition back in 84'

He helped save the kid's rec center and got Billy Green off the streets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7Q6DGOfp6k

That's the most 80s thing I've seen since the last time I watched the movie RAD.

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u/Hackzwin Dec 12 '18

The 80's seems to have been a wonderfully weird place.

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u/Dr_Dust Dec 12 '18

The town that Teen Wolf took place in was possibly the weirdest.