December 14, 2012: The Sandy Hook Massacre

December 14, 2012: A mentally ill 20-year-old man named Adam Lanza shoots and kills his mother in Newtown, Connecticut. He then goes to Sandy Hook Elementary School, and shoots 20 children and 6 adult staff members. As the police close in, he kills himself.

Newtown, then as now a town of about 27,000 people, was home to rubber innovator Charles Goodyear, film director Elia Kazan, civil rights lawyer Burke Marshall, decathlete-turned-businessman-turned-businesswoman Bruce-turned-Caitlin Jenner, Blossom actress Jenna von Oÿ, and Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games books. The school is about 76 miles northeast of Times Square. Violent crime was rare there: In the 10 years before the Sandy Hook Massacre, there had been only 1 homicide in the town.

At the time, I had a job connected to social media, and it forced me to watch television, going back and forth between the news channels. It was a Friday, when I was allowed to go home at 3:00. This time, I couldn't. I just couldn't. I just sat there, watching the coverage, until I realized how dark it was, first onscreen, figuratively; and then outside, literally; and remembered how I hated the commute home, and left at around 7:00.

It sounds like the story you hear about people, now old, glued to their TV sets after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. (That was also a Friday.) I had already joined the entire country in doing so after the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 (a Tuesday -- not after the explosion of Columbia in 2003, though); during the O.J. Simpson freeway chase in 1994 (another Friday); after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 (a Tuesday); and after the hit on Osama bin Laden in 2011 (a Sunday night).

Lanza's main weapon was a Bushmaster XM-15, a model of AR-15 automatic rifle. This was hardly the only recent mass shooting in which it had been used. So, now, calls came for its banning, including from the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

But the Republican Party controlled Congress, and absolutely no action was taken.

And so, the war on guns was over, and the guns won. The American people had surrendered to the National Rifle Association. The voters had just re-elected Obama the month before, but had re-elected the Republican Congress as well. It was a message: "This is America. Here, we love our guns more than we love our children." British newspaper columnist Dan Hodges wrote this:

What's more, conspiracy theories blew up, some suggesting that the massacre never happened. And NRA spokesman Wayne LaPierre suggested that we should have more guns, not fewer. Leading to a rare agreement in front page headlines of the New York tabloids, the mostly-liberal Daily News and the archconservative New York Post.

There had been genuine wackos in American politics before, during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, to the John Birch Society in the 1960s, to the conspiracy flakes gunning for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, to the Tea Party fanatics that had already been established in 2009, Obama's 1st year in office.

But this now seems, in hindsight, like the launch of the QAnon Era, where such dishonesty, stupidity and ignorance began to be shamelessly brought into the mainstream, and celebrated by people who should have known better.

At the time, I wrote, "The National Rifle Association executives are the homicide equivalent of the archbishops who, rather than turn in abusive priests, transfer them to other parishes."

On June 15, 2016, in the wake of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, Connecticut's Senator Chris Murphy launched a filibuster in the U.S. Senate, promising to hold the floor "for as long as I can" or until Congress acted on gun control legislation.

He eventually secured a commitment from Senate leadership to hold a vote on 2 measures he supported: Expanding background checks, and blocking suspected terrorists from purchasing weapons. He ended his filibuster after 14 hours and 50 minutes.

There appears to be no connection between the school being named "Sandy Hook" and an outcropping of land on the Atlantic Coast of Monmouth County, New Jersey having the same name, which had been hit hard by a hurricane a few weeks earlier, also named Sandy.

In the 2022-23 schoolyear, those children would be juniors in high school.

*

As I said, December 14, 2012 was a Friday. No college or pro football games were played. It was the off-season for baseball. The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so there were no games scheduled for the night. But there were 11 games played in the NBA, with the New York Knicks not being involved in any of them. Most had pregame moments of silence held for the victims:

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Detroit Pistons, 107-105 in 2 overtimes at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Joe Johnson of the Nets led all scorers with 28 points.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Washington Wizards, 102-96 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Kobe Bryant scores 30 points.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Dallas Mavericks, 95-74 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 90-86 at the Quicken Loans Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Monta Ellis scored 33 for the Bucks.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 95-85 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* The Orlando Magic beats the Golden State Warriors, 99-85 at the Amway Center (now the Kia Center) in Orlando.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 113-102 at the New Orleans Arena (now the Smoothie King Center). Nikola Peković scored 31 for the T-Wolves.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Boston Celtics, 101-89 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings, 113-103 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 99-94 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Utah Jazz, 99-84 at the US Airways Center (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.

December 6, 1873: Eton vs. Yale

December 6, 1873: Eton vs. Yale, in football? Or in "foot ball," written as two words? Given the existence of the scorecard in this photo, apparently, it happened, if not officially, as the NCAA would say today.

Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut, is America's 3rd-oldest college, following Harvard, and William & Mary. They are traditionally elitist and stuck-up, and that's two of the many things that they like about themselves.

But Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire, England, makes the Yalies look like nouveau riche. Founded in 1440 by King Henry VI, intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton (pronounced "EE-ton") is known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, known as Old Etonians. It is 1 of 3 public schools (what the English call private schools), along with Harrow and Radley, to have retained the boys-only-boarding-only tradition, which means that its boys live at the school, 7 days a week, with no girls. It's been called "the nurse of England's statesmen."

I quote Richard Hershberger, a historian who tends to specialize in baseball during this period:

A group of rich former students of Eton (this is more or less redundant) are tourists in America. While in Connecticut, they get up a game with some students at Yale. This is in no sense the Eton football team. I have my doubts about this being the Yale football team, or if that even had meaning in 1873. The most interesting aspect of this game is that it shows Yale playing more or less under the Football Association rules, i.e. soccer, and doing it well enough to beat a pickup team of Eton "old boys." The dominance of rugby in American college football is still a bit in the future.

