Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest (start)

Nathan's promoter Mortimer Matz claimed that on July 4, 1916, four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. He also made the spurious claim that the contest has been held each year since then except 1941 ("as a protest to the war in Europe") and 1971 (as a protest to political unrest in the U.S.). A man by the name of Jim Mullen is said to have won the first contest, although accounts vary. One account describes Jimmy Durante (who was not an immigrant) as competing in that all-immigrant inaugural contest, which was judged by Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker.