Four days ago, people who shared the first name ‘Josh’ gathered in the Midwestern American state of Nebraska to claim rights to the name. With people from all over the country gathering in various costumes and quirky attires, it was a welcome distraction in the nation recovering from the impacts of COVID-19. Here’s a look at how a simple Tweet escalated to a full-blown ‘fight’ and a look at who finally won the title.
How did it begin?
Around roughly the same time last year on April 20, Twitter user Josh Swain posted a screengrab of a Facebook page he had created. The 22-year-old student from Arizona had made the group out of nine individuals with whom he shared the same name. The Tweet was accompanied by the message ‘There can only be one'. When the other Joshs questioned it asking ‘Because we share the same name?’, Swain replied ‘Precisely, 4/24/2021, josh, meet at these coordinates (40.82223286, -96.7982002). We fight, whoever wins gets to keep the name, everyone else has to change their name, you have a year to prepare, good luck.’
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How did the Josh Fight unfold?
While Swain told the Associated Press that he ‘Did not expect people to be as adamant about this as they are right now’, other Joshs took the dare quite literally. Around two months ago, the tweet started making the rounds again and some of them even created a website to countdown to the date. More than a hundred people gathered in a park in Lincoln to take him up on his offer, armed with pool noodles to stake their claim to the name.
Which Josh finally won?
While there were many worthy contenders, the title went to ‘Little Josh’ or 4-year old Josh Vinson Jr. He was crowned by his namesakes with a Burger King crown. Fans of Little Josh have now come together to set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for him to one day, attend an Ivy League university.
