Time for an Arizona state history showdown
State of play: It's time to settle the debate: Who's the most influential figure in Arizona history? You decide. The game is on.
We set up a March Madness-style showdown featuring two 16-person brackets packed with legendary Arizonans.
From political giants to cultural icons, these head-to-head matchups are fierce, and your votes will crown the winner.
How to play: Click the links to vote in Part 1 and Part 2 by 5pm today. Be sure to vote in both.
We'll give you the results tomorrow morning, and there will be a new round of voting each day until we have a winner.
It's quick. It's fun. And bragging rights are on the line.
Zoom in: While political heavyweights like U.S. Senators John McCain and Carl Hayden are naturally included, plenty of figures outside of politics have left their marks on Arizona.
Artists and entertainers like Linda Ronstadt and Alice Cooper are part of our state's cultural heritage. And countless Arizonans grew up watching Wallace and Ladmo.
John F. Long and Del Webb shaped state history through housing. Long's Maryvale was the first master-planned community in Arizona, opening the gates to the West Valley, and Webb turned the state into a retirement haven with Sun City.
Between the lines: Sure, you know Barry Goldwater and Sandra Day O'Connor. But we also wanted to spotlight the unsung figures.
José María Redondo, "the father of irrigation in Yuma."
Daniel Webster Jones, who founded the Mormon settlement that grew into Mesa.
Frank Harrison and Harry Austin, who launched the lawsuit that granted Native Americans the right to vote in Arizona.
Flashback: Just because someone was alive before statehood, or even before it was U.S. territory, doesn't mean they didn't play a key role in shaping Arizona.
We included wayback figures like Charles Poston, "the father of Arizona," and Jesuit missionary Eusebio Kino, who was active when Arizona was still a Spanish colony.
And how could you have an Arizona historical figures bracket without Wyatt Earp?
Honorable mentions: Determining who to leave out was tough, and there were some notable omissions.
John Wesley Powell's Grand Canyon expedition was a major moment in Arizona history, but he never actually lived here.
Phoenix native Frank Luke's exploits as a fighter pilot in World War I were legendary, and Luke Air Force Base is named in his honor.
Better known today as the Lost Dutchman, Jacob Waltz gave rise to a legend that drew generations of fortune-seekers to Arizona with his rumored gold stash in the Superstition Mountains.
Gabby Giffords was a rising political star in Arizona before a gunman's bullet changed her life. Since that fateful day, she's become an icon and advocate for gun control and safety.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Are you up for year-round Halloween horror experiences?
Universal Horror Unleashed will open Aug. 14 at Area 15 in Las Vegas, a Halloween-style haunt that's betting big on today's audiences craving year-round frights. Think Halloween Horror Nights, only more permanent, allowing for greater interactions and more special effects.
Buzz Feed
9 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
29 Celebrity Sex Confessions That I Didn't Need To Know
Andy Cohen confirmed that he has a sex tape from 2003 that he filmed with his then-partner John Hill. "But the format, it's on some janky format," he said, adding that realistically, it'd probably never see the light of day. Hailey Bieber revealed that she and Justin Bieber aren't into threesomes, but they "really like doggy-style." Fran Drescher admitted that she has a "rotation" of friends with benefits. Prince Harry recalled the night he lost his virginity during an "inglorious episode" with "an older woman" when he was 17 years old. "She liked horses, quite a lot, and treated me not unlike a young stallion," he wrote in his book Spare. "Quick ride, after which she'd smacked my rump and sent me off to graze. Among the many things about it that were wrong: It happened in a grassy field behind a busy pub." John Mayer shared that he sometimes likes to play guitar naked after having sex. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, he said, "No, you should never play guitar to have sex with someone, but a little naked guitar playing after is very memorable. ... With a little gut hanging over, sitting Indian-style on the edge of the bed. It's nice! … I like seeing the way people fold up all weird when they sit up. No matter who you are, you look weird when you sit up. And it's cute.' Diplo confessed that he's received a blowjob from another man before, but wouldn't consider himself gay. "I'm sure that I've got a blowjob from a guy before," he told Emily Ratajkowski on her podcast. "I've got a lot of blowjobs... Getting a blowjob's not that gay, I think." Chrissy Teigen and John Legend became members of the "mile-high club" while on a flight to Thailand. