June 16, 1950: Estádio do Maracanã Opens In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

June 16, 1950: The Estádio do Maracanã opens in the neighborhood of the same name in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as the country's national stadium and the centerpiece for the 1950 World Cup. When the Final is held there, a crowd of 199,854 pays to see it. And is traumatized by Brazil's loss to Uruguay.

In 1966, it was officially renamed Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, for a sportswriter who had just died.In 2021, the Rio de Janeiro state legislature voted to change the venue's name to the Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Rei Pelé Stadium. Edson Arantes do Nascimento was Pelé's full name, while "Rei" means "King" in Portuguese. Bbut everybody still calls it the Maracanã.

It is home to Rio's 2 biggest teams, CR Flamengo (Clube de Regatas Flamengo, or Rowing Club, also named for a neighborhood in Rio) and Fluminense Football Club. The "Fla-Flu Derby" is the event of the year in Rio -- aside from that whole Carnival business.

Outside of soccer, in 1980, it hosted the largest crowd ever to watch a volleyball match, 95,000, to see the national teams of Brazil and the Soviet Union. It hosted the preaching of Billy Graham in 1960 and 1974, breaking the attendance record with 225,000; and Pope John Paul II in 1980, 1987 and 1997.

Frank Sinatra sang there before 175,000 in 1980, and "Rock In Rio" has brought more than that for Sting in 1987, Tina Turner in 1988, Paul McCartney in 1990, a-ha in 1991, Madonna in 1993, and the Rolling Stones in 1995.

A conversion to all-seater, and later renovations for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics has reduced capacity to 78,838, making it still the largest stadium in South America. Because of the soccer connection, it remains the most famous building on the entire continent.

However, because of a dispute between the Brazilian Olympic organizing committee and the stadium's operating corporation, no cleanup was done after the Olympics, and the stadium was left in bad shape. A major renovation was necessary in 2017, and Flamengo and Fluminense put their differences aside and formed a joint management company to take up the stadium's maintenance. In the interim, both clubs played at Estádio Municipal General Sylvio Raulino de Oliveira in nearby Volta Redonda.

The Maracanã is 1 of 2 stadiums to have hosted 2 World Cup Finals, along with the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. And it's 1 of 4 stadiums to have hosted a World Cup Final and be the main stadium for the Olympic Games. The Azteca is not 1 of the other 4: Although it was used during the 1968 Olympics, it was not the main stadium for those games. The others are the old Wembley Stadium in London, and the Olympiastadions in Berlin and Munich. In 2024, the Stade de France outside Paris will make it 5.

In 1954, a 12,000-seat indoor arena was built next door. Officially, it is named Ginásio Gilberto Cardoso, after a former president of Flamengo (the club sponsors teams in many sports, not just soccer), and is nicknamed the Maracanãzinho. It is widely known as the traditional home of Brazilian volleyball.

The Rajko Mitić Stadium, the stadium of Football Club Red Star in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is popularly called Marakana in honor of the Brazilian stadium.

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June 16, 1950 was a Friday. Since the World Cup didn't begin until June 24, the only scores on this historic day were in American baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 7-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Vic Raschi was the winning pitcher. Joe Collins hit 2 home runs, and Yogi Berra hit 1. Joe DiMaggio went 1-for-4.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-1 at the Polo Grounds. Hank Thompson, who became the Giants' 1st black player a year earlier, hit a home run.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-3 at Ebbets Field. Elwin "Preacher" Roe went the distance for the win. Roy Campanella went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Jackie Robinson went 3-for-4. Duke Snider went 0-for-4. For the Cards, Stan Musial went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Boston Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Braves Field in Boston. This game went back-and-forth: It was 4-1 Braves after 6 innings, 4-4 going to the bottom of the 8th, 5-4 Braves after 8, the Pirates scored in the top of the 9th, and in the bottom of the 9th, Sam Jethroe singled Sibby Sisti home with the winning run. Johnny Sain was the winning pitcher. Walker Cooper and Earl Torgeson hit home runs for the Braves, Ralph Kiner for the Pirates.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Early Wynn went the distance for the win. Joe Gordon and Luke Easter hit home runs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Hal Newhouser went the distance for the win. Ted Williams went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 7-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies were rained out at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 15. The Phils swept, 2-1 and 8-7. They tied the nightcap in the bottom of the 9th, and the game went on and on. Robin Roberts pitched the 1st 7 innings, and Jim Konstanty pitched innings 9 through 18. Both teams scored 2 runs in the 18th inning. Eddie Waitkus led off the bottom of the 19th with a single, Richie Ashburn followed with a single, Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones drew a walk to loaded the bases with nobody out, and Del Ennis singled Waitkus home.

When the game was initially scheduled, the Phillies were in 3rd place, 3 1/2 games out of 1st. After it was actually played, 3 months later, they were in 1st place by 7 1/2 games. Nevertheless, they had to beat the Dodgers on the last day of the season to win the Pennant. With the 2nd game of the September 15 doubleheader in mind, and with a starting rotation sapped by injury and the draft for the Korean War, and exhausted from overuse, Phils manager Eddie Sawyer started Konstanty in Game 1 of the World Series. He pitched very well, but in defeat.