July 30, 1966: England Win the World Cup

Captain Bobby Moore raises the Jules Rimet Trophy,

while his teammates raise him

July 30, 1966: England win the World Cup, beating West Germany 4-2 after extra time, on home soil, at the original Wembley Stadium in London.

England had never done well in past World Cups, but were determined to show the world that the country that had invented the sport (though the Greeks and the Chinese had football-like games 500 years before the birth of Christ) just how it could play the sport, especially on home soil.

England were managed by Alf Ramsey, who had played right back for England at the 1950 World Cup, and on the Tottenham Hotspur team that won the Football League title in 1951; and was hired to manage England after leading Ipswich Town to the League title in 1962. These were the players he selected:

* Goalkeepers: Number 1, Gordon Banks, Leicester City; 12, Ron Springett, Sheffield Wednesday; 13, Peter Bonetti, Chelsea.

* Defenders: 2, George Cohen, Fulham; 3, Ray Wilson, Everton; 5, Jack Charlton, Leeds United; 6, Bobby Moore, West Ham United, England's Captain; 14, Jimmy Armfield, Blackpool; 15, Gerry Byrne, Liverpool; 18, Norman Hunter, Leeds United.

* Midfielders: 4, Norbert "Nobby" Stiles, Manchester United; 7, Alan Ball, Blackpool; 9, Bobby Charlton, Manchester United, younger brother of Jack; 16, Martin Peters, West Ham United; 17, Ron Flowers, Wolverhampton Wanderers; 20, Ian Callaghan, Liverpool; 22, George Eastham, Arsenal.

* Forwards: 8, Jimmy Greaves, Tottenham Hotspur; 10, Geoff Hurst, West Ham United; 11, John Connelly, Manchester United; 19, Terry Paine, Southampton; 21, Roger Hunt, Liverpool.

England played all of their games in Group 1 at the national stadium, the original version of Wembley Stadium in West London. They got off to a slow start with a 0-0 draw against Uruguay, then beat Mexico and France, in each case by a 2-0 score, to win the Group. Uruguay also advanced.

Old Wembley

Group 2 was won by West Germany, with Argentina advancing as well. Group 3 was won by Portugal, with Hungary following. Two-time defending Champions Brazil only finished 3rd in Group 3, because defenders from Portugal and Bulgaria relentlessly fouled Pelé, by this point recognized as the best player in the world. Brazil would be back in 1970, but, for 1966, they were out.

And Group 4 was won by the Soviet Union, with another Communist nation, North Korea, surprising everyone by also advancing. North Korea's 1-0 win over Italy at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, is the most embarrassing defeat in Italy's history. (The most infuriating one was also against Koreans, co-host South Korea, in the 2002 World Cup.)

In the Quarterfinals, West Germany beat Uruguay 4-0 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire, home of Sheffield Wednesday. The other games were considerably more dramatic. It took until Hurst's goal in the 78th minute for England to beat Argentina, 1-0 at Wembley. With memories of Soviet tanks crushing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 still fresh, the Soviet team beat Hungary 2-1 at Roker Park in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.

And at Goodison Park in Liverpool, home of Everton, North Korea took a 3-0 lead on Portugal, before Eusébio -- one of several players from Mozambique that Portugal fielded before that African colony gained its independence in 1975 -- scored 4 goals, 2 spectacular ones from open play and 2 penalties, to lead Portugal to a 5-3 win. With Pelé literally kicked out of the tournament, Eusébio was its dominant player.

Bobby Charlton scored 2 goals for England in the Semifinal against Portugal at Wembley. A late penalty, converted by Eusébio, briefly put the game in doubt, but England held on for the 2-1 win. The other Semifinal, at Goodison Park, had echoes of both World Wars, but the opposite result of each, as West Germany defeated the Soviet Union, 2-1.

As a crowd of 96,924 filed into Wembley, "The Great War" and "The War" were on Ramsey's mind as he addressed his players before the Final: "Fear not if they shall defeat us at our national game on our soil; for, twice in this century, we have defeated them at their national game, on their soil."

England wore red, and West Germany wore white. Kickoff, as was traditional in England, came at 3:00 PM on a Saturday. In America, NBC aired the Final on a 2-hour film delay, using the black-and-white feed from the BBC. This marked the 1st time that soccer had ever been shown in the United States as a stand-alone television event.

In the 12th minute, disaster struck for England: Siegfried Held of Borussia Dortmund sent a cross into the penalty area. Wilson attempted to head it away, but sent it in the wrong direction, to Helmut Haller, then playing his "club football" for Italian side Bologna. He put the ball past Banks, and it was 1-0 to "Ze Germans."

The lead didn't last long, as Hurst put a header past Hans Tilkowski of Dortmund. The score remained 1-1 until the 78th minute, when England won a corner. Ball took it, and it reached Hurst, whose shot was deflected by Tilkowski, to Hust's West Ham teammate Peters, who scored. It was 2-1 England.

England just had to hang on for another 12 to 15 minutes. They couldn't: Jack Charlton fouled Uwe Seeler of Hamburg, West Germamy's Captain and best scorer, in the 89th minute. The ensuing free kick caused a scramble, where Wolfgang Weber of Köln took it, and shot. It deflected off Karl-Heinz Schnellinger of Italian team AC Milan, and went in past Banks. Banks claimed that the ball hit Schnellinger's arm, which would make the play, however unintentional, handball. But replays showed that the ball hit him on the back. And so, it was 2-2, and there would be extra time.

In the 95th minute, Bobby Charlton hit the post, took the rebound, and shot wide. Then, in the 101st minute, came the most controversial shot in the history of soccer. Ball put in a cross, Hurst took it, and fired. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down, and was cleared.

