The "e" next to the "500" is a French abbreviation: "le cinq centième."
October 19, 1957: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum. Maurice Richard scores on a power play, putting the puck past Glenn Hall at 15:52 of the 1st period. Pandemonium erupts, as the most popular player the Canadiens will ever have has scored the 500th goal of his career.
In 1952, he had surpassed Nels Stewart, with 324, as the all-time leader. He had gone past the 400-goal barrier. Now, he had reached 500.
How far ahead was Richard? At the time, Gordie Howe was 2nd on the all-time list, with 358. In 1960, Richard would retire with 544. In 1963, Howe would pass Richard, and finish with 801. In 1994, Wayne Gretzky would pass Howe, and finish with 894.
In 1999, the NHL established the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, given to the League's annual goalscoring leader. Richard died the next year.
As of October 19, 2022, there are 45 players who have scored at least 500 goals in their careers, a feat made easier by longer schedules, better equipment, and better training. There have been 31 who have topped Richard's 544, 20 who have scored 600, 8 who have scored 700; and Gretzky, Howe and Alexander Ovechkin have topped 800. Ovechkin is easily the leader among players born and trained to play hockey in Europe. The leader among players born and trained in America is Mike Modano, with 561. (UPDATE: In 2023, Steven Stamkos became the 46th member of the 500 Goals Club.)
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October 19, 1957 was a Saturday. There was 1 other game in the NHL: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins, 7-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Brian Cullen and Billy Harris both scored hat tricks. The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings were not scheduled.
Baseball was out of season. The NBA had no games scheduled. The NFL played all its games the next day. These notable college football games were played that day:
* Number 1 Michigan State were upset by Purdue, 20-13 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.
* Number 2 Oklahoma beat Kansas, 47-0 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma. Four weeks later, Oklahoma saw its 47-game winning streak, still an all-time record, end with a loss to Notre Dame. They still won the Big 7 Conference title.
* Number 3 Texas A&M beat Texas Christian, 7-0 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
* Number 4 Minnesota were upset by Illinois, 34-13 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.
* Number 5 Duke beat Wake Forest, 34-7 at Duke Stadium (now Wallace Wade Stadium) in Durham, North Carolina. Duke received an invitation to the Orange Bowl, where they were crushed by Oklahoma.
* Number 6 Iowa beat Number 13 Wisconsin, 21-7 at Iowa Stadium (now Kinnick Stadium) in Iowa City.
* Number 7 Oregon State were upset by UCLA, 26-7 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* Number 9 Auburn beat Georgia Tech, 3-0 at Grant Field in Atlanta. Auburn won the Southeastern Conference title, but did not play in the Sugar Bowl. They were awarded the National Championship by the AP, the writers' poll.
* Number 10 Arkansas were upset by Texas, 17-10 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
* The night before, Number 11 Mississippi beat Tulane, 50-0 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. Although "Ole Miss" did not win the Southeastern Conference title, they were invited to return to Tulane Stadium, where they beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
* Number 15 Navy beat Georgia, 27-14 at Thompson Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Number 16 Pittsburgh were upset by Number 19 Army, 29-13 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York.
* Number 18 Rice beat Southern Methodist University (SMU), 27-21 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Rice won the Southwest Conference title, and returned to the Cotton Bowl to play in the game of the same name, but lost to Navy.
* Number 19 Washington State were upset by Oregon, 14-13 at Rogers Field in Pullman, Washington. Oregon went on to win the Pacific Coast Conference title.
* Ohio State were not ranked at the time, but beat Indiana, 56-0 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. They went on to win the Big 10 title, and beat Oregon in the Rose Bowl. They were awarded the National Championship by UPI, the coaches' poll.
* Among New York City teams, Columbia lost to Harvard, 19-6 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.
* And in New Jersey, Rutgers lost to Lehigh, 13-7 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; and Princeton lost to Colgate, 12-10 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.
And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Birmingham City, 3-1 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.
Also, actor Michael O'Leary was born. He played Jimmy, the evangelical Christian ballplayer who ends up marrying Millie the league slut, in the film Bull Durham; and Marty Taylor, brother of series lead Tim, on the sitcom Home Improvement.
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