Antonino rocca biography of william hill

He is considered by most the greatest professional wrestling champion to ever step into the ring, not only because of his technical prowess, but for the dignity and realism that he lent to the sport.

Real Name:Aloysius Martin Thesz
Stats: 6′ 2″ 225 lbs.
Born: April 24, 1916

Early Life

Lou Thesz was born Aloysius Martin Thesz on April 24, 1916, in Banat, Michigan. His early life was marked by his family’s relocation and exposure to wrestling at a young age, which would eventually shape his legendary career.

Thesz was of Hungarian descent, with his parents, Martin and Eva Thesz, immigrating to the United States from Hungary. When Lou was a young child, his family moved from Michigan to St. Louis, Missouri, where Thesz would first become familiar with the world of professional wrestling, as the city had a vibrant wrestling scene during the early 20th century.

Thesz’s father, Martin, was a wrestler and a greco-roman wrestling coach, which played a significant role in Lou’s early interest in the sport. Lou’s fascination with wrestling grew when he started attending wrestling matches at the South Broadway Athletic Club with his father. The exposure to the matches and his father’s guidance fostered a passion for the sport in young man.

Early Training

By the age of 16, Thesz had already begun training to become a professional wrestler under the tutelage of George Tragos, a former Olympic wrestler and renowned catch wrestler. Tragos taught Thesz the fundamentals of catch wrestling, a style focused on submission holds and grappling techniques. Thesz would later train with another legendary wrestler, Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who helped him further develop his skills.

Lou Thesz’s early life set the foundation for a career that would span several decades and earn him a reputation as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. His upbringing in St. Louis, his father’s influence, and his training under renowned wrestlers such as George T

It is hard to imagine the violin trade today without the firm of W.E. Hill & Sons having existed. Their authority and integrity as violin dealers changed the face of the trade and was based on careful research, as well as long experience and great erudition. What they also achieved as diligent restorers and superb bowmakers still seems quite astonishing in many ways. Of course things have not stood still since the original firm was officially dissolved in 1992, and progress is continually being made in research and techniques of restoration, but the essential groundwork of the Hills, and essentially the brothers Alfred Ebsworth and Arthur Frederick, remains fundamental. The depth and range of the company’s records are still having a powerful effect on contemporary expertise. The recent loss of David Hill, who had remained active in the trade for many years, has left a small but important collection of mementos of this long history, some with an almost mystical aura.

The family itself has one of the longest heritages in violin making, exceeding the Gagliano and rivalling the Klotz families. They came from rustic origins in Alvechurch in Worcestershire in the 17th century, Joseph Hill being the first to establish himself in London, where he worked independently from 1753, having possibly trained with Peter Wamsley. He seems to have thrived, running a shop in the prestigious Haymarket, next to the King’s Theatre and living to enjoy retirement in equally fashionable New Bond Street from around 1780. His son, also Joseph, was less fortunate; the Haymarket workshop was destroyed by fire in 1789, and he subsequently turned to work for John Betts, whose shop was in the Royal Exchange.

New York Post – March 16, 1977
By Paul Pucciarelli

Antonino Rocca, who once said he possessed the “secret of life” and would live to be 100, is dead at 49.

Rocca, one of the most famous and well-loved wrestlers in the world, died yesterday at Roosevelt Hospital where he was admitted two weeks ago for a urinary infection. The exact cause of death is not known, pending an autopsy today.

Rocca, who often slept more than 12 hours a day and sometimes for as much as 30 straight hours before a match, claimed he would live to be 100. “And why not,” he once said: “Next to good blood circulation, the secret of life is rest. I expect to live to be at least 100.”

“Next to Milton Berle, Rocca sold more TVs in the country than anyone else,” Vince McMahon Sr., a former promoter and close friend of Rocca, said last night from his Florida home. “He was wrestling on five different TV stations at that time. There was never a more likeable and more personable fellow in sports. There was nothing phony about Tony.”

Rocca’s bouts in the old Garden with the Graham brothers, Dick Carpentier, the Kangaroos and Killer Kowalski constantly drew full houses. And when the fans got out of hand, it took only a few words from their idol to cool them off. “My fans, they obey me,” Rocca once said. “I can start a riot or stop one. But I’d rather stop them.”

Always direct and outspoken, Rocca had an incredible rapport with the fans. And he was as comfortable with senators and kings as he was in the poverty-stricken reaches of Spanish Harlem. He was never at a loss for time from his busy schedule when it came to visiting hospitals, giving lectures at local CYO, PAL or YMCA functions.

“I am their hero,” he once said of the city’s Spanish-speaking population. “Poor people identify with me. I wrestle and I beat a bad, bad man and they are

Norman noble family that rose to prominence in southern Italy

The Hauteville family (Italian: Altavilla, Sicilian: Autaviḍḍa) was a Norman family, originally of petty lords, from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy.

The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy. In 1130, Roger II of Hauteville, was made the first King of Sicily. His male-line descendants ruled the kingdom until 1194. The Hauteville also took part in the First Crusade and ruled the independent Principality of Antioch (1098).

Origins

Tradition traces the family's origins to Hiallt, a 10th-century Viking who supposedly founded the village of Hialtus villa, from which the family's name originates. Hiallt, however, is probably just a legendary eponymous ancestor: the Latin form of Hauteville, Altavilla, simply means "high estate".

The first well-documented member of the family is Tancred of Hauteville, petty lord of Hauteville-la-Guichard. Tancred had many sons by his two wives, Muriella and Fressenda, and his small patrimony was hardly enough to accommodate all of his children. They were thus forced to seek fortune elsewhere, namely in Southern Italy.

Southern Italy

See also: Norman conquest of southern Italy

William Iron Arm and Drogo were the first of Tancred's sons to arrive in Southern Italy, sometime around 1035. They distinguished themselves in a rebellion against the Byzantines, and in 1042 William Iron Arm was named the first Count of Apulia. In 1046 he was succeeded by Drogo, whose titles were confirmed by Emperor Henry III. Drogo was succeeded by another brother, Humphrey, who in 1053 defeated Pope Leo IX in the Battle of Civitate, strengthening the Hautevilles’ power.

Humphrey was succeeded by a fourth brother, Robert Guiscard. In 1059, Robert was made the first Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and