The Earl of Rosebery is an interesting figure. This is Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery. He is 26 years old at this point.

"This point" being in 1873. This photo was taken years later.

After matriculating from Eton in 1866, he went to Oxford, but was kicked out two years later. He had bought a race horse, which was prohibited to undergraduates. When the school found out, they gave him the choice of selling the horse or of leaving school. He left. You have to respect that.

His lack of a degree did not hold him back. He became UK Prime Minister in 1894. Honestly, I could not have named a Victorian prime minister not named Disraeli, Gladstone, or Palmerston, but apparently there were some. In this case, it was brief and not terribly successful, but still...

What has this to do with football? Just as Yale's performance tells us something about how football was played in America in 1873, Archie's presence tells us something about the social status of football in Britain.

The game was played at Hamilton Park in New Haven. According to a newspaper, the Brooklyn Union, "After a closely contested match, played according to the English rules, with one or two American variations mutually agreed upon, it was won by Yale." No score is mentioned, nor a citation of the goalscorers. The Hartford Courant cited Yale as having won, 2-1, with Sherman being the scorer. Neither newspaper listed Sherman's first name.

Earlier in the season, both also at Hamilton Park, on October 25, Yale beat Rutgers, 3-1; and, on November 15, Yale lost to Princeton, 3-0. So Yale were 2-1 on the "season." A few months later, Harvard played McGill University of Montreal in 2 different "codes" of football, and it led to the game that would become known outside the United States as "American football."

Hamilton Park was the first home field for Yale's football team, from 1870 until the land for Yale Field was acquired in 1884. The park hosted horse races, and was home to the New Haven Elm Citys baseball team of the National Association during the 1875 season. The Hartford Dark Blues of the National League hosted a game there in 1877.

*

December 6, 1873 was a Saturday. It was the only college football game played that day. No other sporting events were played: Baseball was out of season, ice hockey barely existed, and basketball wouldn't be invented for another 18 years.

November 21, 1914: The Yale Bowl Opens

November 21, 1914: The Yale Bowl opens, a mile and a half west of the main campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Arch-rival Harvard spoil the party, as the Crimson beat the Bulldogs, 36-0. Yale were a good team that season, going 6-2. But Harvard might have been the best team in the country, going 7-0-2.

Prior to the Yale Bowl, Yale had played since 1884 at Yale Field, across Derby Avenue, where they built the current baseball version of Yale Field in 1928. It seated 33,000 fans, while the Yale Bowl seated 70,896. After decades of deterioration, a much-needed renovation was completed in 2006, with a more modern facility, and wider seats, reducing seating capacity to 61,446.

While Yale claim 27 retroactively-awarded National Championships, only one of these, in 1927, has been won since the Yale Bowl opened. The Ivy League was founded in 1954, and in 2022, Yale won its 17th Ivy League title. (UPDATE: In 2023, they won their 18th.)

With the combined Harvard-Yale logo at midfield

When the New York Giants needed a temporary home between the October 1973 closing of the original Yankee Stadium and the October 1976 opening of Giants Stadium, they considered several facilities in the New York Tri-State Area. Being 76 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan, the Yale Bowl was at the very edge of that area.

Indeed, New Haven is the terminus of one of the lines of what's now the Metro-North Commuter railroad. And, with ties to both New York and New England, the city often serves as something of a "neutral zone" between New York and Boston sports fandoms.

Nevertheless, the Giants played 5 home games at the ale Bowl in 1973, and 7 in 1974, before being allowed to use Shea Stadium in Queens for the 1975 season. The commute, the traffic and the parking situation were terrible, and as the Giants got worse and worse, attendance dropped from a peak of 70,168 to a trough of 21,170. The Giants went 1-11 at the Yale Bowl, including a 1974 overtime loss to the Jets -- and that doesn't include the 1st game ever played between the Giants and the Jets, a 1969 preseason game at the Yale Bowl, which the Jets also won.

In the 1976 and 1977 seasons, the Connecticut Bicentennials of the North American Soccer League played at the Yale Bowl. But, except for the 17,302 they got for a 1977 game against the Pelé-led New York Cosmos, they never got more than 7,000 fans.

*

November 21, 1914 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* Army beat Springfield College, 13-6 on The Plain in West Point, New York. Army went 9-0 that season.

* Navy beat Ursinus, 33-2 at Worden Field in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Illinois beat Wisconsin, 24-9 at Randall Field in Madison, Wisconsin. Illinois went 7-0, and won the title of the Western Conference, which later became the Big Ten.

* Nebraska beat Iowa, 16-7 at Iowa Field in Iowa City. Nebraska finished 7-0-1 and won the Missouri Valley Conference title.

* Tennessee did not play that week. They went 9-0, and won the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title.

* Texas also did not play that week. They went 8-0, and won the 1st-ever Southwest Conference title.

* Rivalry: Lehigh beat Lafayette, 17-7 at March Field in Easton, Pennsylvania.

* Rivalry: Purdue beat Indiana, 23-13 at Stuart Field in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Minnesota beat the University of Chicago, 13-7 at Stagg Field in Chicago.

* Rivalry: Missouri beat Kansas, 10-7 at McCook Field in Lawrence, Kansas.

* Among New York City teams, New York University lost to Wesleyan, 29-13 at Ohio Field in The Bronx; Fordham beat Boston College, 14-3 at Fordham Field in The Bronx; and Columbia had suspended its program for the season.

