November 15, 1986: The Beastie Boys release “Licensed to Ill”

November 15, 1986: The Beastie Boys release Licensed to Ill. It paved the way for white guys to rap, leading to Eminem -- but also, unfortunately, to Vanilla Ice and Snow.

The Boys were Adam Nathaniel Yauch, born August 5, 1964 in Brooklyn to a Catholic father and a Jewish mother; Michael Louis Diamond, born November 20, 1965 in Manhattan to a Jewish couple; and Adam Keefe Horovitz, born October 31, 1966 in Manhattan to a Jewish father and an Irish Catholic mother.

In 1979, Diamond, a.k.a. Mike D, founded a punk rock band, The Young Aborigines, becoming the drummer. In 1981, Yauch, a.k.a. MCA, became their bass guitarist. Their guitarist, John Berry, suggested the name be changed to The Beastie Boys. As an afterthought, they decided that "BEASTIE" was an acronym standing for "Boys Entering Anarchistic States Towards Inner Excellence." In 1983, Horovitz, a.k.a. Ad-Rock, replaced Berry. After that, they began shifting from punk to hip-hop.

In 1984, Rick Rubin was brought in as DJ. By 1985, they were big enough to open for Madonna's tour. In 1986, they were a part of a tour led by Queens natives Run-DMC and LL Cool J. All along, song by song, piece by piece, they recorded the album that became the album Licensed to Ill, a parody of the expression "licensed to kill," with "ill" being rap slang for being of high quality, and its verb form meaning to perform very well.

The 1st 3 singles failed to chart: "Hold It Now, Hit It," "Paul Revere" and "The New Style." "Brass Monkey" only got to Number 48. But (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" caught on at the end of 1986, and rose to Number 7 early in 1987.

The song was written by Yauch and band friend Tom "Tommy Triphammer" Cushman, who appeared in the video. The song was meant as an insignificant portrayal of "party" and "attitude"-themed songs, such as "Smokin' in the Boys Room" by Brownsville Station and "I Wanna Rock" by Twisted Sister. They meant it to be a joke, to make fun of these dopes.

Unfortunately, as with later songs like "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred and "Gangnam Style" by Psy, people didn't get the joke. They thought this was the Boys' intended public personality. And the dopes they were mocking took it especially seriously, making the song one of the biggest anthems of the 1980s... and went on to knock up their girlfriends and conceive the cast of Jersey Shore.

The Beasties released a total of 8 albums, none of them keeping the image they'd inadvertently created for themselves: Licensed to Ill was followed by Paul's Boutique in 1989, Check Your Head in 1992, Ill Communication in 1994, Hello Nasty in 1998, To the 5 Boroughs in 2004, The Mix-Up in 2007, and Hot Sauce Committee Part Two in 2011. Ill Communication included the other song for which the group is well known: "Sabotage," with its video showing them parodying 1970s cop shows.

The Beasties became icons for hip-hop fans, for New Yorkers, and for Jewish kids who wanted to rock. But despite releasing 8 albums in 25 years, it ended too soon. On May 4, 2012, Adam Yauch died from lymph node cancer. He was 47 years old. Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond announced that, while they would still make music together, the Beastie Boys name would be retired.

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November 15, 1986 was a Saturday. Actor Winston Duke was born.

Baseball was out of season. Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 University of Miami beat the University of Tulsa, 23-10 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami.

* Number 2 Michigan were shocked by Minnesota, 20-17 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, costing them the Little Brown Jug and a shot at the National Championship. It did not, however, cost the Wolverines the Big Ten Conference title, as, the next week, they beat Ohio State to clinch it. Michigan then went to the Rose Bowl.

* Number 3 Penn State beat Notre Dame, 24-19 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. Penn State were probably going to be invited to the Fiesta Bowl regardless of what happened elsewhere, but Michigan's loss made them Number 2, setting up a de facto National Championship game and a "Game of the Century" with Number 1 Miami at the Fiesta Bowl. Penn State won.

* Number 4 Oklahoma beat Colorado, 28-0 at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. Oklahoma won the Big 8 Conference title, and were invited to the Orange Bowl.

* Number 5 Arizona State beat Wichita State, 52-6 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. Arizona State won the Pacific-Ten Conference title, went to the Rose Bowl, and beat Michigan.

* Number 6 Nebraska beat Kansas, 70-0 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. The next week, Nebraska lost to arch-rival Oklahoma, costing them the Big 8 title. Instead, they were invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 7 Texas A&M were upset by Number 17 Arkansas, 14-10 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. It didn't stop A&M from winning the Southwest Conference title, and receiving the accompanying bid to the Cotton Bowl. But Arkansas did get invited to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma.

* Number 8 Auburn were upset by Number 16 Georgia, 20-16 at Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn, Alabama. The game cost Auburn the Southeastern Conference title.

* Number 9 Ohio State beat Wisconsin, 30-17 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Ohio State were invited to the Cotton Bowl, where they beat Texas A&M.

* Number 10 Washington were held to a tie by Number 19 UCLA, 17-17 at Husky Stadium in Seattle.

 and Air Force had the week off.

* Number 12 Louisiana State University beat Mississippi State, 47-0 at Mississippi Memorial Stadium in Jackson. LSU won the SEC title, and the accompanying bid to the Sugar Bowl, where they lost to Nebraska.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to the University of Pittsburgh, 20-6 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 104-97 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 109-90 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 118-111 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan. Robert Parish scored 34 points. Despite the defeat, Adrian Dantley led all scorers on the day with 41 for the Pistons.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-96 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Phoenix Suns eat the San Antonio Spurs, 116-109 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 104-103 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets, 111-103 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Golden State Warriors, 127-121 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. Tom Chambers scored 38.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Minnesota North Stars, 7-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The New Jersey Devils and the Boston Bruins played to a tie, 5-5 at the Boston Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Edmonton Oilers, 6-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Quebec Nordiques, 5-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Blues beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal go to Hampshire on the South Coast, and beat Southampton, 4-0 at The Dell.