Scores On This Historic Day

The Thomas Jefferson Building November 1, 1897: The current Library of Congress building opens in Washington, D.C., across First Street from the U.S. Capitol Building. There is a dispute as to whether it or the British Library is the largest in the world, based on total number of volumes contained therein. Both have over 170 million volumes. Once the national capital moved to Washington in 1800, the Library of Congress was housed in the Capitol. Much of its original collection was burned by the British troops in the War of 1812, along with the rest of the Capitol, and the White House, on August 24, 1814. That remains the worst attack on the Capitol. During the Trump Insurrection of January 6, 2021, the Library of Congress was safe: Most of those people wouldn't intentionally go anywhere near a library. After the fire,  Congress purchased former President Thomas Jefferson's  entire personal collection of 6,487 books, to restore its own collection -- and also to help him pay of...

November 1, 1884:  The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded at Hayes's Hotel in Thurles, County Tipperary, in what's now the Republic of Ireland. The GAA governs the traditional Irish sports such as hurling and Gaelic football -- but not Irish soccer, which is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The Northern Ireland equivalent is the Irish Football Association (IFA). For decades, Irish athletes resisted the sports that England were first to organize: Association football (soccer), rugby, and cricket. So they developed their own version of football, and rounders (a baseball-like game then less popular in England than cricket), and hurling. For girls, the game of canogie was invented, sort of a cross between field hockey and lacrosse. By the 1960s, the growth of television allowed Irish people to see English sports more easily, and they decided to try to beat the English at their own games. An Ireland rugby team, made up of both Republic of Ireland players an...

October 31, 2015:   American Pharoah wins the Breeders' Cup Classic, the highlight of the annual Breeders' Cup meet, held this year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. On May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, at 3-1 odds, American Pharoah won the Kentucky Derby, in 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds, by 1 length over Firing Line. Two weeks later, on May 16, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, at 9-10 odds, he won the Preakness Stakes, in 1 minute, 58.46 seconds, by 7 lengths over Tale of Verve. Since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978, there had been several near-misses, horses winning the Derby and the Preakness, but not the Belmont Stakes, the mile-and-a-half "True Test of Champions." Spectacular Bid had failed in 1979, Pleasant Colony in 1981, Alysheba in 1987, Sunday Silence in 1989, Silver Charm by 3/4 of a length in 1997, Real Quiet in a photo finish in 1998, Charismatic due to an in-race injury in 1999, War Emblem in 2002, Funny Cide in...

Mark Walton is tackled by Jake Kite... or is he? October 31, 2015:   Duke University hosts the University of Miami in an Atlantic Coast Conference Game at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. After scoring a touchdown and a 2-point conversion, Duke led 27-24 with 6 seconds left on the clock. All the Blue Devils had to do was not allow a touchdown on the kickoff return, and they would beat the Hurricanes. Duke squibbed the kickoff, thinking that the clock would run out during Miami's return. But the ball only got to the Miami 25-yard line, and the 'Canes tried to copy "The Play," the lateral-filled play that allowed the University of California to beat arch-rival Stanford in 1982. After 3 laterals, the ball was held on the Miami 3-yard line. Mark Walton tried a 4th lateral. Photos showed that his knee hit the turf before he let the ball go. But no official whistled the play dead. Eventually, Miami made 8 laterals. The last got to Corn Elder, who got 2 key bl...

October 31, 2010:   The Walking Dead  premieres on AMC -- appropriately enough, on Halloween Night. It is based on the graphic novel series of the same title, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore in 2003, and published by Image Comics until 2019. English actor Andrew Lincoln played Rick Grimes, a Sheriff in Cynthiana, Georgia, who falls into a coma after being wounded in a shootout. Some time later, he awakens to discover that, in his absence, a zombie apocalypse has taken place. He is told his wife Lori and son Carl had been taken to Atlanta for their protection. Carl becomes the leader of a group of survivors, trying to fend off both zombies (known as "walkers") and rival survivor groups, the more evil enemy: Unlike the walkers, who are acting solely on instinct, the other survivors have made choices. Lincoln left the series during its 9th season, succeeded as group leader by Norman Reedus as hunter Daryl Dixon. But many viewers had already given up on the...