* And for the New Jersey schools, Rutgers beat the Stevens Institute of Technology, 83-0 at Castle Field in Hoboken; while Princeton had concluded its season the week before, losing to Yale.

Baseball was out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. And, in that era, it was a little early for hockey season to start.

In English soccer, North London team Arsenal went to Yorkshire, and lost to Huddersfield Town, 3-0 at Leeds Road.

November 21, 1877: Thomas Edison Invents the Phonograph

November 21, 1877: Thomas Edison invents the phonograph at his laboratory in the Menlo Park section of Raritan Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is the 1st device capable of recording sound.

It recorded on tinfoil around a grooved cylinder. Into its speaker -- partly because it was the only way it could be done, and partly because he was hard of hearing -- Edison shouted into it, an old nursery rhyme:

Mary had a little lamb!
Its fleece was white as snow!

And everywhere that Mary went

the lamb was sure to go!

Although that recording does not survive, Edison recorded it again for a demonstration years later, and that one does survive.

Edison already had many patents to his name, making him wealthy. But the phonograph was the one that first got him national attention. Over the next few years, other scientists, including telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, made improvements that made the recording industry possible.

Edison died in 1931. In 1954, to differentiate itself from the other towns in New Jersey named Raritan, the town that included the neighborhood of Menlo Park changed its name to the Township of Edison. It later erected a monument on the site of Edison's laboratory, a "Light Tower" that referenced his invention of the incandescent lamp, the 1st practical light bulb, in 1879.

*

November 21, 1877 was a Wednesday. Traditionally, this is not a day on which football games are played. But one was: On what was then its home field, Hamilton Park in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University beat Trinity College of Hartford, 7-0.

September 30, 1991: "The Jerry Springer Show" Premieres

September 30, 1991: The Jerry Springer Show premieres. There had been controversial talk shows on TV before, but this was the beginning of "trash TV.

Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13, 1944 in Highgate, and lived in East Finchley, both in North London, before moving as a child with his family to Kew Gardens, Queens, New York City. He was raised Jewish, and it would be decades before he found out that both grandmothers had died in Nazi concentration camps.

He got a degree in political science from Tulane University in New Orleans, and a law degree from Northwestern University outside Chicago. In 1968, he worked on Robert F. Kennedy's Presidential campaign. In 1970, while working at a Cincinnati law firm, he ran for Congress, and lost. The next year, he was elected to the City Council.

In 1974, he made the mistake of going across the river to Kentucky (where he figured he wouldn't be as well-known), and became the customer of a prostitute. He compounded the mistake by writing a check. The mistake was further compounded when the check bounced, and it became publicly known. He came clean and resigned. In a city as conservative as Cincinnati, that would have appeared to mean the end of his political career.

But the next year, with the scandal having blown over, he won his seat back, and in 1977 was chosen by the Council to serve as Mayor for a year. He ran for Governor of Ohio in 1982, but failed to win the Democratic nomination, and never ran for office again.

And if that were the whole story, it would be pretty interesting. But WLWT-Channel 5 hired him as a news commentator. This led, in 1991, to the creation of The Jerry Springer Show, which began as a ripoff of Phil Donahue's talk show, and then, as Emeril Lagasse might say, kicked it up a notch. Or twelve. Although usually using NBC studios, the show aired in syndication throughout its run.

The topics were usually of an unsophisticated nature, such as infidelity and other relationship squabbles. From there, they might move into the bizarre: Sleeping with the wrong twin, liking sex in weird places, "My boyfriend is a Nazi," "My girlfriend is a witch," etc. Once all the guests had told their stories, there was usually a "question and answer" segment where audience members asked guests questions. In earlier seasons, the questions tended to be serious. However, these questions gave way to insults as the show progressed.

Sometimes, there would be fights between guests; sometimes, a guest would challenge an insulting studio viewer to say it to their face, and the viewer would oblige, and a fight would result. Like the referee at a hockey game, Jerry would let them fight for a moment, then send in the security officers. All the while, the studio audience would chant not the name of their favored combatant, but the host's name: "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!"

He would end the show with a "Final Thought," giving a formal lecture, sitting by himself on the stage, on the principles of refined values in regards to the featured guests. The segment ended with the concluding statement, "'Til next time, take care of yourselves and each other," which was his sign-off line during his days as a newscaster in Cincinnati.

Critics hated the lowbrow nature of the show, citing Jerry's tilting toward the lowest common denominator of human society. Which is what the show's fans loved about it. In a 2000 interview, Jerry himself admitted, "I would never watch my show. I'm not interested in it. It's not aimed towards me. This is just a silly show."

Taping was moved from Cincinnati to the NBC Tower at 454 North Columbus Drive on the Near North Side of Chicago in 1992; and to the Stamford Media Center, at 61 Atlantic Street, in the New York City suburb of Stamford, Connecticut, in 2009, after the State of Connecticut offered the producers a big tax break. The final episode aired on July 26, 2018, by Jerry's own choice: His contract was running out, he was 74 years old, he and ready to retire.

What about Jerry's own family? It was actually too inspirational for his own show. In 1973, he married Micki Velton. In 1976, their daughter Katie was born, without nasal passages. This required immediate surgery. She is blind, and deaf in one ear. Yet she said her parents raised her as normally as possible. In 2006, she was teaching at a school for disabilities, and her father donated $230,000 to build a high-tech facility there, now known as Katie's Corner.

Jerry and Micki separated in 1994, but never divorced. Katie married a man named Adam Yenkin, and they have a son. She remained close to her father, including talking him into accepting an invitation to appear on the ABC reality show Dancing with the Stars when he didn't want to do it. She says, "Anyone who judges him based strictly on his show, they shouldn't. It's not who he is."

