Your 15 minutes of fame have never been easier to achieve these days. YouTube alone has made overnight stars out of virtual unknowns, including pop idol Justin Bieber. Canadian teenagers with dubious fashion sense aren’t the only ones making the news these days, though. The 10 Kens on this list have also managed to find their own claims to fame, and have graced the headlines at some point or another.
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• Ken Jones – He reported on the Watts riots and the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, but Ken Jones made his own headlines, too. For his news documentary The High Cost of Health Care May Be Hazardous To Your Health, Ken was honored with an Emmy Award in 1967. However, in a cruel twist of fate, Jones would eventually go on to battle bladder cancer in 1992 – he died a year later from the disease, leaving behind his wife Regina, four sons and a daughter.
• Ken Bates – Former chairman and director of Leeds United FC soccer team, Ken Bates, found himself in hot water over some lavish luxuries he secured in the sale of the club. Bates signed a contract, which included a £100,000 deal with a private jet to fly him to Yorkshire from his home in Monte Carlo. Needless to say, the new owners of the club, GFH Capital, were none too pleased and took Ken to court over the matter, making international news in the process.
• Ken Gregory – The late manager of Formula One racer Sterling Moss, Ken Gregory was no stranger to making headlines. He made history as the organizer of the first car racing meeting at Brands Hatch. As one of the founders of the British Racing Partnership, Gregory’s success seemed to lag at one point. However, Ken was not dissuaded and continued in his success, both on and off the race track. He later became a successful publisher with popular magazine Cars and Car Conversions.
• Ken Myer – A prominent figure in Australia, Myer first made significant headlines when he created the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in 1959. He was also heavily involved in the implementation of Chadstone Shopping Centre, as part of his effort to bring easy access to malls and shopping centers to Australian cities. Part of this effort included campaigning for more freeways, which would give Australians living in rural areas more freedom to travel to the bigger cities.
• Ken Anderson – District Attorney Ken Anderson found himself in court for all the wrong reasons in early 2013. He was accused of three counts of misconduct, including tampering with government records, tampering with physical evidence and failing to comply with a judge’s order to turn over evidence during the 1987 Michael Morton murder trial. Appeals in the case are ongoing.
• Ken Robinson – Sir Ken Robinson, who counts the Queen of Britain among his personal friends, wasn’t all that well known around the world until his TED Talk on education went viral. So passionate was Robinson’s talk on education that the online video garnered over 8,660,010 views and counting. The talk deals with the negative impact formal education has on creativity, and has long held the rank as TED’s most popular video.
• Ken Edwards – If you want to make the headlines, do something big and bold. Ken Edwards’ motivation for eating 36 live cockroaches was part of an effort to earn a Guinness World Record; however, he may have bitten off more than he could chew. When cockroaches are threatened, they release a chemical that leaves a nasty taste in the would-be predator’s mouth. It may have been an unpleasant way to make headlines, but it was a successful one.
• Ken Killmeyer – He survived a tragic accident aboard the USS Forrestal, alongside future presidential hopeful John McCain. The vessel was the Navy’s first supercarrier, and is now decommissioned. Killmeyer was on hand once again when he spoke to reporters about the fate of the Forrestal, as the ship was hauled off by a Texas scrap company for recycling.
• Justin Jedlica – They say that imitation is the ultimate former of flattery. If that is true, Justin Jedlica is flattering indeed. The young model has paid over $100,000 to have his body and face remodeled, to such an extent that he has been deemed “the real life Ken doll.” Justin made the news when he met real life Barbie; however, all reports indicate that the two did not get along very well.
• Ken Jordon – The average arrow flies at speeds of around 300 feet per second. So, it’s never a good idea to get in the way of one, unless you happen to be Ken Jordon. A world record holder, Jordon made the headlines when he caught 13 arrows within a two minute time frame. It’s safe to say, he’s either incredibly brave or incredibly insane. Either way, he made big news around the world for his efforts.