The referee was Gottlieb Dienst -- in spite of his German-sounding name, he was from Switzerland: Had he actually been from Germany, he would have been ineligible to officiate. He wasn't sure if the ball had gone in. He asked a linesman, Tofiq Bahramov, from Azerbaijan but then representing the Soviet Union: He said the ball crossed the goal line, and Dienst gave the goal. 3-2 England.

Ever since, the Germans have argued that the ball did not fully cross the goal line, and blamed "the Russian judge" for it. Since the coming of Video Assisted Refereeing (VAR), it has been argued more strenuously than ever that the Germans were cheated by a home-team call. And computer analysis has suggested that "only" 97 percent of the ball got over the line, roughly the percentage that cost Liverpool a goal in a game against Manchester City, and thus the Premier League title, in 2019.

Hunt immediately turned to celebrate the goal with Hurst. Hunt went to his grave insisting that, if he thought the ball hadn't gone in, he would have rushed forward to tap it in, which makes sense.

I've seen the play many times. The ball clearly hit the top of the net before it came back down. It was a legitimate goal. You don't believe me? Judge for yourself.

In the 120th and final minute of play -- not counting whatever stoppage time would be added on to the end of extra time -- West German manager Helmut Schön sent his defenders forward in one last desperate attempt. But Moore, got the ball, found an unmarked Hurst, and passed it to him.

Some fans ran onto the field, and got closer to Hurst than any German players did. He completed what remains the only hat trick, the only 3-goal performance, by a man in a World Cup Final, matched only by American Carli Lloyd in the 2015 Women's World Cup Final. And this 4th goal for England ensured that the disputed goal from earlier wouldn't matter.

Geoff Hurst

As Hunt approached his shot, BBC announcer Kenneth Wolstenholme made the most famous call in the history of sportscasting -- yes, more famous than "The Giants win the Pennant!":

And here comes Hurst! He's got... Some people are on the pitch! They think it's all over! It is now! It's four!

Kenneth Wolstenholme

There was a minute of stoppage time, but the Germans could do nothing with it. England had won, 4-2. Captain Moore led the England players up the famous Wembley steps, and received the World Cup trophy from his head of state, Queen Elizabeth II.

England have been inconsistent in international tournaments since. They didn't reach another Final until Euro 2020 (delayed until 2021, due to COVID). Their best World Cup performances since have been runs to the Semifinal in 1990 and 2018.

And so, in the 1960s, England, in the midst of Beatlemania, Swinging London and early James Bond, had a moment that brought the whole country together. Old rivalries were put aside for the greatest patriotic moment since the end of The War.

Famously, Denis Law, Manchester United teammate of Bobby Charlton, Nobby Stiles and John Connelly, was such a Scottish patriot that, instead of watching the Final hosted and won by his arch-rival "country," he played golf.

America would have its great moment in 1969: We went to the Moon. England had theirs in 1966: They won the World Cup. Neither has been able to match it since.

The old Wembley Stadium is 1 of 3 stadiums to have hosted an Olympic Games, a World Cup Final and a UEFA European Cup/Champions League Final. The others are the Olympiastadions in Berlin and Munich. In 2024, the Stade de France outside Paris will make it 4.

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This was the 3rd year in a row that Moore, Hurst and Peters had won a Final at Wembley. Together, the 3 players had helped East London team West Ham United win the 1964 FA Cup and the 1965 European Cup Winners' Cup. Being together on the 1966 England team led Hammers fans to say, "West Ham won the World Cup."

A statue of Hurst, Peters, and Everton’s Wilson hoisting Moore on their shoulders as he lifts the trophy, labeled "Champions," was placed across from the Boleyn Ground, a.k.a. Upton Park, West Ham's stadium at the time. (When the old Wembley was torn down in 2000, and the new one opened on the site in 2007, a statue of Moore, England's only World Cup-winning Captain, was placed outside.

But this cup success did not lead to League honors. Moore played for West Ham from 1958 to 1974, and over that stretch, their best finish was 6th in his rookie year, 1958-59, and again in 1972-73. In their Cup win year of 1963-64, they were 14th; in 1966-67, 16th, barely avoiding relegation. As teammate Harry Redknapp, later a Cup-winning manager, put it, "We had Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, and we finished 17th every year. Which should tell you how crap the rest of us were."

Peters would later move to North London's Tottenham Hotspur, where he won the 1971 and 1973 League Cups and the 1972 UEFA Cup. Earlier, Greaves had played for Tottenham, a.k.a. "Spurs," winning the 1962 and 1967 FA Cups and the 1963 Cup Winners' Cup.

With Manchester United, Bobby Charlton won the 1957 League title; and, having added Stiles, and Scotland’s Denis Law, and Northern Ireland’s George Best, won the 1965 and 1967 League titles; the 1963 FA Cup; and the 1968 European Cup. Connelly won the League with Burnley in 1960 and Man United in 1965.

With Liverpool, Byrne, Callaghan and Hunt won the 1964 and 1966 Football League titles, and the 1965 FA Cup. Callaghan stayed long enough to also win the 1973, 1976 and 1977 League titles; the 1974 FA Cup; the 1973 and 1976 UEFA Cups; and the 197 and 1978 European Cups.

Flowers was the senior player. With Wolverhampton Wanderers, a.k.a. "Wolves," he won the 1954, 1959 and 1959 Football League titles, and the 1960 FA Cup. With Leicester City, Banks won the 1964 League Cup. With Stoke City, he and Eastham won the 1972 League Cup. With Chelsea, Bonetti won the 1965 League Cup, the 1970 FA Cup, and the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup.

With Everton, Wilson won the 1966 FA Cup. They then purchased Ball from Blackpool, and he helped them win the 1970 League title, by which time Wilson had been sold. Oddly, he played for 3 teams in the season after they won the FA Cup: 1966 Everton, 1971 Arsenal, and 1976 Southampton – but never won it himself. He then went to the North American Soccer League, and won the league title in 1979.