UPDATE: Jerry died on April 27, 2023, at 79, from pancreatic cancer. British newspaper The Guardian said he "changed U.S. television for better and worse." Steve Wilkos, the former Chicago cop who was his show's security director from 1994 to 2007, and thus became famous as well, said, "Other than my father, Jerry was the most influential man in my life. Everything I have today, I owe to Jerry. He was the smartest, most generous, kindest person I've ever known. My wife and I are devastated. We will miss him terribly."

*

September 30, 1991 was a Monday. On ABC Monday Night Football, the Washington Redskins beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington.

The NBA and the NHL were out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Scott Sanderson allowed 4 hits over 5 innings, John Habyan 1 over 2, and Greg Cadaret none over 2 to finish a 5-hit shutout. Don Mattingly went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Steve Bell and Steve Buchele hit home runs, for the Pirates. Barry Bonds went 2-for-3 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. John Smoltz allowed 2 hits over 8 innings, and Mike Bielecki finished a 3-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-3 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 9-8 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Jack Clark and Phil Plantier hit home runs for the Red Sox. For the Brewers, Robin Yount did not play, Paul Molitor went 1-for-4, former Yankee 2nd baseman Willie Randolph went 4-for-5, and Greg Vaughn went 2-for-5 with a home run and 5 RBIs.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 11-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-4 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett went 0-for-4 with a walk. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3.

* A doubleheader was split at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Seattle Mariners won the opener, 3-2. Jay Buhner won it with a home run in the top of the 11th. The Texas Rangers won the nightcap, 2-0. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI in the 1st game, and grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the 2nd game.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Tony Gwynn did not play for the Padres.

* And the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. For the Giants, Chris Gardner allowed 6 hits over 7 innings, and Rob Mallicoat and Xavier Hernandez finished the 6-hit shutout.

September 23, 2017: East Hartford FC

September 23, 2017: New York City Football Club's best claim to moral supremacy over the New York Red Bulls is shattered -- not by success on the field, but by the location of their field.

Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field opened in East Hartford, Connecticut on August 20, 2003. It was supposed to be the 60,000-seat new home for both the New England Patriots and the football team of the University of Connecticut.

But, as it turned out, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was just using Connecticut to get a better deal right where he was, in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. So the stadium was scaled back to 40,000 seats, and UConn are its main tenant.

New York City FC had to play a "home game" there on September 23, 2017, after 3 years of their fans mocking the New York Red Bulls for playing in New Jersey. They were held to a 1-1 draw by the Houston Dynamo.

NYCFC had to play there again in 2020, but, that time, it wasn’t their fault: Because of COVID restrictions, Toronto FC couldn't play in Canada, and played their home games in East Hartford. But in 2022, because Yankee Stadium and Citi Field weren’t available, NYCFC had to play another "home game" there, 115 miles from Midtown Manhattan. In contrast, Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, is 11 miles from Midtown.

In mockery, a Red Bulls fan made up an altered version of NYCFC's "old-time subway token" logo to read "EAST HARTFORD FOOTBALL CLUB," with the logo used by the NHL's Hartford Whalers before they moved away in 1997. And a Red Bulls supporters group invited the man who played Pucky the Whale, the former mascot of the Hartford Whalers, and since then of Hartford's minor-league hockey teams, to a game at Red Bull Arena, where he got a great reception.

Ever since, Red Bulls fans have mocked NYCFC as "East Hartford FC." But, since 2021, NYCFC fans have been able to remind Red Bulls fans who won an MLS Cup in just 7 seasons, and who has been a charter MLS franchise but hasn't won one in over 25 years.

Through September 23, 2022, the U.S. men's soccer team has played 8 games at Rentschler; the women's team, 9. Liverpool FC, Celtic FC, and the national teams of Brazil, Belize, Cuba, Guatemala, Japan and Venezuela have also played there.

*

September 23, 2017 was a Saturday. This was also the day LeBron James called Donald Trump "U bum" on Twitter. I have a separate entry for that event.

These other Major League Soccer games were played that day (with some league games being played the next day):

* The New York Red Bulls couldn't laugh too much, as they lost to the Columbus Crew, 3-2 at Mapfre Stadium (now named Historic Crew Stadium) in Columbus, Ohio.

* The New England Revolution beat Toronto FC, 2-1 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Union beat the Chicago Fire, 3-1 at Talen Energy Stadium (now Subaru Park) outside Philadelphia in Chester, Pennsylvania.

* D.C. United beat the San Jose Earthquakes, 4-0 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. They played one more game at RFK, losing to the Red Bulls on October 22, and then used temporary venues until Audi Field opened in the middle of the 2018 season.

* Minnesota United beat FC Dallas, 4-1 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* Real Salt Lake beat the Seattle Sounders, 2-0 at Rio Tinto Stadium (now America First Field) in the Salt Lake City suburb of Sandy, Utah.

* And Vancouver Whitecaps beat the Colorado Rapids, 2-1 at BC Place in Vancouver.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-1 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. Sonny Gray was the winning pitcher. Greg Bird and Todd Frazier hit home runs. Aaron Judge went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Washington Nationals, 4-3 at Citi Field. Noah Syndergaard had to leave the game with an injury after only 1 inning. Matt Harvey, scheduled to start the next night, came in on short rest, and allowed 3 runs in 4 innings. Former Met Daniel Murphy led off the top of the 10th inning with a home run.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-6 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at SunTrust Park (now Truist Park) in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 11-6 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Eduardo Rodríguez pitched 7 2/3rds innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Carson Smith and Joe Kelly completed the 3-hit shutout.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-2 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Travis Shaw hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 12-6 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-0 at Petco Park in San Diego. Jhoulys Chacín pitched 6 innings of 1-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed a 5-hit shutout.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Madison Bumgarner outpitched Hyn-jin Ryu. Denard Spain went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Raúl Alcántara pitched 5 innings of 2-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed a 4-hit shutout. The only run came when Khris Davis led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with a home run.

