This morning, as always, I was flipping through my copy of the Memphis Flyer, where I leared that Elvis Presley tragically died “Monday, August 6th [2007], of cardiac arrest, at his Horn Lake, Mississippi, home. He was 72 years old.”

WHA? I said, foolishly thinking that the King had died 30 years ago today. Thankfully, the Flyer set me straight.

On August 16th, 1977, Presley was found at his Graceland home around noon — unconscious and unresponsive — by fiancée Ginger Alden. According to never-confirmed rumors, Alden discovered Presley lying on the floor of his bathroom; all he would say later was that it was “a shameful scene.” Rushed to Baptist Memorial Hospital by paramedics, Presley, apparently a victim of a prescription drug overdose, slipped into a coma, and fears were high that he might not survive… But the next day, Presley awoke and was discharged from the hospital three days later. He checked into Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota, a leading drug and alcohol abuse rehabilitation center, where he would stay for a month.

Flash forward a few decades, and this is what became of the Big E:

In a part written specifically for him, Presley returned to the big screen as the title character in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill. “Bill” was the first of Presley’s roles to reference his martial-arts background. Presley hadn’t starred in a film since 1969’s Change of Habit.

See, I always thought that was the guy from Kung Fu playing the most slow-talking, chatty, goldfish-sympathizing character in movie history. Turns out it was just a simple man from Tupelo, MS. Thanks for clearing that up, internet. Elvis Presley, RIP.