December 14, 1963: The Baldwin Hills Dam Break

December 14, 1963: The Baldwin Hills Dam, in the Los Angeles suburb of Baldwin Hills, California, breaks, killing 5 people, destroying 277 homes, and causing a water shortage for 500,00 people. Extensive rescue efforts kept the death toll low.

The reservoir was constructed on a low hilltop between 1947 and 1951 by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, directly on an active fault line, which was subsidiary to the well-known nearby Newport-Inglewood Fault. The underlying geologic strata were considered unstable for a reservoir, and the design called for a compacted soil lining meant to prevent seepage into the foundation. The fault lines were considered during planning, but were deemed by some, although not all, of the engineers and geologists involved as not significant.

The break began with signs of lining failure, followed by increasingly serious leakage through the dam at its east abutment. After three hours, the dam breached, and it took only 77 minutes for all the water to pour out into Cloverdale Avenue, La Brea Avenue, La Cienega Boulevard and Jefferson Boulevard.

The former reservoir is now part of the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. Hahn was a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952, and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from then until 1992. In that time, he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King, Mayor Tom Bradley, and other civil rights leaders. He never ran for Mayor, but his son James was elected in 2001, but was defeated for re-election in 2005. Kenneth's daughter Janice served in Congress, and is now on the County Board of Supervisors herself.

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December 14, 1963 was a Saturday. Actress Cynthia Gibb was born. And singer Dinah Washington died. And the Baldwin Hills Dam broke in Los Angeles, killing 5 people. I have separate entries for Washington's death and the dam break.

Baseball was out of season. There were no games played in the NFL. In the American Football League, the New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills, 19-10. This was the last event ever held at the Polo Grounds. I have a separate entry for that event as well.

Also in the AFL that day, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 35-3 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. In the National Football League, the Green Bay Packers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 21-17 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. The rest of both Leagues played the next day, Sunday.

It was the last weekend of the college football season before the bowl games, and only 2 games were played. The University of Houston beat the University of Louisville, 21-7 at Rice Stadium in Houston, where they were groundsharing with their crosstown rivals, Rice University.

And Number 9 Alabama, coached by Paul "Bear" Bryant and quarterbacked by Joe Namath, beat the University of Miami, 17-12 at the Orange Bowl stadium in Miami. 'Bama and the University of Mississippi, each of whom had faced an integration crisis over the last year and change, did not play each other in the regular season, but 'Bama's losses to Florida and arch-rival Auburn, along with Ole Miss' undefeated season, gave Ole Miss the Southeastern Conference Championship. But since 'Bama hadn't had their shot at Ole Miss, they were pitted against each other in the Sugar Bowl, which traditionally features the SEC Champion, and 'Bama won, 12-7.

There were 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-119 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the Boston Celtics, 108-105 at the Boston Garden.

* The St. Louis Hawks beat the Detroit Pistons, 104-92 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Baltimore Bullets, 113-108 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Jerry West led all scorers on the day with 38 points.

The NHL's entire "Original Six" was in action that day:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the North London team that I would one day support, traveled to the Birmingham area, and played Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. Wolves, to a 2-2 draw.