* And the Cleveland Indians beat the Seattle Mariners, 11-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Vanderbilt, 59-0 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now FirstBank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Number 2 Clemson beat Boston College, 34-7 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 3 Oklahoma beat Baylor, 49-41 at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.

* Number 4 Penn State beat Iowa, 21-19 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, Iowa.

* Number 5 University of Southern California (USC) beat the University of California, 30-20 at California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley.

* Number 6 Oklahoma State were upset by Number 16 Texas Christian University (TCU), 44-31 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

* Number 7 Washington beat Colorado, 37-10 at Folsom Field in the Denver suburb of Boulder, Colorado.

* Number 8 Michigan beat Purdue, 28-10 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Number 9 Wisconsin were idle.

* Number 10 Ohio State beat the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), 54-21 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* In an all-Top 20 matchup, Number 11 Georgia beat Number 17 Mississippi State, 31-3 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia.

* Number 12 Florida State were upset by North Carolina State, 27-12 at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.

* In a rivalry game, Duke beat North Carolina, 27-17 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

* Notre Dame beat Michigan State, 38-18 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Among the service academies, Army lost to Tulane, 21-17 at Yulman Stadium in New Orelans; Navy beat Cincinnati, 42-32 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland; and Air Force lost to Number 22 San Diego State, 28-24 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* And New Jersey's team, Rutgers, lost to Nebraska, 27-17 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, lost to neighboring Monroe, 21-19 at Hugh Walsh Field in Monroe.

September 21, 1938: The New England Hurricane of 1938

September 21, 1938: The Northeastern United States is hit by one of the most damaging hurricanes in the nation's history. Hurricanes didn't start to be identified with girls' names until 1953, and with boys' names until 1979. This one was the 5th of the Atlantic hurricane season, so its name would have started with an E.

For the New York Tri-State Area, it's known as the Long Island Express Hurricane. When New York newscasters warn about coming hurricanes, they're not nearly as concerned about them hitting the New Jersey shore, which runs north-to-south. They're much more concerned with east-to-west shorelines: The South Shore of Staten Island, Coney Island in Brooklyn, the Rockaways in Queens, and the shores of Long Island Sound, less the North Shore of Long Island than its South Shore and the Sound Shore of Connecticut.

It was an Autumnal Equinox, resulting in higher tides than usual even without the storm. Having gained strength on the morning of September 21, by passing over only water, no land, as it passed Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and the Chesapeake Region, this hurricane ripped up the Jersey Shore, putting Wildwood under 3 feet of water, wrecking much of the Atlantic City Boardwalk, destroying the Brigantine Bridge, and ripping up the boardwalks in Bay Head and Point Pleasant Beach.

At 3:45 PM, it made landfall at Bellport, Suffolk County, and it quickly laid waste to both Long Island and Connecticut. The East River overflowed and flooded a Consolidated Edison plant at 133rd Street, producing New York City's biggest blackout between the Blizzard of 1888 and "The Night the Lights Went Out" in 1965. A Staten Island Ferry boat got stuck in a terminal. All the bridges and tunnels were shut down.

Long Island lost all power, although that had nothing to do with Con Ed's issues. Montauk Point, at the eastern tip of Long Island, was turned into an island by flooding. Long Island's fishing industry and its apple crop were ruined for the year.

The hurricane turned east, and the danger topped out in Rhode Island, as it moved into Narragansett Bay. Houses on the bay were swept out to see. A school bus was blown into Mackerel Cove in Jamestown, killing 7 children. The Whale Rock Lighthouse was torn off its base, causing it to fall into the sea, and it has never been replaced. The body of lighthouse keeper Walter Eberle was never found. Downtown Providence, the State capital, was flooded, and some people drowned in their cars.

Massachusetts, especially the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, was hit hard as well. The Connecticut River flooded in Springfield. New Bedford was left under 8 feet of water, and 2/3rds of its harbor's boats were lost. The foundations of houses swept away in Fall River can still be seen on the beach. Gloucester got the tallest wave of the storm, 50 feet.

We may never know how many people died as a result of the storm: Estimates range from 600 to 800, but it is generally believed that 100 of them were outside Rhode Island. Over 4,500 homes and 26,000 cars were destroyed, and 20,000 electrical poles were torn down. Over 2 billion trees were uprooted in New York State and New England, as New England lost 35 percent of its total forest area.

This hurricane stands out partly because it hit 2 major media centers, New York and Boston; but also because it struck at a setback period in the Great Depression, and at a time when news of war clouds was coming over from Europe, as Adolf Hitler had his designs on Czechoslovakia. It was news that, literally, hit home for thousands of people, on top of the seemingly endless bad news they already had.

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September 21, 1938 was a Wednesday. There were 5 baseball games played that day. Somehow, one of them was at National League Park, formerly and soon again to be Braves Field, in Boston, and they got all 9 innings in before the storm arrived. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Bees, the once-and-future Braves, 4-0. Paul "Daffy" Dean pitched a 7-hit shutout, backed by a home run by Joe Medwick.

The Boston Red Sox were not affected, as they were playing the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Jimmie Foxx hit his 47th home run of the season, and ended it with 50. When the Sox got home, they found that Fenway Park had been spared major damage.

