A Brief History of High Five
The story behind the most common gesture of celebration
Do you know, each year, the third Thursday of April is observed as the National High Five Day in the USA?
From kids to adults, everyone is familiar with the high five. We know that this interesting hand gesture is done when the two people simultaneously raise one hand each above their heads, and then push, slide, or slap the flat of each other’s palms.
It is a gesture of praise and celebration without which no sport is seemingly possible in the modern days. High five boosts the confidence among the teammates and uplifts their spirit and positivity.
But this trend is not that of an age-old tradition. The world witnessed the first-ever high five in 1977 during a baseball game. And the two people who created that historic moment are Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker and his teammate, Glenn Burke.
The first-ever high five
October 02, 1977. The last baseball game of the season between Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros at Dodger Stadium was in full swing.
Dodgers outfielder Dusty Baker had a chance to make history. He was then sitting on 29 home runs, just one run shy to reach the 30 home runs milestone, and join Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, and Reggie Smith as the first four teammates ever to hit 30 home runs in a single season.
Despite being under tremendous pressure, Baker did it right. He hit his 30th home run in that match in style and made history. And when he crossed the home plate, another history has been made without even his knowledge.
As Baker crossed home plate, Burke triumphantly lifted his one hand in the air. Being overjoyed, Baker raised his hand high above and slapped his teammate’s hand.
In the ESPN documentary 30 for 30 Shorts: The High Five, while remembering that historical moment, Baker said, “His (Burke) hand was back like this, so what I was supposed to do? So, I hit his hand.”
Thus the high-five tradition started in sports. Later, it has become the Dodger’s standard salute during the 1980 season.
Many stories are available about the origin of high five, such as Magic Johnson once suggested that he invented the high five at Michigan State in the late 1970s. Others said that it was originated in the women’s volleyball circuit of the 1960s.
But this story of Dusty and Burke is the most documented and authentic one.
Sadly, Glenn Burke died in 1995 being the victim of AIDS. He was a gay person and the last years of his life were spent with the gay community in San Francisco, especially Castro Street.
National High Five Day
Oxford English Dictionary included the phrase ‘high five’ as a noun in 1980 and as a verb in 1981. When two people do high five, one generally requested the other by saying ‘give me five,’ ‘slap me five,’ ‘up high,’ ‘high five,’ etc. With time, the high five has now become a universal symbol for celebration.
In the USA, the third Thursday of April is celebrated as the National High Five Day with #High5challange to spread awareness and raise funds for different good causes.
It first began in 2002 at the University of Virginia by a group of students where participants took part in a “high-five-a-thon” to raise funds for charity.
To conclude
High fiving is fun and uplifting. But having a perfect high five experience needs focus and accuracy. Because when you miss a high five, of course, you don’t feel good.
For a perfect high five, focus on the elbow of the other person, not the hand. When you aim for the elbow instead of the palm, you will hit the palm for sure.
Thank you for reading.
References
- A Brief History of the High Five (MF)
- The Man Who Invented the High-Five (Outsports)
- The wild, mysterious history of sports’ most enduring gesture: the high five (ESPN)
- Today is National High Five Day — this photo from 1977 shows the first-ever high five (Business Insider)
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