With Leeds United, Jack Charlton and Norman Hunter won the 1968 League Cup, the 1968 and 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups, the 1969 League title, and the 1972 FA Cup. Hunter was still there for the 1974 League title.

All of the England players lived to see the 25th Anniversary of the achievement. All lived to see the 30th and the 40th, except for Bobby Moore: He died of colon cancer on February 24, 1993. He was only 51.

Alan Ball, the youngest member of the team, died on April 25, 2007. He was only 61. His father had also died young, in a car crash at age 57. John Connelly died on October 25, 2012, apparently of heart failure. He was 74. Ron Springett died on September 12, 2015, also apparently of heart failure. He was 80. Gerry Byrne died on November 28, 2015, of complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 77.

In addition to Byrne's battle with Alzheimer's, 4 other members of that team had experienced dementia by the time of the 50th Anniversary in 2016. Wilson, Stiles and Peters had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's; and Jack Charlton says, "I haven't got a memory now. I forget things easily." He is no longer allowed to drive, or to go fishing alone. His brother Bobby, the most beloved of living English footballers at the time, would also be diagnosed with dementia.

Stiles also battled cancer, as did Banks and Greaves. Greaves, the Football League's all-time leading goalscorer, had strokes, which left him wheelchair-bound.

Their numbers do not include Jeff Astle, perhaps the English footballer best known for having had football-related dementia. He starred as a forward for West Midlands club West Bromwich Albion, and played for England in the 1970 World Cup. He died in 2002. Nor do they include Gerd Müller, the German star who did not make that World Cup, but would eliminate England from the 1970 edition and win it in 1974, and was diagnosed in 2015, and died in 2021.

Pat Wilson, Ray's wife, said, "There are people he played with at Huddersfield and Everton with Alzheimer's. They are all over. They have talked about heading the leather ball causing it." The balls of that era were heavier than they are today, and, being made of leather, got heavier still when wet.

The surviving players had a golf outing every year, for as long as they could. John Stiles, Nobby's son, said, "It's a real shame he can't go to the get-together anymore, because he loved going. He loved the camaraderie they had. That is what made them so special. But, unfortunately, like so many who played in that era and headed those heavy balls, my father has now got dementia. Many other players have some sort of degenerative brain disease."

When an event like winning a world championship happens, they say the participants and the spectators "will never forget." Sadly, we now know that this is not necessarily true.

In 2018, Jimmy Armfield died of non-Hodgkins lymphoma on January 22; and Ray Wilson died of Alzheimer's disease on May 15.

In 2019, Gordon Banks died of cancer on February 12, and Martin Peters died of Alzheimer's disease on December 21.

In 2020, Peter Bonetti died on April 12, of what was only listed as "a long illness"; Norman Hunter died from COVID-19 on April 17; Jack Charlton died of lymphoma on July 10, also having dealt with dementia; and Nobby Stiles died on October 30, from the combined effects of cancer and dementia.

In 2021, Jimmy Greaves died of cancer on September 19; Roger Hunt died on September 27, of what was only listed as "a prolonged illness"; and Ron Flowers died on November 12, of an undisclosed cause.

So, as of July 11, 2022, the following 6 players are still alive: George Cohen, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst, Terry Paine, Ian Callaghan and George Eastham. And Charlton has now been diagnosed with dementia, too.

UPDATE: George Cohen died on December 23, 2022. Bobby Charlton died on October 21, 2023. George Eastham died on December 20, 2024. That leaves Hurst, Paine and Callaghan, and only Hurst among those who played in the Final.

An article for ESPN.com, published after the 2026 World Cup, ranking all 23 tournaments, rated this one 2nd, behind 1982. 

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July 30, 1966 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox, 6-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Gary Peters pitched a 3-hit shutout. Mel Stottlemyre only pitched 4 innings, Jim Bouton wasn't much better in his 3, and the Dooley Womack pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3. Roger Maris was injured and did not play.

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Shea Stadium. Ernie Banks hit a home run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 8-2 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Atlanta Braves swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Stadium. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1975.) They won the opener, 6-5. Denis Menke singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Willie Mays hit a home run, and then got the nightcap off. The Braves won that, 15-2. Gene Oliver hit 3 home runs. Over the 2 games, Hank Aaron went 4-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell went 0-for-4, and Roberto Clemente did not play.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston Astros, 5-1 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Dave Boswell allowed only 3 baserunners: A single to Russ Snyder, a walk to Luis Aparicio, and he hit Davey Johnson with a pitch. Neither Brooks Robinson nor Frank Robinson reached base. Harmon Killebrew and Earl Battey homered for the Twins.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-1 at the new Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and a stolen base.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 1-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Anaheim Stadium. (It was renamed Edision International Field in 1997, and Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 2004.)

July 23, 1966: Eusébio vs. North Korea

July 23, 1966: Coming off perhaps the greatest upset in World Cup history, North Korea faces Portugal, and the man who might be, for the moment, the greatest soccer player in the world.

Eusébio da Silva Ferreira was born on January 25, 1942, in Lourenço Marques, in Mozambique, on the east coast of southern Africa, then a colony of Portugal. In 1975, after the Carnation Revolution overthrew Portugal's fascist government, the overseas empire was broken up, and Mozambique gained its independence. Lourenço Marques was the capital, and its name was changed to Maputo.

By the age of 18, Sport Lisboa e Benfica, the Lisbon-based soccer team that was, then as now, the most successful, the most loved, and the most hated sports team in Portugal, signed him. Benfica won Portugal's Primeira Liga and the European Cup (the precursor tournament to today's UEFA Champions League) in 1961, but Eusébio played only 1 senior game that season. But in 1961-62, the season in which he turned 20, he became a world "football" superstar, leading them to win the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) and a repeat of the European Cup, scoring 5 goals in the tournament, including 2 goals in the Final against Real Madrid. 

