1 00:00:01,219 --> 00:00:02,370 The high five. 2 00:00:02,370 --> 00:00:03,500 Was invented. 3 00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:04,500 In 1977. 4 00:00:04,500 --> 00:00:09,960 Now look, I’ve been in the weird facts game for a long time now, but few tidbits have 5 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,590 ever jarred me quite like finding out that arguably the world’s most iconic hand gesture 6 00:00:14,590 --> 00:00:19,009 is younger than the world’s most iconic Hamm jester, which is what I call Jon Hamm. 7 00:00:19,009 --> 00:00:22,429 The handshake, for comparison, is believed by anthropologists to have been invented in 8 00:00:22,429 --> 00:00:25,509 prehistoric times, before the written word even existed. 9 00:00:25,509 --> 00:00:30,160 The high five was invented the same year Jimmy Buffett released Margaritaville. 10 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:35,250 While the low-five, also called slapping skin, was around in African-American culture since 11 00:00:35,250 --> 00:00:38,570 the 1920s, it wasn’t until the Carter administration that someone finally cracked the code and 12 00:00:38,570 --> 00:00:39,570 took it up high. 13 00:00:39,570 --> 00:00:42,690 There are actually a few different origin stories, but let’s start with the most widely 14 00:00:42,690 --> 00:00:43,690 known. 15 00:00:43,690 --> 00:00:45,680 The day was October 2, 1977. 16 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:48,360 The location was Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. 17 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:50,900 The men were Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke. 18 00:00:50,900 --> 00:00:54,150 The number one song in America was The Star Wars Theme/Cantina Blend. 19 00:00:54,150 --> 00:00:57,240 That’s 100% true, by the way, but it’s not the point. 20 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:00,720 The story goes like this: the Dodgers were trying to break the very specific record of 21 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:04,420 having four players each hit thirty home runs in a season, because if there’s one thing 22 00:01:04,420 --> 00:01:08,159 baseball loves even more than financially exploiting minor leaguers’ childhood dreams, 23 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:09,510 it’s weirdly specific records. 24 00:01:09,510 --> 00:01:14,260 In the sixth inning, Dusty Baker hit his 30th homer, and as he came around the bases, a 25 00:01:14,260 --> 00:01:18,250 rookie named Glenn Burke excitedly put his hand up in the air, and Baker, unsure of what 26 00:01:18,250 --> 00:01:19,990 he should do, slapped it. 27 00:01:19,990 --> 00:01:23,729 Seemingly, Baker put about as much thought into this landmark moment in hand history 28 00:01:23,729 --> 00:01:28,280 as I put into writing this video, saying simply: “His hand was up in the air, and he was 29 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,870 arching way back, so I reached up and hit his hand. 30 00:01:30,870 --> 00:01:32,070 It seemed like the thing to do." 31 00:01:32,070 --> 00:01:34,830 It turned out, it was, in fact, the thing to do. 32 00:01:34,830 --> 00:01:38,231 The Dodgers soon adopted the high five, even putting out advertisements about the high 33 00:01:38,231 --> 00:01:42,790 five that now read like a Strange Planet cartoon, which detail that the “high five salute” 34 00:01:42,790 --> 00:01:46,159 is “given customarily following a home run or Dodgers victory.” 35 00:01:46,159 --> 00:01:49,900 But while the Dodgers loved the high-five, they didn’t so much love its inventor, Glenn 36 00:01:49,900 --> 00:01:51,900 Burke, mainly because of who he loved. 37 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:54,830 If you’ve ever been a gay baseball player in the 1970s, you’ll know that it was a 38 00:01:54,830 --> 00:01:56,580 difficult time to be a gay baseball player. 39 00:01:56,580 --> 00:02:00,229 I could go into more depth, but I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain homophobia; 40 00:02:00,229 --> 00:02:03,560 if you want more information, you can read Clarence Thomas’ dissent in Dobbs, or watch 41 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,159 any mainstream comedy made in the early 2000s. 42 00:02:06,159 --> 00:02:09,619 Things are much better now, of course, which is why since Burke’s coming out, there have 43 00:02:09,619 --> 00:02:13,080 been literally ones of openly gay professional baseball players. 44 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,349 Burke was pushed out of the league after only four years, though he went on to compete in 45 00:02:16,349 --> 00:02:20,750 the 1982 Gay Olympics and become a star in the San Francisco Gay Softball League, even 46 00:02:20,750 --> 00:02:24,040 making the high-five into a symbol of gay pride in the Castro District. 47 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:28,370 The Burke-Baker story is the most widely-accepted high-five origin story, and likely the one 48 00:02:28,370 --> 00:02:29,370 with the best claim. 49 00:02:29,370 --> 00:02:33,500 But much like calculus, lightning rods, and this thumbnail, the high five has multiple 50 00:02:33,500 --> 00:02:34,790 claimed inventors. 