November 3, 1869: The Oldest Professional Sports Team In the World

Tiger-Cats 150th Anniversary Logo, 1869-2019

November 3, 1869: The Hamilton Football Club is founded. They play their 1st game on December 18, against the 13th Battalion, now known as the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The final score was not recorded.

The "football" played by this team was what would now be called "rugby union," though it would later evolve into the Canadian version of "gridiron football," with a field 110 yards long and 65 yards wide, compared with the American version, 100 by 53 1/3rd; 12 players on each side instead of 11; and 3 downs to make a new 1st down, instead of 4.

This team is the forerunner of the Hamilton Tigers, who in 1950 merged with the Hamilton Wildcats to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. This could, if you choose to define it this way, make the "Ticats" the oldest continuously operating professional sports team in the world.

The distinctions matter. That year, the Cincinnati Red Stockings became the 1st openly professional baseball team, but went out of business after the 1870 season, and the current team named the Cincinnati Reds, while they claim a connection to them, definitively goes back to 1881. The suggestion that the Los Angeles Dodgers date to the Brooklyn Atlantics is also not supported by the facts: The Atlantics were founded in 1855, but folded in 1875, and didn't turn professional until 1870, anyway. Which is key to this team: The Hamilton Tigers remained amateur until 1947.

There are soccer teams in England that claim a longer lineage, including Sheffield Football Club, which was founded in 1857, but they didn't turn professional until 1885, as Britain, and Europe as a whole, resisted professionalism in sports considerably longer than did North America. Germany proved especially resistant: They didn't have professional sports until its national soccer league, the Bundesliga, was founded in 1963.

(If you're a fan of the FX TV series Welcome to Wrexham, Wrexham Association Football Club were founded in 1864, making them the 3rd-oldest professional soccer team in the world, and older than the Tiger-Cats; but they did not turn professional until 1878, more recently than some other British soccer teams.)

On October 18, 1873, Hamilton FC played a new team, the Toronto Argonauts, on the campus of the University of Toronto. The Argos won by a goal and a try to nil -- in modern scoring, 8-0 -- and HFC wore black and yellow for the 1st time, leading to a newspaper calling them the Tigers. This game began a rivalry that still exists today, as the teams' current home fields are just 41 miles apart.

Before the merger, the Tigers won the Grey Cup, the championship of Canadian football, 5 times: In 1913, 1915, 1928, 1929 and 1932. In 1941, the Hamilton Wildcats were formed. With the onset of World War II, the Wildcats were sponsored by the Royal Canadian Air Force, and were renamed the Hamilton Flying Wildcats for the duration of the war. They won the 1943 Grey Cup, although this is officially not counted in the total of the combined team. In 1950, the Tigers and the Wildcats were merged, forming the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, shortened to "Ticats."

Since the merger, they've won 8 Grey Cups: 1953, 1957, 1963, 1965, the Canadian Centennial Cup in 1967, 1972, 1986 and 1999. This is a total of 13. For comparison's sake: The Argonauts have won 18, the Edmonton Elks (formerly the Edmonton Eskimos) 14, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12, the Calgary Stampeders 8, the Montreal Alouettes 7, the Vancouver-based BC Lions 6, the Saskatchewan Roughriders 4, and the Ottawa Redblacks 1 (although the history of the defunct Ottawa Rough Riders is usually counted with that of the Redblacks, which would give them 10).

Tiger-Cats players with the 1999 Grey Cup

In spite of their success, the Ticats have gone longer without winning the Grey Cup than any other Canadian Football League team, the only one not to have won it in the 21st Century. They have since lost the Final in 2013, '14, '19 and '21.

The Tigers played at the Hamilton Amateur Athletic Association Grounds from 1869 to 1949. The Wildcats played at Civic Stadium, which opened in 1928, from 1941 to 1949. The merged team played at Civic Stadium starting in 1950. In 1971, the stadium got its 1st artificial turf field, and was renamed Ivor Wynne Stadium, for the former director parks for the City of Hamilton.

On August 8, 1961, the Tiger-Cats defeated the visiting Buffalo Bills, at that time a member of the American Football League and playing 65 miles away, in a preseason exhibition game in Hamilton. The Bills, playing the entire game under Canadian rules, lost 38–21. It was the 1st time in 9 tries that a Canadian professional football team beat an American one -- and remains the last such game played, although the Bills have since played "home games" in Toronto, and preseason games between NFL teams have been played on Canadian soil (or Canadian plastic), but under American rules.

After the 2012 season, Ivor Wynne Stadium was demolished, with a new stadium built on the site, and the Tiger-Cats playing the 2013 season at the University of Guelph's Alumni Stadium. The new Tim Hortons Field opened in 2014. (UPDATE: Tim Hortons' 10-year naming rights ran out in 2024. As of the start of the 2026 CFL season, new naming rights have not yet been sold, and the facility is named Hamilton Stadium.)