(Infamously, Benfica have not won a European Final since, losing the European Cup/Champions League Final in 1963, '65, '68, '88 and '90; and the 2014 UEFA Europa League Final.)

With Eusébio, Benfica won the Premeira Liga 11 times between 1961 and 1975, and the Taça de Portugal 5 times between 1962 and 1972. In other words, they "did The Double" twice, in 1964 and '72. He scored 638 goals in 614 official matches for Benfica. In 1965, he was awarded the Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) for world player of the year. He became known as O Rei (The King), the Black Pearl and the Black Panther. I don't know how Portuguese natives generally treated black people on the soil of the empire's seat, but he remained beloved in Portugal throughout his life. (Brazil's Pelé was also nicknamed O Rei and the Black Pearl.)

In 1966, Portugal qualified for the World Cup, and were placed in Group 3 with another of their former colonies, Brazil, the 2-time defending Champions; and 2 Eastern Bloc nations, Hungary and Bulgaria. On July 13, at Old Trafford, home ground of Manchester United, they beat Hungary, 3-1, with José Augusto, Eusébio's Benfica teammate, scoring 2 goals. On July 16, also at Old Trafford, they beat Bulgaria, 3-0, with Eusébio scoring. And on July 19, at Goodison Park in Liverpool, home of Everton F.C., they beat Brazil, 3-1, with Eusébio scoring twice.

Portugal and the Soviet Union were the only countries, out of the 16 to qualify, who got through the Group Stage 3-0. However, some bad fouls by Portuguese and Bulgarian defenders left Pelé injured, and so it was Hungary that joined Portugal in advancing to the knockout stage from Group 3.

The Quarterfinal was set for July 23, at Goodison: Portugal vs. North Korea. No one expected North Korea, coming off its epic upset of Italy in the last game of the Group Stage, to pull off a 2nd huge upset within 5 days. But Pak Seung-zin scored in the 1st minute, before many people had even gotten to their seats. Li Dong-woon scored in the 22nd, and Yang Seung-kook scored in the 25th. Portugal had only allowed 2 goals in the entire Group Stage, 270 minutes plus stoppage time. Now, in 25 minutes, they had allowed 3.

Eusébio to the rescue. He scored in the 27th. In the 43rd, Portugal were rightly awarded a penalty, and Eusébio took it, closing his team to within 3-2. In the 56th he hit a screamer that tied the game. The North Koreans decided to follow the Bulgarians' path, and foul the opposing star like crazy. In the 59th, a tackle worthy of an immediate dismissal -- yellow and red cards hadn't come into use yet -- injured Eusébio's knee. He took the penalty, anyway, and gave Portugal a 4-3 lead, completing the comeback. Somehow, he finished the game, and José Augusto capped the performance with a goal in the 80th. Portugal 5, North Korea 3 -- 3-0 to North Korea in the 1st 25 minutes, 5-0 to Portugal thereafter.

North Korea's fairy tale was over. Portugal's lasted just 1 more game. In the Semifinal, at Wembley Stadium in London, Bobby Charlton of Manchester United scored 2 goals for England. Portugal were awarded a penalty in the 82nd minute, and Eusébio took it, but they couldn't find an equalizer. West Germany beat the Soviet Union in the other Semifinal, and England won the Final, 4-2 after extra time.

Eusébio continued to be one of the world's best players for a few more years. In 1975, 33 years old, he did what so many aging soccer players were doing, and would do, and continue to do today: He came to North America to make a lot of money. He played in the original North American Soccer League.

In 1975, he played for the Boston Minutemen. In 1976, he played for Toronto Metros-Croatia (a merger of the Toronto Metros and Toronto Croatia), and they won the NASL title. In 1977, he played for the Las Vegas Quicksilvers. But he was 35, and dealing with constant pain and medical treatment on his knees. He scored only 2 goals. 

In 1978, he signed with the New Jersey Americans of the American Soccer League, who played their home games at Memorial Stadium in New Brunswick, Middlesex County. As a native of East Brunswick, I've seen many sporting events at that complex: Football, soccer, baseball. But I didn't know Eusébio played at Memorial Stadium until 2011 -- 33 years later. In 1979, he played with the Buffalo Stallions of the Major Indoor Soccer League, and then he retired, to work for Portugal's national team.

Eusébio died on January 5, 2014. He was just short of turning 72. The outpouring of memories of other legends of the sport showed that he was still held in very high esteem, all over the world.

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July 23, 1966 was a Saturday. The other World Cup Quarterfinals were also played that day. England beat Argentina, 1-0 at Wembley. West Germany beat Uruguay, 4-0 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire. And the Soviets beat Hungary, 2-1 at Roker Park in Sunderland, in the North-East.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 7-6 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle hit a grand slam, and the Yankees chased Angel starting pitcher Marcelino Lopez after 3 innings. But it wasn't enough, as Al Downing and Pedro Ramos couldn't hold the lead.

* The New York Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run. Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk, but Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-1 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.)

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline did not play.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bob Gibson pitched a 6-hit shutout, outpitching Robin Roberts, in his final season. Lou Brock hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 4-3 at the Astrodome in Houston. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Jim Bunning pitched a 3-hit shutout, the hits all singles, by Willie Mays, Hal Lanier, and, oddly, the opposing starting pitcher, Bobby Bolin.

* And the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. Both games went 10 innings. The Reds won the opener, 4-3. Vada Pinson scored on a wild pitch by Dick Kelley. The Braves won the nightcap, 5-4. Joe Torre hit 2 home runs in the 2nd game, including the winner in the top of the 10th. Hank Aaron went 1-for-7 with a home run in the 2nd game, 2 walks and 2 RBIs. Pete Rose went 1-for-10.

July 19, 1966: North Korea Shocks Italy at the World Cup

July 19, 1966: Aside from the 1950 win of the United States over England, this may be the greatest upset in the history of soccer's World Cup.