No games were played in New York City. The storm didn't affect the New York Yankees, as they were playing the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The White Sox won, 5-2, as Thornton Lee, later to be a 2-time All-Star, outpitched eventual Hall-of-Famer Lefty Gomez. Lou Gehrig went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, while Joe DiMaggio went 0-for-3, although he did draw a walk.

New York's National League teams weren't so lucky. The New York Giants had already home games on September 13 and 16 pushed back a day by rain. Their games with the Cincinnati Reds at the Polo Grounds on the 20th and the 21st were turned into a doubleheader on the 22nd, which the Giants swept, 6-1 and 2-1. Then they had to go to Boston to play the Bees, and while their ballpark wasn't damaged, they got rained out on the 23rd. They played a doubleheader on the 24th (the Giants swept) and another on the 25th (the Bees swept).

The Brooklyn Dodgers were also rained out at Ebbets Field on September 13 and 16, and made up an earlier rainout as part of a doubleheader on the 18th, and were scheduled to do so again on the 22nd. They were able to do that. They got rained out with the Pittsburgh Pirates on the 21st, but their schedule got backed up anyway. The Giants were supposed to play the Dodgers at Ebbets Field on the 26th, and got rained out again, forcing a doubleheader for the 27th, which was split.

The Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to play at Shibe Park in Philadelphia on the 21st and the 22nd. Both games got pushed back, as the field was still too wet to play on for the 22nd. They played a doubleheader on the 23rd, and the Cubs swept, 3-2 and 7-6. This was crucial: While the Yankees were running away with the American League Pennant, the National League went to the wire. When dawn came on the 21st, the Pirates led the Cubs by 3 1/2 games, the Reds by 5, and the Giants by 6 1/2. The Cubs went on a tear, and taking 2 of 3 against the Pirates late in the month helped them to win the Pennant by 2 games over the Pirates, 5 over the Giants, and 6 over the Giants.

Also on the 21st, the Detroit Tigers played a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium). The Tigers won the 1st game, 8-6, and were winning the 2nd game, 3-0, when it was called due to darkness after 5 innings. Hank Greenberg went 3-for-5 with 6 RBIs in the 1st game, including his 54th of what turned out to be 58 home runs, but was 0-for-3 in the 2nd game when it was called.

The Cleveland Indians and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.

September 7, 1979: ESPN Goes On the Air

September 7, 1979: ESPN, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, goes on the air, from a studio in Bristol, Connecticut, 20 miles southwest of Hartford, 120 miles southwest of Boston, and 103 miles northeast of Midtown Manhattan.

The location was chosen for its proximity to its founders: Bill Rasmussen and Ed Eagan. Rasmussen had recently been fired as the communications manager of the World Hockey Association's New England Whalers -- who, in the interim, would become the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Eagan, then an eye doctor and an insurance agent, had the idea for a monthly cable TV show covering Connecticut sports, and asked Rasmussen if the Whalers would be interested in involvement.

After his firing, Rasmussen went back to Eagan and they decided to make the idea bigger. At first, they would cover the most popular teams in the State of Connecticut: The Whalers, minor-league baseball's Bristol Red Sox, and the teams of the University of Connecticut. Al Parinello, who was working on cable-TV technology with RCA, parent company of NBC, that they were still thinking too small: With the growth expected in cable in the 1980s, they could go national from the get-go.

They originally wanted to build their studio in Plainville, just to the east of Bristol, but the town had a law prohibiting satellite dishes. Neighboring Bristol had no such law, and it had a parcel of land available for a mere $18,000 -- about $74,000 in 2022 money.

On September 7, 1979, at 7:00 PM Eastern Time, the 1st ESPN program aired. It was what remains their signature show, the video-highlight show SportsCenter, anchored by Lee Leonard and George Grande. Leonard began: "If you're fan, if you're a fan, what you'll see in the next minutes, hours and days to follow may convince you you've gone to Sports Heaven." That may have been an exaggeration, but the 30,000 people who tuned in loved it. That audience grew significantly in the coming years.

Their timing was great: Not only was the rising technology in their favor, but so was sports. In March, the NCAA Final between Magic Johnson's Michigan State and Larry Bird's Indiana State was the most-watched college basketball game of all time, and it still is. It sparked interest in the college game, and ESPN was able to take advantage of that.

On December 5, 1979, ESPN broadcast its 1st college basketball game. DePaul University beat the University of Wisconsin, 90-77 at DePaul's Alumni Hall in Chicago. Calling it were veteran announcer Joe Boyle and recently-fired Detroit Pistons and former University of Detroit coach Dick Vitale. Vitale soon became synonymous with ESPN, with his many catchphrases and his infectious enthusiasm for college hoops. You couldn't talk about ESPN without mentioning Dickie V, baby!

A 1982 Supreme Court ruling made it easier to broadcast college football games, and ESPN was able to take advantage of that. The growing popularity of the NFL meant that, at first ESPN couldn't broadcast their games, but they could broadcast shows about the NFL, including with former players as panelists.

ESPN broadcast its 1st NHL game in 1980, its 1st NBA game in 1982, its 1st NFL game in 1987, its 1st Major League Baseball game in 1990, and Major League Soccer from its 1996 inception.

In 1984, ABC bought ESPN. In 1996, the Walt Disney Company bought ABC, and thus ESPN. Disney began the process of eliminating the redundancy of having ABC Sports and ESPN, completing it in 2006, when Monday Night Football was moved from ABC to ESPN.

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September 7, 1979 was a Friday. These Major League Baseball games were played that night:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 6-0 at Tiger Stadium. Bruce Robbins left the game with an injury in the 3rd inning, and Jack Billingham went the rest of the way, completing a 6-hit shutout. Bucky Dent had 2 of those hits. Ken Clay was the losing pitcher.

