One of the profiles that we respect on The Hall is that of men and women who fought, lived and maintained longevity on their own terms. What I mean by this is that any man who could survive into his late adult life within a society that used laws, government, schools and police to keep him “less than” is already a champion. If you add in the fact that a man like this defiantly and legally married 3 women that were of his oppressors and found a way to beat all challengers into a bloody pulp within the boxing ring then what you have is a certified badass. “for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth.” – Ken Burns If you were a white man who loved boxing in the early 1900’s you would hate John Arthur “Jack” Johnson more than any other Negro in… [Read more]

You’ve heard the saying “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” but if you want to apply a face to the saying you could easily use the face of Caterina Sforza. Here on The Hall we have 2 main historical sections in Badass of The Month and Hotties of History, Caterina is the first woman to occupy both. How To Raise A Tigress In 1462 Galeazzo Maria Sforza made love to the wife of a friend and got her pregnant, which lead to the birth of our darling Caterina. The scandal of her birth was no big deal at the time, as her Caterina’s father was a lord amongst man-whores and ran up inside any woman that he felt was hot (seriously). Ironically her birth coming from such a rebellious act as adultery was just a pre-cursor to her wickedly dynamic life. Unlike other girls that learnt lady-like things as they grew up, Caterina’s… [Read more]

Hip Hop fans and natives to Queens New York know who the legendary Pappy Mason is. He isn’t Italian, he isn’t Cuban and he’s not a creature of myth. While his reality these days is that of a poop slinging, 24hr lockdown lunatic serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole, Pappy Mason was one of the most dangerous gangsters to have ever held the streets of New York. The legend that is Pappy Mason is that of an enforcer and muscle who studied the doctrines (a whole lot of Scarface and The Godfather reruns), hated cops with a passion and never broke omerta. He was a crime boss’s wet dream because of his loyalty and he served his boss Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols with Samurai loyalty. Pappy Mason was successful for one single solitary reason, he was respected out of fear. His volatile nature and bull-like aggression made it easy for him to… [Read more]

While many view snipers as the hidden (safe) threats in war based on their forays in First Person Shooter video games and movies like Saving Private Ryan and Enemy at The Gates, the fact of the matter is that snipers like any other soldiers in war are very successible to danger – especially in the case of Sergeant Ed Eaton’s brave protection and rescue of comrade in arms Major Mike Perkins when he had fallen injured in a night assault during the Vietnam war 1969. Mike and Ed were part of a helicopter night mission when the Viet Cong shot down the chopper resulting in most of the men injured with near fatal wounds. Mike got the worst of it being pinned down under the helicopter and unable to get out. Now remember that at this time the men were still under attack and Ed Eaton in his own words said that he had the… [Read more]

Known by some as Joe Bananas (A name he abhorred based on the connotation that he was crazy), Giuseppe “Joseph” Bonanno saw over 95 years on this earth while living a life of crime and privilege. If that isn’t amazing enough, you could factor in his survival within the American Mafia and seeing it change three times over. From being raised within the principles of Castellamarese’ men of honor, to being the youngest of the five bosses on The Commission, boss Joe was respected by gangsters and lawmakers alike. Hailing from Castellammare del Golfo, Joe Bonanno and family first immigrated to Brooklyn, New York when he was 3 years old and then again at 20 after both his parents died (His father was an important mafia leader in Sicily). When Joe came to America, he was tutored by the infamous gangster Salvatore Maranzano. Don Maranzano was a man with qualities that Joe admired and eventually… [Read more]

Today’s entry is about the mighty elephant Hannibal, a man whose father instilled such a hate in him for the city of Rome that he would not only fight his entire life to try and destroy it, but took a draught of poison rather than be imprisoned within her halls. Hannibal absolutely loathed Rome, it was a deep, deep hate born and bred from the loss of his father, brothers and friends to their legions, and it all began from one legendary act. The act (that Hannibal reportedly loved to talk about) was when his father, the mighty Hamilcar held him aloft above a fire and made him swear to hate Rome or face the flames and oblivion. Being a young soldier within his father’s campaign, Hannibal at first fought whilst witnessing his father and older brother expand Carthage into Spain and beat back Rome like nobody’s business. He was sharp and ambitious which eventually… [Read more]

“In stature she was very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh; a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips; around her neck was a large golden necklace; and she wore a tunic of diverse colors over which a thick mantle was fastened with a brooch. This was her invariable attire.” – Cassius Dio’s description of Boudica, Icenian Queen. One of the most glorious female warriors in ancient history is the warrior queen Boudica – a Celtish badass who led her men into war against the Romans in 61 C.E. Under the order of the commanders of the Roman legions, her people were ravaged for conquest, slaves pillaged her home, and she was whipped. Her daughters were brutally raped and her people made into slaves for the glory of Rome. This was all a tiny offense compared to the savagery brought… [Read more]

A few years ago, Denzel Washington played the character Frank Lucas in American Gangster, a tale about a hustler who took the drug game beyond the limited scope of his fellow hoods. In the early portions of the movie we see that Frank was tutored by a man who they simply called Bumpy, played by Clarence Williams III. Well as much as the movie put Frank Lucas over as a mastermind and Denzel Washington inaccurately portrayed him as a cool, poised Gangster, most historians know that Bumpy Johnson deserved a bit more than a slight mention in the life of Lucas. It is convenient that Lucas was alive to make sure that they semi-accurately put him over in the movie, but his predecessor Bumpy was not afforded that luxury for  American Gangster. Well we are fans of old Elsworth here at the Hall, Bumpy represented a Gangster and Gentleman the way that it was meant… [Read more]