Jackson, John

▪ 2003

      American blues guitarist (b. Feb. 25, 1924, Woodville, Va.—d. Jan. 20, 2002, Fairfax, Va.), was considered a master of the Piedmont blues tradition. While playing guitar for friends at a gas station in Fairfax, Va., in 1964, Jackson was discovered by University of Virginia folklorist Charles L. Perdue, who subsequently arranged for Jackson to go on tour and introduced him to record company executives. From 1965 to 1999 Jackson recorded nine albums, including Blues and Country Dance Songs from Virginia (1965), Step It Up and Go (1979), Deep in the Bottom (1982), and Country Blues and Ditties (1999). He was the recipient of a Heritage Fellowship Award from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1986.

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▪ English boxer

byname  Gentleman Jackson 

born September 28, 1769, London, England

died October 7, 1845, London

      English bare-knuckle boxer who was influential in securing acceptance of prizefighting as a legitimate sport in England.

      Jackson was an amateur boxer of some repute, but he appeared in only three public matches. The third match, on April 15, 1795, against Daniel Mendoza (Mendoza, Daniel), won him the championship of England. Jackson held this title until 1803, when he retired to conduct a school of self-defense at his house on Bond Street, London. He is said to have instituted in his teaching the scientific principles of boxing: countering blows, accurate judgment of distance, and agile footwork. His school attracted many young aristocrats—including Lord Byron (Byron, George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron)—and a number of them formed the Pugilistic Club there in 1814. Jackson was elected to Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954.

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