October 31, 2009: The "grunge rock" band Pearl Jam sell out The Spectrum, in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. It is the last event at the 42-year-old arena. The Spectrum, a new sports arena, opened in South Philadelphia on September 30, 1967, with  the Quaker City Jazz Festival. It was home to the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers until 1996; hosted the NBA All-Star Game in 1970 and 1976; the NHL All-Star Game in 1976 and 1992; the NCAA Final Four in 1976 and 1981; the Stanley Cup Finals in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1985 and 1987; the NBA Finals in 1977, 1980, 1982 and 1983; and concerts by  Elvis Presley in 1971, 1974, 1976 and 1977. Unlike most arenas, The Spectrum was not replaced due to it being technologically outdated, or in poor condition, or being in a bad neighborhood (it was an island in a sea of parking, therefore it was in no neighborhood). It was because Spectator, the company owned by the Snider family to operate the arena a...

Ben Roethlisberger (left) and Tom Brady October 31, 2004: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots, 34-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. This ends the longest winning streak in NFL history. Coached by Bill Belichick, the Patriots surprised the football world in the 2001 season, losing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe to injury early, and then replacing him with Tom Brady, and going on a run that ended with victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. After missing the Playoffs in the 2002 season, they won it all again for 2003. On September 28, they lost away to the Washington Redskins, and ran the table the rest of the way, starting on October 5, home to the Tennessee Titans. They won their last 12 of the season, beat the Titans again in the AFC Divisional Playoff, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, and beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. That made 15 straight wins. They won their 1st preseason exhibi...

October 31, 2001:  Game 4 of the World Series. It's not just Halloween -- the 1st time a Major League Baseball game has been played on the day, due to the postponement of a week of games following the 9/11 attacks -- it's also a night of a Full Moon. During batting practice at Yankee Stadium, Arizona Diamondbacks 1st baseman Mark Grace, who so long played for the Chicago Cubs without winning a Pennant and is enjoying his 1st World Series, could be seen on the official Series highlight film looking up, and saying, "Full Moon! You know what that means: Strange things happen!" The Yankees trailed the Diamondbacks 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, and were about to fall behind in the World Series by the same margin of games. This was due in large part to the fine pitching of Curt Schilling, who was asked about the "mystique" of Yankee Stadium. He said, "Mystique, Aura, those are dancers in a nightclub." Schilling had outpitched the Yankees' Orlando ...

October 31, 1993: Actor River Phoenix dies of a drug overdose on a street in Los Angeles. He was only 23 years old. River Jude Bottom was born on August 23, 1970 in Madras, Oregon. His parents were hippies, and also had son Joaquin and daughters Rain, Liberty and Summer. They ended up in a cult, but left it, and celebrated their rise from the cult by changing their family name to "Phoenix." By the age of 10, River was an expert guitar player and tapdancer, and had begun appearing in TV commercials. He became a star in 1986 with Stand By Me and The Mosquito Coast . In 1988, he appeared in Running On Empty , and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was 18. In 1989, he played a 13-year-old Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade . In 1991, he starred in My Own Private Idaho , and won an Independent Spirit Award. In 1992, he filmed The Thing Called Love , and began a relationship with co-star Samantha Mathis. He was already becoming known...

October 31, 1992:  Rutgers University plays Virginia Tech in a Halloween Homecoming thriller, in the next-to-last game at the old Rutgers Stadium. The stars of this game, all from New Jersey, were quarterback Bryan Fortay of East Brunswick, running back Bruce Presley of Highland Park, tight end Jim Guarantano of Lodi, and receiver Chris Brantley of Teaneck. RU fell behind 42-23 in the 3rd quarter, before launching a comeback. With 1:32 left, and Tech leading 49-44, the Scarlet Knights got the ball on their own 22. Among the plays on this drive was a 46-yard pass from Fortay to Mario Henry with 7 seconds left. RU won  on the final play, the 4th Fortay-to-Brantley touchdown pass of the game, 50-49. Yes, that score is in football, not basketball. The shootout featured a combined 1,164 yards of total offense, on 167 plays, with 54 first downs, 10 interceptions and 14 touchdowns. Rutgers played in the 1st college football game, in 1869. So they have, literally, been playing footbal...