The Canadian Football Hall of Fame is part of the complex, in recognition of the Tiger-Cats being the oldest CFL team, and the oldest professional sports team in the world. Of its members, 35 either played or coached for either the Tigers, the Wildcats, or the merged team. Despite this, the Ticats have retired only 2 numbers: 10, for 1957-64 quarterback Bernie Faloney; and 68, for 1958-72 defensive tackle Angelo Mosca, who was also a noted professional wrestler.

By claiming a direct connection to the Hamilton Tigers, the Tiger-Cats are older than any professional sports team in the United States of America. The Chicago White Stockings baseball team was founded in 1870, and has been known as the Chicago Cubs since 1903. The Boston Red Stockings baseball team was founded in 1871, and has gone through several name changes, including 2 moves to other cities. Since 1966, they have been the Atlanta Braves.

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November 3, 1869 was a Wednesday. Baseball had just become North America's 1st professional sport, and its season was coming to a close. The 1st openly professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, beat the Louisville Baseball Club, 56-0 in Louisville, Kentucky. 

August 6, 2015: "Hamilton" Premieres On Broadway

August 6, 2015: Hamilton premieres at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, at 226 West 46th Street, half a block west of Broadway. It would be fitting to say that it "revolutionizes" Broadway.

Born on January 11, 1755 on the Caribbean island of Nevis, Alexander Hamilton was taken in by a prosperous merchant, who set him up in New York. He served alongside George Washington throughout the War of the American Revolution, and was in the boat with him as he crossed the Delaware River to win the Battle of Trenton. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General, and became Washington's chief aide.

He founded the Bank of New York and the New York Post, and was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Along with James Madison (aiming to sway Virginia), he and John Jay (aiming to sway New York) wrote The Federalist Papers, designed to get State legislatures to ratify the Constitution. Ironically, 9 of the necessary 13 States did so before Virginia (which ended up being the 10th) and New York (the 11th) even voted. But those were the 2 biggest States, so they were needed for support.

Hamilton served President George Washington as America's 1st Secretary of the Treasury. He federalized the States' debts, making himself the father of the national debt. He supported cities, internal improvements, and international trade, while the 1st Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, supported farmers and internal trade.

While personally friendly, their political rivalry led to America's 1st political parties. Jefferson founded the Democratic-Republican Party, which evolved into the Democratic Party. Hamilton didn't found a party, but his supporters coalesced into what became the Federalist Party. Supporters of what, at the time, passed for big business made them the forerunners of the Republican Party, even though members of Jefferson's party called themselves "Republicans" first.

Hamilton and Jefferson kept things civil between them. Hamilton and Aaron Burr did not. A grandson of early American theologian Jonathan Edwards, and the son of Aaron Burr Sr., who was President of what became Princeton University, he served in New York's State legislature, as its Attorney General, and as its U.S. Senator. He and Hamilton had already come into conflict prior to 1800.

Hamilton supported John Adams for President in 1796, and he won. He supported Adams for re-election in 1800, and he lost -- but, the way things worked at the time, Jefferson and Burr finished in a tie in Electoral Votes. The U.S. House of Representatives had to decide. Hamilton didn't want Jefferson, but at least he considered Jefferson sane and reliable; he thought Burr was unfit for the office, and used his influence to get Jefferson elected. Burr did not forget.

And yet, the way things worked at the time, by finishing 2nd, Burr became Vice President. The 12th Amendment to the Constitution was soon ratified, eliminating the circumstances that the 1800 election caused.

Burr ran for Governor of New York in 1804. Hamilton, still a New Yorker, used his influence, and Morgan Lewis was elected in a landslide. Burr blamed Hamilton, and the accusations flew back and forth. The accusations did not include womanizing on either man's part, even though both were guilty.

Finally, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. This was something in which "gentlemen" sometimes engaged. And, to "maintain his honor," a "gentleman" did not dare refuse. Dueling was already illegal in the State of New York, but not yet in the State of New Jersey. They took ferries across the Hudson River to Weehawken, New Jersey, about a mile from where the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel would be built.

It was July 11, 1804. Hamilton had no intention of killing Burr, and did not get a shot off. Burr had every intention of killing Hamilton, and aimed right at him, shooting him in the abdomen. Hamilton knew immediately, telling his seconds, "This is a mortal wound. Take care of that pistol. It is undischarged and still cocked. It might go off and do harm. I did not intend to fire at him." Hamilton was ferried back across the River, and it took him a very painful day and a half to die. He was only 49 years old.