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she said, "We were on our way to Thailand to see my parents, flying commercial first-class. We were under a blanket. We weren't even in one of those pod things. I feel like we should get a trophy for that. We're by no means freaky-deaky, but let's just say, we're open to things. We're very okay with PDA. When we go to a restaurant, he loves when I wear a dress, so he can do some upper-thigh rubbing. I would love to see more husbands and wives making out!' Jennifer Coolidge said that while her role in American Pie didn't exaaaaactly lead to sex with 200 men, it did lead to some of her most memorable sexual encounters — including a guy who called his mom while Jennifer was still in bed with him. During an interview for Entertainment Weekly's Entertainers of the Year, she explained that "[The role] did sort of open up the world to a much broader group of handsome men — and younger men. This one guy was particularly young — legal, of course, it was all very legal — but it was funny because we had to… The one moment was a little bit awkward because he… No, I won't get into the details. But afterwards, the next morning, I told him I needed to get a blow dry. So, he was so young, we called his mother to see where I could get a blow dry. It was so weird that happened on the phone, it was very clear that we were in the bed together.' The Chainsmokers shared that they've had threesomes together with fans, but also noted that it's been "a long time" since their last ménage à trois. On the Call Her Daddy podcast, Alex Pall said that the encounters were "never planned" and added, "It's weird, I'm not gonna lie." Jane Fonda explained that sex isn't "quite as comfortable" as it used to be before getting a knee replacement. On The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet, Jane shared, "While I am quite flexible and I can kneel, [sex is] not quite as comfortable for me as it used to be before I had a fake knee. [I prefer to be] either lying down or sitting up on a couch with him coming on to me, no pun intended." Lindsey Shaw and Devon Werkheiser spoke openly about several of their hookups behind the scenes of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. On an episode of their podcast Ned's Declassified Podcast Survival Guide, Lindsey tried to be discreet about bringing up their sexual history, to which Devon responded, "What are you going to ask on this podcast? What are you going to ask on this public podcast, Lindsey?" They went on to talk about the many blowjobs she'd given him. Lindsey mentioned one where she "felt like a failure" because Devon couldn't finish, and he snuck off to the bathroom afterward. And while Devon didn't remember that one, he did remember one that happened in the backseat of Lindsey's car. "For me, the first blowjob was where I f*cking came," Devon said. "And then you got scared, and you go, 'Oops! Sorry!' And then I'm just coming if your f*cking car, dude." AnnaLynne McCord shared that she treated her body "like a brothel" and was heavily involved with an S&M lifestyle before meeting her boyfriend, Danny Cipriani. On the Braving The Way With Dr Fletch podcast, she said, "I used to say to people, 'Yes, your body is a temple, my body is a brothel.' I had a morbid sense of humor about it. ... I got off on the fact sex is this thing I could have all day, every day, and never get tired of, and no one could keep up with me." She added, "I needed sex like a bottomless pit. I was ravenous." Charlie Puth said he can't listen to music while he has sex because he "analyzes the music" and it distracts him so he isn't "able to get hard." In the same interview, he shared that he lost his virginity to a fan after a small gig in Boston. He explained, "This girl came up to me and was like, 'Can you sign my chest?' I was like, I feel like a rock star. ... I never saw her again. She was lovely, but it makes me sad sometimes because I wish the older version of me was like, 'Hey, you might want to just make this a little more memorable.'' Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker once got caught having sex in public. During Kourtney's Vanity Fair lie detector test, she was asked if she regrets it, and she said, "Nope!" Will Smith said that during the early days of his marriage to Jada Pinkett Smith, they would have sex multiple times a day, and it nearly killed him. In his memoir, Will explained, "We drank every day, and had sex multiple times every day, for four straight months. I started to wonder if this was a competition. Either way, as far as I was concerned, there were only two possibilities: (1) I was going to satisfy this woman sexually, or (2) I was going to die trying.' Ariana Grande responded to a fan on Twitter who asked how big "Pete" (the song) was, and in a now-deleted tweet, she said, "Like, 10 f*ck...I a li'l over a minute." Pete responded with a joke in his standup set saying, "I don't like that she talked all that shit for my penis. Everything is huge to her. Why would she tell everyone that I have a huge penis? So that every girl who sees my dick for the rest of my life is disappointed.' Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox shared that they drink each other's blood "for ritual purposes only," and that Megan's engagement ring has "bands of thorns" and are embedded with sharp spikes, meaning that when Megan tries to remove the ring, the thorns dig into her finger and cause pain. Megan told Glamour, "It's very bizarre to get judged for, like, 'What if I am in a BDSM relationship?' And I'm like, yes — is that OK with you? Because that's what I want. I shouldn't be outcast from the feminist community, because that is something that I prefer for myself. I feel sexual power in that way, by experiencing it that way.' Rihanna once explained that while she loves to "take charge," being "submissive in the bedroom is really fun." She also said that she likes to be spanked and tied up. In a 2011 interview with Rolling Stone, she said, 'You get to be a little lady, to have somebody be macho and in charge of your shit. That's sexy to me. I work a lot, and I have to make a lot of executive decisions, so when it comes to