Italy has been one of the most successful countries in soccer. They have won the World Cup 4 times, reached the Final but lost twice, and reached the Semifinals twice. But the 1966 edition, in England, would not be one of those times.

North Korea, with a team made up entirely of soldiers in their army, made the World Cup for the 1st time. Their official name, when translated into English, is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Then as now, they were neither democratic nor a republic: They were, and are, an insanely repressive Communist nation, a pariah state -- except when it comes to sports. They always get invited to the Olympic Games, and, for this World Cup, they won the tournament to be the lone qualifier from Asia.

Italy, North Korea, the Soviet Union, and the South American nation of Chile were placed together in Group 4, with all games played at Ayresome Park in Middlesbrough, in the North-East of England. On July 12, the action opened with the Soviets beating their fellow Communists, North Korea, 3-0. On July 13, Italy beat Chile, 2-0. Neither of these results was a surprise.

But on July 15, North Korea managed a 1-1 draw with Chile. And, on July 16, the Soviets beat Italy, 1-0. So the July 19 match between Italy and North Korea turned out to be critical: The winner would qualify for the knockout stage, while the loser would be out -- unless Chile could manage an upset over the Soviets on July 20.

Italy had Fiorentina's Enrico Albertosi in goal, Inter Milan's Giacinto Facchetti leading the defense, and an attack led by Inter's Sandro Mazzola and A.C. Milan's Gianni Rivera. It didn't matter: In the 42nd minute, Pak Doo-ik, age 22, put the ball past Albertosi, and that goal held up: North Korea won, 1-0.

Only 17,829 fans could fit into Ayersome Park, most of them cheering the North Koreans for their pluck, despite the political differences between their nations. North Korea's 25 million people, hearing the broadcast on state radio, were ecstatic: For once, they were known for something other than Communism, starving their people, and starting a nasty 3-year war in 1950.

Italy's 50 million people went into shock, and their newspapers, always blowing sporting results out of proportion, went into overdrive with their recriminations. Some blamed Pierre Schwinte, the referee, from France, a nation often at odds with Italy, though the surviving film of the game does not suggest that he called the game inappropriately. Some blamed Edmondo Fabbri, the Italy manager.

The Soviets' 2-1 win over Chile the next day confirmed their position, and North Korea's, in the knockout stage. Italy were out. Fabbri was fired after the tournament, and later managed Torino, Bologna, Cagliari, Torino again, Ternana and Pistoiese, but never recovered from the disgrace of 1966, and died in 1995. Italy rebounded, and reached the Final in 1970, falling to the Brazil squad that might have been the greatest soccer team ever assembled.

North Korea advanced to the Quarterfinal, and nearly pulled off another upset, but Portugal came from behind to beat them. After that game, Pak never played the sport again, and became a gymnastic instructor.

In 2008, with China hosting the Olympic Games, they allowed the Olympic Torch Relay to pass through North Korea, and Pak was the 1st of his countrymen to carry the Torch. As of July 19, 2022, he is still alive.

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July 19, 1966 was a Tuesday. There were 3 other games played in the World Cup that day. Mexico and Uruguay played to a 0-0 draw at Wembley Stadium in London. Argentina beat Switzerland, 2-0 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield. And Portugal beat their former colony of Brazil, 3-1 at Goodison Park, home of Everton Football Club in Liverpool.

And these baseball games were played:

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 13-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Watt was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with a home run. Frank Robinson went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Al Kaline went 0-for-1 with a walk, before leaving the game with an injury.

* The Minnesota Twins swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 5-4 and 4-0 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-7 with an RBI. Jim Perry pitched a 2-hit shutout in the nightcap.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The game went 18 innings, risking getting called due to darkness at the last ballpark without lights, before Don Pavelitch hit a home run off Fergie Jenkins, who was in his 4th inning of relief. Joe Nuxhall, once the youngest player in baseball, was the winning pitcher in his last season as a player. Robin Roberts, in his last season before retiring, pitched 11 innings for the Cubs, while Jim Maloney pitched 10 for the Reds. Ernie Banks went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI before being replaced by a pinch-runner. Pete Rose went 0-for-7, but reached base on a forceout and scored.

* The St. Louis Cardinals also needed extra innings to beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-9 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Charley Smith singled home Bobby Tolan in the bottom of the 12th. Lou Brock went 2-for-6 with an RBI. Hank Aaron went 1-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. Joe Torre went 2-for-6 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

Smith had homered earlier in the game. Tracy Stallard was the Cards' starting pitcher. Stallard was the pitcher who gave up Roger Maris' 61st home run of the 1961 season. After this season, the Yankees traded Maris to the Cardinals, even-up, for Smith.

* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Boston Red Sox and the California Angels were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader the next day. The Red Sox won the 1st game, 6-1. The Angels won the 2nd game, 1-0. Buck Rodgers singled John Wyatt home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. The Angels got 10 shutout innings, with Dean Chance allowing 1 hit over 8, Minnie Rojas pitching a perfect 9th, and Jack Sanford allowing 1 hit in the 10th. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-5, but had 4 walks and an RBI.

* The New York Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics were rained out at Yankee Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 19. The Yankees won the opener, 7-5. The A's won the nightcap, 1-0. Lew Krausse Jr. pitched 6-hit shutout ball for 8 innings, but needed Joe Grzenda and Jack Aker to pitch the 9th. Roger Maris went 3-for-8 over the 2 games, but Mickey Mantle didn't play in either one.

* And the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants were not scheduled.

July 13, 1966: Jim Brown Retires

July 13, 1966: Jim Brown retires from playing football. He is 30 years old.

It is not due to injury. It is because he is a black man who is his own man, and does not like a white man telling him what to do -- unless, possibly, it's by a film director.