Burr was not charged with anything in regard to the duel, served out his term as Vice President, knew he had no chance of ever being elected President, and lived until 1836, at age 80. He is buried in Princeton Cemetery in New Jersey, as is his father. There is a President buried there, but not Burr: It's Grover Cleveland, who lived in Princeton the last few years of his life. Hamilton is buried at Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan, his grave adjacent to that of Robert Fulton, the man usually credited with inventing the steamboat.

When the War of 1812 came around, America sure could have used more good public servants. Burr was persona non grata, and rightly so. But Hamilton would have been only 57 years old. He had more to do. He would have been 70 the next time, and thus far the only other time, a Presidential election went into the House, in 1824, with John Quincy Adams triumphing over Andrew Jackson, a result that would likely have pleased Hamilton.

Since 1928, Hamilton has been honored by his portrait appearing on the U.S. $10 bill.

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Lin-Manuel Miranda was born on January 16, 1980 in Manhattan. His father, Luis Miranda Jr., is a Puerto Rican-born New York City political consultant. So his son likely had a good education in New York City politicians, past and present, including Hamilton.

He grew up in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, which led to the title of the 1st musical he wrote, In the Heights. Debuting on Broadway in 2008, it won a Tony Award for Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It was filmed in 2021.

In 2011, he turned the cheerleader-competition film Bring It On into a musical. In 2014, he wrote the song "Bigger!" for the Tony Awards ceremony, and he won an Emmy Award for it. At 34, he was an Oscar short of an "EGOT." (Fun fact: The Emmy Awards broadcast is the only television program that is ineligible for an  Emmy Award.)

Miranda returned to Broadway in 2015, writing the script, music, and lyrics for, as well as starring in, the musical Hamilton. If Hair was the 1st Broadway musical to truly embrace rock and roll (instead of satirizing it, as Bye Bye Birdie had done), Hamilton was the 1st musical to embrace hip-hop. Miranda called it, "America then, told by America now."

Burr was played by the black established Broadway star Leslie Odom Jr., Eliza Hamilton by Asian-American actress Phillippa Soo, George Washington by black actor Christopher Jackson, both Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette by black actor Daveed Diggs (no relation to Broadway star Taye Diggs); and white but gay actor Jonathan Groff played King George III as very effeminate, even though this was one of the few Kings of England to be both straight and completely faithful to his wife. 

The musical won near-universal acclaim from critics and audiences, and became a popular culture phenomenon. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was nominated for a record 16 Tony Awards, winning 11, including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score for Miranda, and Best Actor for Odom (defeating Miranda).

The stage version of the musical was filmed for Disney+ in 2020, but as of 2022, there are no plans to make a feature film out of it. Miranda has said, "I don't love a lot of movie musicals based on shows, because it's hard to stick the landing... I don't know what a cinematic version of Hamilton looks like. If I had, I'd have written it as a movie."

Trying actors in roles not of their own race was not new. Orson Welles had staged an all-black, Caribbean-set "voodoo" version of Macbeth in 1936. Joseph Papp had cast black and Hispanic actors in Shakespeare plays as part of his Public Theater as far back as the 1950s, and had even flipped the original versions of Shakespeare's plays, where teenage boys played the female roles, and cast women as Hamlet.

Hamilton inspired more accurate casting in shows. A subsequent revival of West Side Story had actual Hispanic actors playing the Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, and their families and girlfriends. Sometimes, they go the opposite way, and follow Hamilton's lead, and cast minority actors in traditionally white roles. Six, a musical about the wives of England's King Henry VIII, debuted in London in 2019 and on Broadway in 2021, with 3 black actresses, 2 white, and 1 Asian.

& Juliet (pronounced "and Juliet"), an imagining of what Shakespeare's Juliet Capulet might have done if she hadn't killed herself along with Romeo Montague, with some of the hit songs of Swedish songwriter Max Martin, debuted in London in 2019, and will premiere on Broadway on November 17, 2022, starring Lorna Courtney, a black New Yorker.

UPDATE: & Juliet was a smash, and was nominated for 9 Tonys, although it won none. In 2024, a musical version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby premiered, with Eva Maria Noblezada, a Filipina-Mexican actress, playing Daisy Buchanan, alongside white actors playing her husband Tom and her pursuer Jay Gatsby, making both relationships interracial, which would not have happened in 1922 when the story takes place.

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August 6, 2015 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Yankee Stadium. CC Sabathia started, and left with a 1-1 tie. Jacoby Ellsbury hit a home run against his former team in the bottom of the 7th, making a winning pitcher out of Justin Wilson. Alex Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-8 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-3 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins, 9-8 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Michael Wacha pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and 3 relievers finished the 5-hit shutout.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres, 10-1 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.

