October 15, 1922: T.S. Eliot Publishes "The Waste Land"

October 15, 1922: T.S. Eliot publishes the 1st issue of the British literary magazine The Criterion in London. It is not widely remembered today. A poem written by Eliot that appears in this 1st issue is: "The Waste Land."

Thomas Stearns Eliot was born on September 26, 1888 in St. Louis. He moved to England in 1914, and stayed there for the rest of his life, which ended on January 4, 1965, at age 76. "The Waste Land" was called the greatest poem of the 20th Century by an end-of-the-century issue by Time magazine in 1999. It seemed to sum up the post-World War I emotional hangover, as the whole world seemed to have what would now be called post-traumatic stress disorder.

It begins with the words, "April is the cruelest month." If Eliot had been a baseball fan, he would have known that April is the month of new beginnings. It's October that can be cruel.

On November 23, 1925, Eliot published his poem "The Hollow Men." It is the source of the words, "This is the way the world ends: Not with a bang but a whimper."

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October 15, 1922 was a Sunday. Baseball season had ended a week earlier, when the New York Giants beat the New York Yankees in the World Series. There had not yet been a major basketball league. And the NHL season didn't start until early December in those days.

There were 8 games in the young NFL that day:

* The Buffalo All-Americans beat the Columbus Panhandles, 19-0 at Olympic Park in Buffalo. Offermann Stadium would be built on the site, and be home to the International League's Buffalo Bisons from 1924 to 1960.

* The Canton Bulldogs beat the Oorang Indians, 14-0 at League Field in Canton, Ohio. Jim Thorpe had starred for the Bulldogs, but, for this season, founded the Indians, based in Marion, Ohio, hometown of the man who was then the President of the United States, Warren Harding; and made up of his fellow Native Americans. Oorang dog kennels sponsored the team, so that's where the name came from. The team lasted 2 seasons.

* The Toledo Maroons beat the Hammond Pros, 14-0 at Swayne Field in Toledo, Ohio. This was the home of the American Association's Toledo Mud Hens from 1909 to 1955.

* The Dayton Triangles beat the Minneapolis Marines, 17-0 at Triangle Park in Ohio.

* The Chicago Bears beat the Rochester Jeffersons, 7-0 at Cubs Park on the North Side of Chicago. The ballpark was renamed Wrigley Field in 1926.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Green Bay Packers, 16-3 at Normal Park on the South Side of Chicago.

* The Rock Island Independents beat the Evansville Crimson Giants, 60-0 at Douglas Park in Rock Island, Illinois.

* And the Milwaukee Badgers beat the Racine Legion, 20-0 at Borchert Field in Milwaukee. This was the home of the American Association version of the Milwaukee Brewers from 1902 to 1952.

Of all of these teams, only 3 still exist: The Bears, the Cardinals and the Packers. And the Cardinals have since moved twice, to St. Louis in 1960 and Phoenix in 1988.