The photograph is real, but it's been colorized.
April 18, 1906: An earthquake, eventually retroactively measured at 7.8 on the Richter scale, strikes San Francisco. It ruptures gas lines, and starts fires, which can't be put out, because the water mains were broken in the quake. Between the quake and the fires, over 3,000 people were killed, and 80 percent of the city's buildings were destroyed.
The greatest relief effort in American history is launched. By 1915, the city had been rebuilt enough to host a world's fair, the Pan-American Exposition.
On January 11, 2016, William Del Monte died at the age of 109. He was an infant at the time of the 1906 quake, and was the last survivor of it.
People still expect "The Big One" to hit San Francisco one day. The quake that struck during the 1989 World Series was a 6.9, and was bad enough. If there ever is a "Big One," it could make the one in 1906 look tame by comparison. Hopefully, the "earthquake-proofing" of modern San Francisco buildings will hold the death toll down.
*
April 18, 1906 was a Wednesday. This was before the founding of the NFL, the NBA and the NHL. But there were Major League Baseball games played on the day:
* The New York Highlanders and the Boston Americans played to a 3-3 tie, called by darkness after 11 innings, at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. In 1908, the Americans would adopt a shortening of the name originally given to their city's National League team: The Boston Red Sox. In 1913, the Highlanders were take the name some people were already giving them: The New York Yankees.
* The New York Giants beat the Brooklyn Superbas, 4-1 at Washington Park in Brooklyn. The Superbas would become the Dodgers in 1911; then the Robins in 1914, after their manager, Wilbert Robinson; then, in 1932, after Robinson was fired, they would become the Dodgers again. After the 1957 season, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, and the Giants to San Francisco.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Washington Senators, 4-2 at Columbia Park in Philadelphia. The Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955 and Oakland in 1968. The Senators moved to become the Minnesota Twins in 1961. A replacement team called the Washington Senators began play that season, and moved to become the Texas Rangers in 1972.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-4 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Bennett Park in Detroit.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-1 at West Side Park in Chicago.
* The Cleveland Naps beat the St. Louis Browns, 4-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Naps were named for their manager and 2nd baseman, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie. After he left following the 1914 season, they were renamed the Cleveland Indians. After the 1953 season, the Browns moved, becoming the Baltimore Orioles.
* Two teams then in existence did not play that day: The Boston Beaneaters and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Beaneaters had been the Boston Red Stockings from 1871 to 1882. In 1907, brothers George and John Dovey bought the team, and renamed them the Boston Doves. In 1911, William H. Russell bought the team, and renamed them for himself, the Boston Rustlers. But he died after just one season. New owner James Gaffney was a "Brave," an officer in New York's Tammany Hall political organization, and he renamed the team the Boston Braves.
In 1935, the Braves lost 115 games. Trying to put the past behind them, their owner Bob Quinn changed their name to the Boston Bees. It didn't take with the public, and they became the Braves again in 1941. They moved to Milwaukee in 1953 and Atlanta in 1966.
No comments:
Post a Comment