Brown had played 9 seasons with the Cleveland Browns, 1957 to 1965, and had led the NFL in rushing yardage in 8 of those seasons, all but 1962. In 1963, he rushed for 1,852 yards, which stood as a single-season record for 10 years. In 1964, he helped the Browns win the NFL Championship, still the last they have ever won. In 1965, he got them back into the NFL Championship Game, losing to the Green Bay Packers.

He was still the best running back in professional football, already the NFL's all-time leading rusher with 12,312 yards (a record that would stand until 1984), and was eventually selected in 1999 by The Sporting News as the greatest player in NFL history.

He was now trying his hand as an actor, filming the World War II movie The Dirty Dozen in London. He was enjoying himself, feeling freer than he ever had.

But preseason training camps were underway, and Browns owner Art Modell told him to leave and come back to join his teammates in Berea, Ohio, 13 miles southwest of downtown Cleveland.

Brown refused, telling Modell, already a noted cheapskate, that he could make more money and sustain fewer injuries as an actor than as a football player. Brown retired from football, taking away the one power that Modell had over him, which was to have an undue affect on his football career, but giving up that football career.

He was 30. As of July 13, 2022, Jim Brown is 86 years old, and has never regretted his decision. As he put it, "What would you rather do: Get hit by Dick Butkus, or make love to Raquel Welch?" (Brown and Welch went on to film one of the earliest interracial love scenes in American movies, in the 1969 Western 100 Rifles. Though she was considered "white," Jo Raquel Tejada was of Bolivian descent.)

He went on to star in several "blaxploitation" films, including the Slaughter series. In 1988, he was among the stars of such films who joined Keenen Ivory Wayans in his parody of such films, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, playing Slammer to Isaac Hayes' Hammer, the two men's characters having retired from fighting crime on the streets of their city to run a barbecue restaurant.

Modell made peace with Brown, and named him a team consultant. Modell continued to own the Browns until 1995, never reaching another World Championship game, until moving them to become the Baltimore Ravens. They won Super Bowl XXXV in 2001. He sold the team in 2003, and died in 2012, beloved in Maryland, but despised in Ohio.

A new Browns team began play in 1999, and Brown was named a consultant to their front office. He still holds this post. A statue of him stands outside their home, FirstEnergy Stadium, built in 1999 on the site of their home in his era, Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

UPDATE: Brown died on May 18, 2023, at the age of 87.

*

July 13, 1966 was a Wednesday. Singer Gerald LeVert was born. This was also the night that Richard Speck killed 8 student nurses in Chicago. I have a separate entry for that event.

Baseball was the only major North American sport in season, and this was during the All-Star Break. The day before, the All-Star Game was played at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. The National League won, 2-1, on a walkoff single by Maury Wills of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But the World Cup was underway in England, where Brown was filming The Dirty Dozen. On this day, France and Mexico played to a 1-1 draw at the old Wembley Stadium in London. (Brown is not known to have attended.) Argentina beat Spain, 2-1 at Villa Park in Birmingham. Portugal beat Hungary, 3-1 at Old Trafford in Manchester. And Italy beat Chile, 2-0 at Roker Park in Sunderland.

July 11, 1966: Marvel Comics Introduces the 1st Black Superhero

Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa

July 11, 1966: Marvel Comics publishes Fantastic Four #52, introducing the character of Black Panther, generally considered to be the 1st black superhero in mainstream comic books.

The name "Black Panther" long predates the character -- and the Black Panther Party, which formed a few weeks later. In World War II, the U.S. Army's segregated 761st Tank Battalion was known as the Black Panthers. And Portugal's Mozambique-born soccer star Eusébio, already world-famous but about to become more so as the World Cup began, was already nicknamed "The Black Panther." (He was also nicknamed "The Black Pearl," as was his fellow Portuguese speaker, Brazilian star Pelé.)

There had been black heroes in comic books before, but no major publisher had dared try it. In 1947, with Jackie Robinson debuting in Major League Baseball and Joe Louis as Heavyweight Champion of the World, All-Negro Comics #1 was published. But it sold so poorly that there was no issue #2.

Marvel, under a previous name, Atlas Comics, had published Jungle Tales, including Waku, Prince of the Bantu, clearly an inspiration for the character to come. But that magazine ran only 7 issues, from September 1954 to September 1955, and, as was all too common at the time, indulged in too many stereotypes. In 1963, Marvel had included Private Gabriel Jones in the World War II-themed book Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos.

With the knowledge that the Lone Ranger had been partly inspired by an African-American lawman named Bass Reeves (1838-1910), Dell Comics released Lobo in December 1965. Bearing no resemblance to the later DC character of the same name, which is Spanish for "wolf," this was a gunslinger who bore stylistic resemblances to the protagonists of 2 current TV series: Dr. Richard Kimble of The Fugitive and Captain Jason McCord of the Western Branded: The cover identified him as "Branded for Life: An honest man... blamed for a crime he did not commit!"

On the heads of his defeated foes, would leave a gold coin imprinted with the letter L and the image of a wolf, similar to the Lone Ranger leaving a silver bullet and Zorro using his sword to cut a letter Z on his opponents' shirts.

Lobo #1 was released after the March On Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Selma-to-Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- but also after the riots in Harlem, North Philadelphia and Watts. It didn't sell well, not even in black neighborhoods. When Marvel released the issue of Fantastic Four with Black Panther, Dell thought to try again, and, in September 1966, released Lobo #2. But that didn't sell well, either, and, except for a brief revival in 2017-18, the character has never appeared again.

A character's in-story origin sometimes gets embellished, but rarely has substantive change. But, as was often the case with Marvel and its boss man, Stan Lee, there is a dispute as to this character's real-world origin. Smilin' Stan said that a black hero was the next step in Marvel's progress.