* The New York Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-4 at Shea Stadium. Willie "Pops" Stargell, on the way to leading his "Family" to the World Championship, went 1-for-4. Craig Swan pitched 10 innings, outdoing Pirate starter John Candelaria. But Dave Parker won the game with an RBI single in the top of the 14th inning.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Fenway Park in Boston. Jim Palmer left the game after 5 innings, with Sammy Stewart becoming the winning pitcher. All the runs were scored on solo home runs, by Eddie Murray, Gary Roenicke and Jim Rice.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Gene Tenace and Dave Winfield hit home runs. Eric Rasmussen pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-8 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Johnny Bench went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 with a walk. So did Mike Schmidt, who added an RBI.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-4 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Montreal Expos, 5-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Lou Brock, in his final month as an active player, went 2-for-4.

* The California Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-3 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rod Carew went 2-for-5, in support of Nolan Ryan. This would be their only season as teammates. Robin Yount went 0-for-3 with a walk. Paul Molitor went 1-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros, 9-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. An error by Greg Pryor gave the South Siders the win in the bottom of the 10th inning. Only 4,136 people paid to see it, as the A's were nearing the end of a 108-loss season.

* And the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. George Brett went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

August 17, 1969: Jets vs. Giants, the 1st Time

August 17, 1969: The New York Jets and the New York Giants play each other for the 1st time.

It's an exhibition game, part of the merger process between the Giants' National Football League and the Jets' American Football League. It's played nearly 80 miles from Midtown Manhattan, at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut, as the Albie Booth Memorial Game. Booth was a football and basketball star at Yale University, and died in 1959.

The Jets had won Super Bowl III, 7 months earlier, making them the World Champions of pro football, and stunning the NFL. But the Giants and their fans refused to accept them as champions. Why? “Giants fans still don’t feel we’re on a parity with their team and we feel we’ve got to prove it,” Jets linebacker Larry Grantham said, early in training camp in 1969. “A lot of people, NFL fans, still regard the Super Bowl as a fluke.” They bought into the propaganda that, if the Jets had played the Baltimore Colts 10 times, the Colts would have won 9? Apparently.

So the Jets realized that the only way to convince the New York media that they were the best team in the world was to prove they were the best team in New York. To make the point, Jet coach Weeb Ewbank appointed Grantham, Don Maynard and Bill Mathis, all original 1960 New York Titans who became Jets and had played through the entire history of the AFL, as team Captains for the day. Three Jet players had retired after the Super Bowl, and actually came out of retirement, just to play in this 1 game. 

John Mara, son of Giants owner Wellington Mara, and later the team's owner himself, was interviewed in 2019, for the 50th Anniversary of the game. He recalled: “Players were talking about this being the biggest game they had ever played in. The tension was unreal. The build-up to that game was unlike anything I had ever experienced, almost like a modern playoff game.”

As with the Woodstock festival, 131 miles to the west, traffic was an issue, jamming the Connecticut Turnpike and the Merritt Parkway, although, unlike the New York State Thruway, neither was closed, man. It was 86 degrees and muggy, but they managed to avoid the rain that drenched the festival. The crowd was 70,874, about evenly split between Big Blue and Gang Green, and there were fights in the already-old Ivy League football plant.

The Jets removed all doubts. Joe Namath, who was named Most Valuable Player of the Super Bowl despite not having an especially good game, was considerably better. He completed 16 of 18 passes, for 188 yards and 3 touchdowns, including 1 to Mathis.

John Mara was 14, and remembered, just before halftime, the Giants' Dave Lewis punting: “The one play I remember was Mike Battle returning a punt for a touchdown, and leaping over our punter. The rest I have managed to successfully block out.”

That made the score 24-0 Jets, and they cruised to win, 37-14. “Today, we proved we have the best team in New York, a team that can compete on any field with any team at any time,” Grantham said.

Wellington Mara fired head coach Allie Sherman, replaced him with former Giant running back Alex Webster, and he finished the 1969 season 6-8. The Jets went 10-4, won the AFL Western Division, and lost in the Divisional Playoffs.

The 1st regular-season game between the teams was played on November 1, 1970, at Shea Stadium. In a game with considerably less hype, even though it actually counted for something, the Giants won, 6-1.

As it turned out, between the Giants' moving around due to the renovation of Yankee Stadium, the Jets' injuries, and dumb management decisions by both teams, neither team made the Playoffs again until 1981.

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August 17, 1969 was a Sunday. It was also the day the Woodstock festival ended, and the day that Hurricane Camille crashed into America's Gulf Coast. I have separate entries for those events. Also, basketball star Christian Laettner and New Kids On The Block singer turned actor Donnie Wahlberg were born on this day.

And these Major League Baseball games played:

* New York Yankees 5, Chicago White Sox 2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jimmie Hall hit a home run for the Bronx Bombers. Stan Bahnsen started, and Mike Kekich won it in relief.

* Another doubleheader at Shea Stadium: The New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 in each game. Duffy Dyer hit a home run in support of Jerry Koosman in the opener, and Ed Kranepool and Bud Harrelson each got 2 hits in support of Don Cardwell in the nightcap.

* Houston Astros 3, Philadelphia Phillies 2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* Minnesota Twins 4, Washington Senators 3 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington. Tony Oliva's RBI single won it in the top of the 13th inning.

* Los Angeles Dodgers 9, Montreal Expos 3 at Jarry Park in Montreal.

* St. Louis Cardinals 5, Atlanta Braves 3 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron, Bob Tillman and Rico Carty hit home runs for the Braves, but all were solo blasts, and Steve Carlton was the winning pitcher for the Cards, as Lou Brock went 2-for-5, and Joe Torre went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* Pittsburgh Pirates 8, Cincinnati Reds 5 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Gene Alley, Al Oliver and Willie Stargell hit home runs. Roberto Clemente went 2-for-5. The Reds got homers from Pete Rose, Bobby Tolan, Johnny Bench and Tony Perez, but it wasn't enough.

