About Takeru Kobayashi
Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi is a Japanese former competitive eater. Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", he is a six-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion and widely credited with popularizing the sport. The record was so unexpected that the organizers ran out of signs indicating how many hot dogs Kobayashi had eaten and had to resort to handwritten signs. Kobayashi is known for having created the "Solomon Method" of separating the hot dog from the bun then breaking it in half, while eating the dogs, then dunking the buns in water to wash the dogs down quickly. He would go on to break his own record three times in winning the contest 6 consecutive times (2001–2006). Kobayashi set his first world record in western culture in his rookie appearance on July 4, 2001, when he ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, almost doubling the previous record of 25+1⁄8.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.