August 30, 1963: The Moscow-Washington Hot Line

August 30, 1963: The Moscow-Washington Hot Line goes into operation. It was put in place in the wake of the Cuban Missile Crisis the previous year, to make for quicker diplomacy.

In American popular culture, the Hot Line usually appears as a red telephone on the desk of the President of the United States. It has never been a phone, it has never been in the White House, and it doesn't link the 2 countries' respective heads of state.

Rather, it was originally a Teletype machine, became a fax machine in 1986, and a secure computer link in 2008; and its Washington end is actually across the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, at the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense, while the Russian end is in the General Staff Building, home of the Russian Federation's Ministry of Defense. Of course, the respective Presidents do have secure phone lines that they can use to talk directly to each other, through translators.

Through August 30, 2022, it has been used 11 times: In 1963, following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; 1967, during the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War; 1971, during the India-Pakistan War; 1973, during another Arab-Israeli conflict, the Yom Kippur War; 1974, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus; 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; 1981, when the Soviets were threatening to invade Poland; 1982, during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon; 1991, during the Persian Gulf War; in 2003, during the Iraq War; and, most recently, on October 31, 2016, when Barack Obama told Vladimir Putin he'd better not interfere in the President election that was happening 8 days later. Putin interfered anyway.

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August 30, 1963 was a Friday. This was also the day that the modern audio cassette tape, and the tape recorder that used it, were both introduced to the public by the Philips Company. I have a separate entry for that event. Actor Michael Chiklis was born that day.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Al Downing outpitched Steve Barber. Barber's arm probably wasn't sore, just a little stiff. (Ball Four reference.) Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra were all held out of this game. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 3-1 at the Polo Grounds. Hank Aaron went 0-for-4. Duke Snider appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Mets, but did not reach base.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. In his final season, Stan Musial got the day off.

* The Washington Senators beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Claude Osteen pitched a 5-hit shutout. Carl Yastrzemski did not play for the Sox.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4. So did Pete Rose, soon to be named National League Rookie of the Year. So did Roberto Clemente, who also had an RBI.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 0-for-4.

* The Houston Colt .45s beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks did not play. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison hit home runs.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Don Drysdale outpitched Juan Marichal. Willie Mays went 2-for-4, and drove in the Giants' only run.