Wakanohana Masaru, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 66th Yokozuna
Masaru Hanada (Japanese: 花田 虎上, previously 花田 勝, born January 20, 1971) is a Japanese former professional sumo wrestler. As an active wrestler he was known as Wakanohana Masaru (若乃花 勝), and his rise through the ranks alongside his younger brother Takanohana Kōji saw a boom in sumo's popularity in the early 1990s. He is the elder son of the former ōzeki Takanohana Kenshi, who was also his stablemaster, and the nephew of Wakanohana Kanji I, a famous yokozuna of the 1950s. Wakanohana was a long serving ōzeki who won five tournament championships, and eventually joined his brother at yokozuna rank in 1998, creating the first ever sibling grand champions. After a brief and injury plagued yokozuna career he retired in 2000, becoming a television personality and restaurant owner. The death of his father in 2005 saw a very public falling out with his brother.
1971Jan, 20
Wakanohana Masaru
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Events on 1971
- 8Jan
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Bowing to international pressure, President of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto releases Bengali leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from prison, who had been arrested after declaring the independence of Bangladesh. - 7Jun
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The United States Supreme Court overturns the conviction of Paul Cohen for disturbing the peace, setting the precedent that vulgar writing is protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. - 11Jul
Chile
Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. - 21Sep
Bhutan
Bahrain, Bhutan and Qatar join the United Nations. - 24Nov
D. B. Cooper
During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (aka D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money. He has never been found.