You mean this one? :) RT @GoStevenGoldman "The middle finger...documented...as early as 1886, when a pitcher for Boston Beaneaters gave it [to] the rival NY Giants." -BBC 

Keith Olbermann There's a famous photo of the 1961 U.S. World Figure Skating Team--all of whom sadly died in a plane crash--standing on the boarding stairs of the plane, in which one of the ice dancers is holding up the back of his hand with all five fingers sticking up. Apparently it was a joking code message with a friend that signified "giving the finger five times." I'm sure he never dreamt of having the most famous picture of himself being one of him doing THAT shortly before he died. History is a strange thing.