The high five grew out of the low five, a gesture from African-American culture of the 1920s

pop & funWikipedia1920s · United States

The high five grew out of the low five, a gesture from African-American culture of the 1920s

the gist

The high five grew from the low five, a handshake that has been part of African-American culture since the 1920s. The phrase give me five was slang for a palm-to-palm handshake, with five referring to the fingers on a hand. The exact moment the low five turned high is unclear. The most famous story credits the Los Angeles Dodgers' Glenn Burke, who raised his hand on the last day of the 1977 season to greet Dusty Baker after a home run, and Baker slapped it. Other claims include Magic Johnson at Michigan State and a Louisville basketball team in 1978 to 1979. A 1980s story about a Japanese district called High Touch Town is probably apocryphal. The term was in the Oxford English Dictionary as a noun from 1980.

how it works

A high five is a hand slap that uses the same clasp-free contact as a handshake, but with palms raised. The gesture works as a quick display of shared success without requiring a grip. Its spread depended on sports teams and television, where players celebrated on camera and viewers copied them.

so what

The high five shows how a gesture spreads through a community before anyone records its origin, and then becomes global. Burke later used it as a symbol of gay pride, which shows how a small everyday action can carry meaning for a community.

the bigger pattern

Gestures often start in a subculture and go mainstream through sports or media. Fist bumps and the wave at baseball games followed a similar path. The spread of the high five shows how celebration gestures are passed from one community to another.

fun fact

The Oxford English Dictionary has included high five as a noun since 1980 and as a verb since 1981.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

historyWikipediaclassic1336–1565 · Karnataka, India

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