October 5, 1910: The Fall of the Portuguese Monarchy

King Manuel II

October 5, 1910: The 5th of October Revolution occurs in Portugal. With the nation in financial crisis, the Portuguese Republican Party stages a coup, and King Manuel II flees to England, and lives there until his death in 1932.

He had reigned only 2 years, since the assassination of his father, King Carlos I, and his brother, Crown Prince Luis Felipe. The House of Braganza had ruled the country since 1604, but now, it was all over.

The First Portuguese Republic is proclaimed, and lasts until a military coup in 1926. This fascist National Dictatorship evolved in 1933 to the Estado Novo (New State), falsely named the Second Republic, and lasted until the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Portugal remains free, and the monarchy has never been restored, even ceremonially.

As of October 5, 2022, the claimant to the throne is Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza. He is 77, and, like Manuel II, is a direct descendant of King João VI, who reigned from 1816 to 1825.

Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza

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October 5, 1910 was a Wednesday. There were 4 other baseball games that day:

* The New York Highlanders beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 7-4 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. A's manager/co-owner Connie Mack inserted his son Earle Mack behind the plate in the game, hitting a single and a triple in the game. This is the 1st time that a manager has put his son in a major league game as a player. I have a separate entry for this event.

* The Boston Red Sox led the Washington Senators, 5-1 going into the bottom of the 9th at American League Park in Washington. The Senators tied the game. But they couldn't find the winning run, and the umpires called the game due to darkness.

* And a doubleheader was played at Bennett Park in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers lost the opener to the Cleveland Naps, 8-3, allowing 5 runs in the top of the 10th inning. The nightcap was called due to darkness after 5 innings, with the Tigers leading, 4-2. The Naps were named for their manager, 2nd baseman and best hitter, Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie. They would be renamed the Indians in 1915 and the Guardians in 2022.

This was the last week of the regular season, and Lajoie and the Tigers' Ty Cobb were in a feverish race for the American League battle title, with the Chalmers Auto Company offering a new car to the winner. Over the 2 games, Cobb went 3-for-6 with a walk, 3 stolen bases and 2 RBIs, while Lajoie went 3-for-6 with an RBI. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson went 3-for-7. Cobb ended up winning the batting title, but there were shenanigans (not his doing), and so Chalmers gave both men cars. (Cobb didn't mind: He got what he wanted.)

Bennett Park was torn down in 1911, and a new park opened on the site the next year, known as Navin Field from 1912 to 1937, Briggs Stadium from 1938 to 1960, and Tiger Stadium from 1961 to 1999.

Despite it being a Monday, there were 5 college football games played that day:

* Yale beat Tufts, 17-0 at Yale Field in New Haven, Connecticut.

* The University of Pennsylvania beat Franklin & Marshall University, 17-0 at the original Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Carlisle Indian School, with a sophomore two-way back named Jim Thorpe, beat Dickinson College, 24-0 at Biddle Field in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

* VPI -- the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, usually known as "Virginia Tech" now -- beat Davidson University, 16-0 at Miles Field in Blacksburg, Virginia.

* And the University of Mississippi, a.k.a. Ole Miss, beat Tennessee Medical College, now the University of Memphis, 2-0 in Oxford, Mississippi.