* Boston Red Sox 1, Kansas City Royals 0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4, but Vicente Romo, Sparky Lyle and Sonny Siebert combined for a 4-hit shutout.

* California Angels 7, Cleveland Indians 6 at Anaheim (now Angel) Stadium.

* Detroit Tigers 9, Oakland Athletics 4 at the Oakland Coliseum. Catfish Hunter was knocked out of the box in the 4th inning, as the Tigers got 2 homers from Al Kaline, and 1 each from Jim Northrup, Don Wert, former Yankee Tom Tresh and Mickey Stanley. Denny McLain went the distance, despite giving up a home run to Reggie Jackson.

* Doubleheader at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. 1st game: San Francisco Giants 5, Chicago Cubs 3. 2nd game, Cubs 3, Giants 1. Over the 2 games, Willie Mays went 2-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Ernie Banks only appeared in this game as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* Baltimore Orioles 4, Seattle Pilots 1 at Sick's Stadium in Seattle. Dave May (filling in at right field for Frank Robinson, who got the day off), Don Buford and Brooks Robinson homered for the O's, while Don Mincher hit one for the Pilots. Tom Phoebus won it, Fred Talbot lost it. Jim Bouton did not get into the game. A sweep for the Birds over the Pilots.

As Pilot manager Joe Schultz no doubt said, "Ah, shitfuck. Let's get 'em tomorrow, and then go pound some Budweiser." If Jim Bouton and his book Ball Four are to be believed, Joe Schultz would not have fit in well at Woodstock. 

July 6, 1944: The Hartford Circus Fire

July 6, 1944: A deadly fire breaks out during a performance of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus in Hartford, Connecticut.

World War II had affected every American industry, including circuses. There were shortages of personnel and equipment. As a result, accidents had become more common. A 1942 fire had killed several Ringling Brothers animals.

On July 5, 1944, the circus arrived in Hartford, by train as was their tradition, but so late that, of their two shows scheduled for that day, one had to be canceled. In circus superstition, missing a show is considered extremely bad luck. Nevertheless, the show they did put on that night went off without a hitch.

The next day, a performance was scheduled for 2:15 PM. The temporary stands inside the big top could seat 9,000 spectators, and it is believed that 7,000 were on hand for this show. The tent's canvas had been coated with 1,800 pounds of paraffin wax dissolved in 6,000 gallons of gasoline -- at the time, a common method of waterproofing, but dangerous. A person could exit the tent by a main entrance or eight smaller exits. However, as it turned out, many of the alternative exists were blocked by circus wagons or other items.

While the show was transitioning from a performance by the lions to one by the Flying Wallendas, the already-famous trapeze act, circus bandleader Merle Evans saw the beginning of the fire. He told the band to play "The Stars and Stripes Forever," known among circus people as a distress signal. Ringmaster Fred Branda took to the microphone, and told the audience to leave in an orderly fashion. But he could not be heard, as the fire had already shorted out the power.

The wind and the wax led to the fire spreading quickly. Many people were burned by the melting wax, dripping from the roof. Within eight minutes, the tent collapsed, trapping hundreds of people. Emmett Kelly, the world's most famous clown, was photographed carrying a bucket of water, to try to put out some flames, and appeared to be crying. The day became known as "The Day the Clown Cried."

Kelly survived the fire. So did all of the Wallendas who were then performing. So did Eunice Groark, then 6 years old, who went on to be elected Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut in 1990. So did Harold Belsky, then 15 and living in Hartford. He had been born in nearby Holyoke, Massachusetts, and, under the name Hal Blaine, went on to become one of the greatest drummers of all time, particularly admired for his work with Phil Spector's "Wrecking Crew." (Blaine claimed in his memoir that he was the most-recorded musician of all time, and that he had the W-2 forms to prove it.)

Another survivor was Charles Nelson Reilly, then 13 and living in Hartford. Although he became an actor, famous for his comedic roles in Broadway musicals (he won a Tony Award for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying), on the TV sitcom The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and as a panelist on Match Game, and also as a theater director, he refused to ever be a spectator in a theater, because it brought back memories of the fire.

The people who survived but with burns or other injures numbered over 700. The number who did not survive varies, depending on the source, but is usually cited as 168, the same number that would die in the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. While there were lawsuits for negligence, no one was ever criminally charged with starting the fire, and its cause is still unknown.

Today, Wish Elementary School is on the site, on Barbour and Kensington Streets in Hartford's North End. A memorial to the victims is on the school grounds.

In 1976, I attended the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden. It remains my only attendance at a circus -- not out of fear, but because the idea of going back simply hasn't ever interested me.

By the 21st Century, declining attendance and increasing accusations of animal abuse led to the decline of the Ringling operation. In 2017, they announced they were closing up shop, and launched a final tour. They appeared in Hartford, at the XL Center (formerly the Hartford Civic Center) on April 30, and gave their final show at the Nassau Coliseum on May 21. After 146 years, it was all over. The company that owns the rights to the Ringling operation announced in 2022 that, without animals, the circus will resume in Autumn 2023.

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July 6, 1944 was a Thursday. It was also the day the film Double Indemnity premiered. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Hank Borowy pitched a 4-hit shutout to beat Mel Harder.

* The New York Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Loius.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 10-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 13-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Bob Muncrief pitched a 4-hit shoutout.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-0 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Mickey Haefner pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-5 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 11-6 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.