April 15, 1927: The Great Mississippi Flood

April 15, 1927: A levee breaks in Greenville, Mississippi, flooding the small city on the east bank of the Mississippi River. It was reported on, live, by a radio announcer.

It was the most significant event of the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the most destructive river flood in American history, putting 27,000 square miles under water up to 30 feet deep.

Over 630,000 people, most of them in Mississippi and the neighboring States of Arkansas and Louisiana, lost their homes and had to live temporarily in relief camps, including 200,000 African-Americans. This was during a period known as the Great Migration, when many black people left the race-restrictive South for industrial jobs in the Northeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Coast. The Flood increased those numbers.

To prevent future floods, the federal government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways. Herbert Hoover, then the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, was sent to handle the crisis by President Calvin Coolidge, and the good press he got led to him being elected President in 1928. Relief and political turmoil at the State level led, that same year, to the election of Huey Long as Governor of Louisiana.

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April 15, 1927 was a Friday. It was the off-season for the NFL. The Stanley Cup had been awarded 2 days earlier, as the Ottawa Senators beat the Boston Bruins. It completed an era of dominance for the Senators: 8 seasons, 4 Cups. The New York-based "Original Celtics," with no connection to the later Boston Celtics, had recently won the title in the American Basketball League, the 1st attempt at a major basketball league.

And a new season in what would later be called Major League Baseball had just begun. A full slate of games was played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-3 at Yankee Stadium. Herb Pennock outpitched Howard Ehmke in this 3rd game of the season, and Babe Ruth hit his 1st home run of the season. There would be 59 more.

* It was also New York vs. Philadelphia in the National League, as the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

* The Brooklyn Robins lost to the Boston Braves, 3-1 at Braves Field in Boston. The Brooklyn team was then named for their manager, Wilbert Robinson. Following his firing after the 1931 season, they went back to their former name: The Brooklyn Dodgers.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-1 at Dunn Field in Cleveland. That ballpark had previously been known as League Park, and would be again.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6 at Redland Field in Cincinnati. That ballpark would be renamed Crosley Field in 1934.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. At the time, Cubs vs. Cards was not considered a big rivalry.

* And in a game called due to rain after 5 innings, the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Browns finished in a 2-2 tie at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.