being intimate, I like to feel like I'm somebody's girl. I like to be spanked. Being tied up is fun. I like to keep it spontaneous. Sometimes, whips and chains can be overly planned — you gotta stop, get the whip from the drawer downstairs. ... I'd rather have him use his hands." Harry Hamlin recently shared that, at 71 years old, he does not — nor has ever had — erectile dysfunction. He told Andy Cohen that he and his wife Lisa Rinna's sex life is still going strong. He even added, 'I don't have that condition. I am Harry Hamlin. I've never had the blue pill." Anna Faris explained that while she loves having sex with her husband, she finds masturbation "surprisingly difficult." In her book Unqualified, she wrote, "I love being intimate with my husband, but I have a lot of trouble being intimate with myself. I feel like getting myself off would force me to confront the things that terrify me about myself, and to face sexual desires I don't even know I have. Masturbation acknowledges your sexuality in a way that we never did in my household, and while it was easy to get stoned in college and block out those childhood messages, as an adult, I find it surprisingly difficult." Robin Thicke used to try to get his then-wife Paula Patton to have "double-digit orgasms as much as possible." He explained, "It doesn't happen all the time, but when I've got my mojo and my swag, it happens. Every few months, it's just like bam — repeated. Repeated! I like her to just be going crazy in the bedroom.' And when asked about what sexy thing he was most likely to whisper into Paula's ear, he said, "'I can't wait to get you home and love you up for two to three hours.'" Kelly Ripa revealed that during the pandemic, she and Mark Consuelos had "sexual rituals" over FaceTime while he was away filming. "There were rituals. Can I tell you something? We had sexual rituals that were so ludicrous over FaceTime," she explained on her podcast Let's Talk off Camera with Kelly Ripa. She added that she even used a ladder to get her best angles on camera. Eva Longoria shared that she has better orgasms after getting a Brazilian wax. "It makes sex better, orgasm-wise," she told Cosmopolitan in 2005. "It's like the difference between this [she pats her arm lightly] and this [rubs her arm]. I swear by it." She added, "Every woman should try a Brazilian wax once. And then the sex they have afterward will make them keep coming back!" Lea Michele showed Jonathan Groff her "whole vagina" in order to help him with their intimate scenes in the musical Spring Awakening. "[Jonathan] was like, 'I've never seen a woman's vagina before. Would you show me?' And I was like, 'Sure.' And I took a desk lamp…and showed him. That's how close we are. … But I've never seen Jonathan naked. I've never seen his penis." Elliot Page revealed that his Juno costar, Olivia Thirlby, was the "first woman I had a suitably consensual sexual relationship with" and that they had "sex all the time." "We started having sex all the time: her hotel room, in our trailers at work, once in a tiny, private room in a restaurant. What were we thinking? We thought we were subtle," he wrote. Ricky Martin once said that he loves "giving the golden shower," aka peeing on someone. "I've done it before in the shower," he told Blender magazine in 2006. "It's like so sexy, you know, the temperature of your body and the shower water is very different." Teresa Giudice shared that she and her husband, Luis Ruelas, had sex five times a day during their honeymoon. Kim Kardashian said that she once had sex with Pete Davidson in front of a fireplace to "honor her grandmother." During an episode of The Kardashians, Kim confessed this to her grandma MJ. She said, 'I was like, 'My grandma told me that you really live life when you have sex in front of the fireplace. And so, we had sex in front of the fireplace, in honor of you. I know that's really creepy.' Finally, Nick Cannon revealed that he and Mariah Carey used to have sex to her music. Nick also told Howard Stern that when Mariah isn't around, he masturbates to her song "Hero."
Politico
13 hours ago
- Politico
Toppled Confederal statue will rise again in Washington
'The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation's capital and re-instate pre-existing statues,' the park service said in a statement announcing its plan. Pike led a regiment of Native Americans in Arkansas who sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and were accused of scalping Union troops in an 1862 battle. He later received a pardon from President Andrew Johnson for his wartime actions and went on to become a prominent member of the Freemasons in Washington. Protesters, using ropes and chains, pulled down the statue in June 2020 and set it on fire. Trump, then in his first term, accused police of 'not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn.' The park service said the statue is being repaired at its Historic Preservation Training Center in Frederick, Maryland. In the hours after NPS announced it was returning the statue to its place in the district, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington's nonvoting House delegate, announced plans to reintroduce her bill to remove the statue and donate it to a museum. 'I've long believed Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts, not remain in parks and locations that imply honor,' Norton said in a press release. 'The decision to honor Albert Pike by reinstalling the Pike statue is as odd and indefensible as it is morally objectionable. Pike served dishonorably.'