But Marvel's main artist, Jack Kirby, said, "I came up with the Black Panther because I realized I had no blacks in my strip. I'd never drawn a black. I needed a black. I suddenly discovered that I had a lot of black readers. My first friend was a black! And here I was ignoring them because I was associating with everybody else." Lee's story was backed up by writer Roy Thomas, who later succeeded him as Marvel's editor; while Kirby's story is backed up by documentation, including drawings that predate the issue.

With Black Panther, the in-story origin of the character is not the only thing that matters: There's also the origin story of his homeland, the African nation of Wakanda. At some point in the past, a meteorite landed there. It was made of vibranium, and this fictional material allowed Wakanda to develop technology beyond anything the world had yet seen, including the ability to conceal themselves from the outside world. Their King decided to do this, for fear that the technology could be stolen. (Vibranium would eventually be found elsewhere, and was used to make Captain America's shield.)

In-universe, the title "Black Panther" is a rank of office, chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan. As chieftain, the Panther is entitled to consume a special heart-shaped herb which, in addition to his mystical, shamanistic connection with Bast, the Panther Goddess, grants him superhumanly acute senses, strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, healing, and reflexes. In essence, he has the powers of Spider-Man, without the addition of web-shooters.

In the comics, the King of Wakanda, and thus the Black Panther, is named T'Challa, whose father and predecessor, T'Chaka, was murdered by a rival. Thus, like so many other superheroes, T'Challa is motivated to fight for justice in remembrance of, and to avenge, a parental figure. Just as so many other heroes protect a city -- or, in the case of Daredevil, just one neighborhood -- T'Challa protects an entire country.

In the story that introduced him, he invited the Fantastic Four to Wakanda, and then tested their abilities. The tests passed, he made amends by explaining that he needed to see if they would be worthy allies. They subsequently fought a would-be invader. Black Panther later joined the Avengers, and, for a time, was married to Ororo Munroe, a.k.a. Storm of the X-Men.

T'Challa made his television debut in the 1994-96 Fantastic Four animated series, where he was voiced by Keith David. Djimon Hounsou provided the voice of T'Challa for a 2011 animated series. Chadwick Boseman played the character in 4 live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe films: Captain America: Civil War, in 2016, in which he's on the pro-registration side; Black Panther, in 2018, the 1st superhero film with a black lead that wasn't a comedy (I'm counting Wesley Snipes' Blade films as more horror than superhero films); Avengers: Infinity War, also in 2018, in which he was one of the heroes who was "snapped away" by Thanos; and Avengers: Endgame, in 2019, in which the Hulk snaps him back, and he leads Wakanda's army in the final battle against Thanos.

Boseman, who had previously played black American icons Jackie Robinson, Thurgood Marshall and James Brown, became beloved all over the world for his portrayal of T'Challa. Unbeknownst to the world at large, he was already battling cancer during the filming of Endgame, and died in 2020. So, while the character still lives in comic books, in the MCU, the 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever reveals that their version of T'Challa has died from an incurable illness, and his sister, Shuri, played by Letitia Wright as in the previous film, becomes the new Black Panther.

*

July 11, 1966 was a Monday. There were no baseball games played, as the All-Star Break was underway. The next night, the All-Star Game was held at the new Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, and, under very hot conditions -- Casey Stengel noted of the new facility, "It sure holds the heat well" -- the National League beat the American League, 2-1.

But there was one score on this historic day. Or, rather, one game that ending with neither side scoring: The World Cup got underway in England, with the host country and Uruguay playing to a 0-0 draw at Wembley Stadium in West London.

March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama

March 7, 1965: Selma, Alabama becomes a flashpoint in the Civil Rights Movement. A crowd estimated at 600 people were determined to march from Selma to the State capital of Montgomery, 54 miles away, to demand a Voting Rights Act to follow the Civil Rights Act of the previous year.

The march was led by John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Rev. Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

The marches reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge, carrying U.S. Route 80 over the Alabama River. Built in 1940, the bridge was already heavy with symbolism: Pettus was a Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, and later an official in the Ku Klux Klan. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1896, and served until his death in 1907.

By 1965, Pettus was virtually unknown outside Alabama, but the bridge named for him became a landmark.

When the marchers got to the other side of the bridge, State Troopers were waiting for them. Their commanding officer, John Cloud, ordered them to disband. Williams tried to speak to him, but was shoved. The Troopers then moved forward, shoved other demonstrators, and began beating them with their nightsticks. Tear gas was fired. Mounted Troopers charged.

Williams escaped serious injury. Lewis did not: He sustained a fractured skull. (That's him in the overcoat, in the middle of the photograph above.) Amelia Boynton, another organizer of the march, was beaten unconscious. Television cameras captured it all: The horses, the shoving, the beating, the gas. There were 67 injuries, including 17 people admitted to hospitals. Incredibly, no one died. But the event became known as Bloody Sunday.

There have been many "Bloody Sundays" in human history:

* Many of them have involved the struggle for Ireland: An 1887 police attack on a demonstration in London, a 1920 battle between the Irish Republican Army and undercover British intelligence agents in Dublin, a 1921 Loyalist massacre in Belfast, and a 1972 British Army shooting of protesters in Derry City.

* Some of them were in connection with the labor movement: A police charge during the 1911 Liverpool transit strike, the Everett Massacre in Washington State in 1916, police attacking a steelworkers' strike in Nova Scotia in 1923.

* Probably the best-known one outside the English-speaking world was in St. Petersburg, leading to the failed Russian Revolution of 1905.

This was America's Bloody Sunday. March 9 was "Turnaround Tuesday." Dr. Martin Luther King led marchers over the bridge, then, faced with another phalanx of State Troopers, turned them around and marched back. That night, 4 KKK members attacked the 3 white Unitarian Universalist ministers who had been assisting the black marchers. One of them, the Rev. James Reeb, died from his injuries on March 11. 

