January 1, 1959: The Cuban Revolution

Fulgenico Bastista, murdering oppressive dictator

January 1, 1959: Fulgencio Batista, President of Cuba since 1952, flees the capital of Havana, ahead of the advancing forces of rebel leader Fidel Castro. After 2 years of revolution, Batista accepts what is now inevitable.

At 3:00 in the morning, he gets on a plane for the Dominican Republic, where his fellow fascist dictator, Rafael Trujillo, had promised him asylum. Batista named a successor, Judge Carlos Manuel Piedra. At 5:00 AM, Piedra announced a ceasefire, allowing Castro and his forces to enter the capital.

Batista had also been President from 1940 to 1944. Americans have been fed this romantic version of what Cuba was like before Castro's Communist dictatorship, which has now survived him. Movies like The Godfather Part II made Cuba look like an island paradise, guided by American organized crime. In fact, it was a fascist dictatorship. Batista was no better than Castro.

Batista spent the rest of his life in other fascist dictatorships: First the Dominican Republic, then Portugal, and finally Spain, where he died in 1973, at the age of 72.

For the record: While Castro loved baseball, he was never considered a serious prospect by any major league team. Usually, when people tell the story that he was, the team that was considering him was either the Yankees or the Washington Senators. He was scouted, but no effort was ever made to sign him.

Fidel Castro, murdering oppressive dictator

It's a story made up by right-wingers who want to believe that, if only he had been signed by an American baseball team, Cuba would have been free. Cuba was not free under Batista.

It's also worth noting that Slobodan Milošević of Serbia killed more people in 10 years, and Augusto Pinochet of Chile killed more people in 16 years, than Fidel Castro of Cuba did in 58 years, but American conservatives never lifted a finger to stop Milošević or Pinochet.

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January 1, 1959 was a Thursday. It was the off-season for Major League Baseball. The National Football League had concluded its season 4 days earlier, when its Championship Game was won in an overtime classic by the Baltimore Colts over the New York Giants at Yankee Stadium. The National Basketball Association was in season, but had no games scheduled on the day.

The National Hockey League had 2:

* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the Boston Garden. Les Colwill scored 2 goals for the Broadway Blueshirts, and Lou Fontinato, Camille Henry and future Toronto Maple Leafs star Eddie Shack each added 1.

* The Montreal Canadiens played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 2-2 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The other two members of the "Original Six," the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings, were not scheduled.

Being New Year's Day, college football bowl games were played:

* The Rose Bowl, at the stadium of the same name, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, was won by the University of Iowa, ranked Number 2, 38-12 over the University of California, ranked Number 16.

* The Orange Bowl, at the stadium of the same name, in Miami, was won by the University of Oklahoma, ranked Number 5, 21-6 over Syracuse University, ranked Number 9.

* The Cotton Bowl, at the stadium of the same name, in Dallas, ended in a 0-0 tie between the Air Force Academy, ranked Number 6, and Texas Christian University (TCU), ranked Number 10.

* And the Sugar Bowl, at Tulane Stadium, in New Orleans, was won by Louisiana State University, ranked Number 1, 7-0 over Clemson University, ranked Number 12. This gave the LSU Tigers, undefeated going into the game, the National Championship.