Jack Johnson
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January 15, 2005 - Philadelphia Daily News
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This was originally posted in our Facebook Group as part of a series called Grappling With Color for Black History Month.
Jack Johnson (March 31, 1878- June 10, 1946),
The first African American World Boxing Champion (1908-1915), a true barrier breaker as he transcended boxing and became one of the most famous people on earth during the height of his boxing fame.
But, did you know that during his peak, Johnson was also a wrestler? Some of his bouts were against other grapplers such as Jimmy Esson, whom defeated Jack Johnson on December 16, 1913. And in 1914 there's a story that goes around about how Jack Johnson shows up in Bremen, Germany to wrestle and during the match it nearly caused a riot.
Reasons being that Jack performed in an exhibition bout, after the one minute bout one of Johnson's managers came out to announce that Jack would wrestle one more opponent - Karl Simon (a lesser known grappler) and Ernst Siegfried (a very well known and famous grappler, also know as the "German Oak" because of his power). Jack Johnson picked the lesser known and non-experienced grappler Karl Simon. Beating Simon in about ten minutes that causes the fans to nearly riot.
There is a long-standing internet rumor the monkey wrench (adjustable wrench) was invented by Jack Johnson. The name is said to have been given to the tool as a racial slur. It simply is not true. To start with the term monkey wrench had been in use for over 40 years prior to Johnson's birth. The tool which we now know as a monkey wrench was patented during the early 1840s in America. It's very possible similar tools existed prior to then also and were just never officially recognized. Nobody really knows where the word monkey comes from, or how it came to have the different meanings in the English language. The Oxford Dictionary guesses it probably came from Low Germany in the 16th century.
The first African American World Boxing Champion (1908-1915), a true barrier breaker as he transcended boxing and became one of the most famous people on earth during the height of his boxing fame.
But, did you know that during his peak, Johnson was also a wrestler? Some of his bouts were against other grapplers such as Jimmy Esson, whom defeated Jack Johnson on December 16, 1913. And in 1914 there's a story that goes around about how Jack Johnson shows up in Bremen, Germany to wrestle and during the match it nearly caused a riot.
Reasons being that Jack performed in an exhibition bout, after the one minute bout one of Johnson's managers came out to announce that Jack would wrestle one more opponent - Karl Simon (a lesser known grappler) and Ernst Siegfried (a very well known and famous grappler, also know as the "German Oak" because of his power). Jack Johnson picked the lesser known and non-experienced grappler Karl Simon. Beating Simon in about ten minutes that causes the fans to nearly riot.
There is a long-standing internet rumor the monkey wrench (adjustable wrench) was invented by Jack Johnson. The name is said to have been given to the tool as a racial slur. It simply is not true. To start with the term monkey wrench had been in use for over 40 years prior to Johnson's birth. The tool which we now know as a monkey wrench was patented during the early 1840s in America. It's very possible similar tools existed prior to then also and were just never officially recognized. Nobody really knows where the word monkey comes from, or how it came to have the different meanings in the English language. The Oxford Dictionary guesses it probably came from Low Germany in the 16th century.
Having said that, there is a reason the rumor exists. He traveled to Europe to avoid being put into prison for violating the Mann Act (transporting a woman across state lines for immoral purposes), which Johnson received a full pardon for during 2018 from Donald Trump. There is a lot more to that part of his story, but it does not seem appropriate to get into it here.
Upon returning to America during 1920 Johnson was shipped off to Leavenworth, Kansas penitentiary to serve his sentence. While in prison Johnson actually filed for a patent on an improvement to the monkey wrench on March 23, 1921 (patent US1413121A) pictured above, under his real name John Arthur Johnson. He claimed his design not only made the tool more durable, easier to take apart, adjust and fix if broken, but also allowed for the cost of manufacturing to be lowered. His application was granted on April 18, 1922. Johnson's wrench did not become popular, but it is quite interesting. The patent expired on March 10, 1919.
The video below is another one of Jack's bouts, but its heavily clipped. He takes on Fred Marcussen on January 23, 1914 at the Etablissement Sagebiel in Hamburg, Germany. Jack would be defeated by Fred around twenty-two minutes.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Jack Johnson.
Author: John Hubert Williams (Dantethescrub_ on InstaGram).
Published: October 8, 2019.
Biography: #183.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.