On March 15, President Lyndon B. Johnson addressed a joint session of Congress, demanding the Voting Rights Act that the marchers wanted. This white Southerner, once an opponent of civil rights, had made a complete turnaround, and told the nation, "It is not just Negroes, but, really, it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we shall overcome."

On March 17, the bill for the Act was introduced in Congress. The same day, a federal judge ruled that the marchers had the legal right to proceed, and that the government of the State of Alabama, through any of its law enforcement agencies, could not interfere.

On March 21, 2 Sundays after the 1st attempt, the marchers, led by Dr. King, tried again. Among the celebrities who joined the march were black singers Sammy Davis Jr., Harry Belafonte and Nina Simone, and Hispanic singer Joan Baez -- but also white singers Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, the Chad Mitchell Trio, and Peter, Paul and Mary (Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers). Many of those had been at the March On Washington a year and a half earlier.

On March 25, the march reached the State Capitol, where Dr. King said, "I know you are asking today, 'How long will it take?' I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long."

That night, Viola Liuzzo, a 39-year-old white mother of 5 from Detroit was driving marchers back to Selma, as she had volunteered to do. A car full of Klansmen pulled up to her, and shot her. The KKK had no respect for the dead, especially those they murdered: They said she was a registered member of the Communist Party who had abandoned her white children in the North to have sex with black men in the South. It was a total lie.

On July 15, Barry McGuire recorded "Eve of Destruction," a song written by P.F. Sloan. The 4th and last verse contains these lines, invoking strife foreign and domestic:

Think of all the hate

there is in Red China

then take a look around

to Selma, Alabama.

You may leave here

for four days in space

but when you return

it's the same old place.

Some things did change: On August 6, 1965, 5 months after the 1st attempt at the march, LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act into law.

Some things didn't change: On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. In 1975, his widow, Coretta Scott King, led 4,000 marchers over the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the march.

In 1986, John Lewis was elected to Congress from a district in Atlanta. In 1995, Lewis led a 30th Anniversary march. In 1996, with the Olympics set for Atlanta, the Olympic torch was carried over the bridge.

In 2015, on the 50th Anniversary, Lewis, Amelia Boynton Robinson, Barack Obama (the 1st black President), Michelle Obama (the 1st black First Lady, and she and her husband flanked Lewis and held hands with him), their daughters Malia and Sasha, Vice President Joe Biden, and George W. Bush (whose record on race relations as Governor of Texas and then as President was, to put it politely, less than stellar), led a new march, of 40,000 people, including some of the original marchers, some now elderly and in wheelchairs.

Mrs. Robinson died later that year. Hosea Williams had died in 2000. On July 17, 2020, John Lewis died at age 80, having served in Congress for 33 years. On July 26, a horse-drawn carriage carried his coffin over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and he lay in state at the Alabama State Capitol. The coffin was flown back to Washington, where it lay in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on July 27 and 28.

He was buried in South-View Cemetery in Atlanta, which is also the final resting place of fellow civil rights figure Julian Bond, several members of Dr. King's family (but not Dr. King himself), singer Chuck Willis, baseball icon Hank Aaron, and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Walt Bellamy.

*

March 7, 1965 was a Sunday, but it was during the NFL's (and, given that this was the 1960s, also the AFL's) off-season. And baseball was in its Spring Training, so there were no regular-season games in that sport, either. There were, however, 4 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the St. Louis Hawks, 132-106 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. The Hawks moved to Atlanta in 1968. The Auditorium was torn down in 1992, and the St. Louis Blues' new arena, now named the Enterprise Center, opened on the site in 1994.

* What was then the NBA's biggest rivalry was played at the Boston Garden. The Boston Celtics of Bill Russell beat the Philadelphia 76ers of Wilt Chamberlain, 133-111. A month later, in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics beat the Sixers when John Havlicek stole the ball on the final play, the most famous defensive play in the sport's history.

* The Baltimore Bullets beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-105 at the Baltimore Civic Center (now the CFG Bank Arena). The Bullets moved to Washington in 1973, and changed their name to the Washington Wizards in 1997. The Civic Center still stands, under the name of the Royal Farms Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers of Jerry West and Elgin Baylor beat the Cincinnati Royals of Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas, 106-104 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. The Lakers would reach the NBA Finals in 1965, but lose them to the Celtics. They moved to the Forum in Inglewood in 1967 and the Staples Center in downtown L.A. in 1999. The L.A. Sports Arena was demolished in 2016, and in 2018, the new home of soccer's Los Angeles FC, Banc of California Stadium, opened on the site. The Royals became the Kansas City Kings in 1972 and the Sacramento Kings in 1985. 

* There were 9 teams in the NBA at the time. The San Francisco Warriors, who became the Golden State Warriors in 1971, were not scheduled for that day.

All 6 teams then in the NHL were in action on March 7, 1965:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-5 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a 3-3 tie at the Boston Garden. In other words, the old barn on Causeway Street hosted games by the Celtics and the Bruins on the same day.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 7-0 at Chicago Stadium. In spite of this result, the Canadiens would beat the Hawks in that season's Stanley Cup Finals.

There is one more game that took place on that day that should be mentioned. The U.S. national soccer team was in qualification, through CONCACAF -- the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean region -- for the 1966 World Cup in England.

The 1965 U.S. soccer team

The U.S. was placed in a group with Mexico and Honduras. We got a 1-0 win and a 1-1 draw with Honduras, but only a 2-2 draw and a 2-0 loss with Mexico. Had that 2-2 draw with Mexico at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on March 7, 1965 been a 3-2 win, we would have advanced to the round-robin with Costa Rica and Jamaica.

Could we have won that? We'll never know. We still would have had to beat Mexico out for the one and only berth in the World Cup awarded to CONCACAF.

But even if we had won that game with Mexico, it would not have been the biggest story of the day. The Selma-to-Montgomery March was a story that should be remembered for all time.