51 00:02:34,790 --> 00:02:39,970 The most plausible other origin comes from the 1978-1979 University of Louisville basketball 52 00:02:39,970 --> 00:02:42,950 team, known as the Doctors of Dunk, because they were famous for playing above the rim—not 53 00:02:42,950 --> 00:02:46,230 to be confused with the Doctor of Dunk, which is what I call the man who draws my blood 54 00:02:46,230 --> 00:02:47,569 behind a Dunkin Donuts. 55 00:02:47,569 --> 00:02:51,950 One day in practice, forward Wiley Brown went to give his teammate Derek Smith a classic 56 00:02:51,950 --> 00:02:52,950 low five. 57 00:02:52,950 --> 00:02:57,150 But that day, Smith stopped him, stared Brown directly in the eyes, and said, “No, up 58 00:02:57,150 --> 00:03:00,751 high,” likely the coolest thing anyone had ever said until the time Joe Biden said “There 59 00:03:00,751 --> 00:03:01,751 are at least three genders. 60 00:03:01,751 --> 00:03:03,180 Don’t play games with me, kid.” 61 00:03:03,180 --> 00:03:06,239 Brown said he understood “up high” to be in commemoration of how their team played 62 00:03:06,239 --> 00:03:09,900 basketball up high, and accordingly, reached up and gave Smith what they claim to be the 63 00:03:09,900 --> 00:03:10,900 first high-five. 64 00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:14,660 And there’s evidence to back them up: in fact, you can see the high five in archival 65 00:03:14,660 --> 00:03:16,599 footage of the Cardinals’ 78-79 season. 66 00:03:16,599 --> 00:03:20,190 There are also a number of assorted other origins. 67 00:03:20,190 --> 00:03:24,190 Some high-five historians claim it began back in the 1960s on the women’s volleyball circuit, 68 00:03:24,190 --> 00:03:26,160 though there’s not much documentation. 69 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,560 Magic Johnson claims he invented the high five when he played basketball at Michigan 70 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:30,560 State. 71 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:33,670 But then again, Magic Johnson also claimed the Atlanta Hawks could make the Finals in 72 00:03:33,670 --> 00:03:37,270 2015, which I’m now realizing is a reference none of you will understand, but… trust 73 00:03:37,270 --> 00:03:38,270 me, it was dumb. 74 00:03:38,270 --> 00:03:41,470 There’s even one widely-publicized version claiming a basketball player named Lamont 75 00:03:41,470 --> 00:03:44,730 Sleets invented the high-five in high school, which turned out to be an elaborate hoax by 76 00:03:44,730 --> 00:03:47,920 two comedy writers who randomly picked the Lamont Sleets name out of a record book. 77 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,569 Now, I know that people are going to comment on this video that surely two people slapped 78 00:03:51,569 --> 00:03:53,290 palms above their heads before 1977. 79 00:03:53,290 --> 00:03:54,420 And that’s true. 80 00:03:54,420 --> 00:03:59,260 A high five can be seen, for example, here in the 1960 French New Wave movie Breathless, 81 00:03:59,260 --> 00:04:01,650 when two characters say goodbye after making a plan. 82 00:04:01,650 --> 00:04:06,330 But the high five isn’t just a physical action; a high five is also an idea, inherently 83 00:04:06,330 --> 00:04:08,060 tied to the meaning it conveys: celebration. 84 00:04:08,060 --> 00:04:12,599 And it wasn’t until the late 70s and early 80s that the act of slapping palms above your 85 00:04:12,599 --> 00:04:16,789 head was, first off, called a high five, but more importantly, was understood to have that 86 00:04:16,789 --> 00:04:17,789 celebratory meaning. 87 00:04:17,789 --> 00:04:20,530 And if you don’t understand that, I’d invite you to go ahead and give yourself a 88 00:04:20,530 --> 00:04:23,570 good old-fashioned high-five right in the face. 89 00:04:23,570 --> 00:04:25,810 You know what can feel like getting high fived in the face? 90 00:04:25,810 --> 00:04:26,810 Waking up. 91 00:04:26,810 --> 00:04:29,620 Especially when right after you wake up, you start scrolling Twitter and basically get 92 00:04:29,620 --> 00:04:32,880 high fived in the face by an algorithm optimized for maximal outrage-slash-annoyance. 93 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:36,760 That’s why I’ve begun starting my mornings with Morning Brew, the free daily newsletter 94 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,460 that comes Monday through Sunday and keeps me up to date with the latest stuff in business, 95 00:04:40,460 --> 00:04:42,590 finance, and tech in just 5 minutes. 96 00:04:42,590 --> 00:04:47,530 Knowing who invented the high five is of course, an unbelievable factoid sure to make you unfashionably 97 00:04:47,530 --> 00:04:51,770 popular, but the news Morning Brew brings you is like, actually useful, both for staying 98 00:04:51,770 --> 00:04:53,520 informed and making smart decisions. 99 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:57,050 You don’t need to skim headlines or suffer through long, dense articles that just want 100 00:04:57,050 --> 00:05:01,100 to waste your time—Morning Brew breaks everything down into clever, bite-size blurbs that tell 101 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:03,889 you exactly what you need to know and nothing more. 102 00:05:03,889 --> 00:05:07,430 Just this morning I was reading their article on the scam-fueled future of fitness, which 103 00:05:07,430 --> 00:05:10,889 was interesting, well-sourced, and most-importantly, straight to the point. 104 00:05:10,889 --> 00:05:14,919 And again, it’s completely free; 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