* The Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-4 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the O.co Coliseum). Jed Lowrie doubled José Altuve home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning.

* And the New York Mets, the Colorado Rockies, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago White Sox, the Cleveland Indians, the Los Angeles Angels, the Seattle Mariners, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers were not scheduled.

June 26, 1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway Opens

June 26, 1959: The St. Lawrence Seaway opens, aiding international trade for the United States; Canada, its neighbor and co-owner of the Seaway; and their allies.

It had actually opened on April 25, but June 26 was the dedication ceremony. Attending was each country's head of state: The 68-year-old President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the 33-year-old Queen Elizabeth II of the British Commonwealth, to which Canada still belonged (and still does).

The year before, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, opposing Democratic incumbent John F. Kennedy, was noted Boston attorney Vincent J. Celeste. One of his campaign statements was, "Of course my opponent voted for the St. Lawrence Seaway. It ends at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, which is owned by old Joe Kennedy." The suggestion was that JFK voted for it not because it was good policy -- and even most Republicans seemed to agree that it was -- but because of family corruption. This didn't work at all -- and not just because, while the Merch Mart is effectively on the Seaway, it is not the Seaway's terminal -- and JFK rose from 51 percent of the vote in his 1952 election to 73 percent.

The Seaway is a system of locks, canals and channels that connects the Great Lakes with the St. Lawrence River, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean. Officially, it runs 370 miles from Port Colborne to Montreal. Unofficially, it accesses such port cities as Duluth, Minnesota; Green Bay and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Toledo and Cleveland, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; Thunder Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sarnia, Port Colborne, Hamilton, Toronto and Oshawa, Ontario; Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Ogdensburg, New York; and Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Québec City, Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles, Quebec, into the Atlantic Ocean.

The locks on the U.S. side are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation. The ones on the Canadian side are managed by the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation. Over 3,000 ships use the Seaway every year. From Duluth to Sept-Îles, it takes about 8 1/2 days.

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June 26, 1959 was a Friday. Canadian Comedian Mark McKinney, known for his work on The Kids in the Hall from 1989 to 1995, and on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997, was born on this day. This was also the day that Ingemar Johansson knocked Floyd Patterson out to become the Heavyweight Champion of the World.

And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Mickey Mantle went 3-for-4 with a walk. Art Ditmar outpitched Billy Pierce.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-5 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Ted Williams went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Johnny Temple doubled Eddie Kasko home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Frank Robinson only appeared as a pinch-runner, and never came to bat or took the field. Stan Musial hit 2 home runs.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 12-7 and 4-1 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 2-for-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson did not play in either game.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 11-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Warren Spahn went the distance for the win, and helped his own cause with a home run. Hank Aaron went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Washington Senators beat the Kansas City Athletics, 8-4 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run for the Senators. Roger Maris went 0-for-5 for the A's.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Duke Snider, John Roseboro and Charlie Neal hit home runs for the Dodgers. Harry Bright, Don Hoak and Dick Stuart hit home runs for the Pirates. Roberto Clemente did not play.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-0 at Seals Stadium in San Francisco. Mike McCormick pitched a 3-hit shutout. Willie Mays and Jackie Brandt hit home runs for the Giants.

May 17, 1964: The 1st Tim Hortons Opens

May 17, 1964: The 1st Tim Hortons restaurant, featuring baked goods and coffee, opens in Hamilton, Ontario. Its namesake and co-founder, Tim Horton, had just helped the nearby Toronto Maple Leafs win their 3rd straight Stanley Cup.

In 1967, after winning a 4th Cup, Horton took on investor Ron Joyce, who ran Canada's Dairy Queens. Joyce was able to turn Tim Hortons into an icon of Canada.

Horton was killed in a car crash in 1974. He was 44, and was still playing. In fact, he had played the night before. After his death, Joyce offered his widow, Lori, $1 million for the shares of Tim Hortons that she inherited. She accepted, and Joyce became the sole owner. Lori lived until 2000. The Hortons had 4 children, all daughters. One of them, Jeri-Lyn, married Ron Joyce Jr. A statue of Horton now stands outside the original store in Hamilton.

When Quebec passed Bill 101 in 1977, mandating the supremacy of French over English in the Province, Tim Horton's decided it would be easier to drop the apostrophe in their name, rather than have 2 separate names, since the apostrophe does not exist in French.

Tim Hortons stores are all over Canada, and they are also common on Canadian military bases all over the world. A "Timmys Double Double" is a hot coffee with two creams and two sugars. "Timbits" are their name for donut holes, or what Dunkin Donuts calls "Munchkins."

In a 2009 episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, Robin Scherbatsky, like her portrayer Cobie Smulders a native of Vancouver, calls the Tim Hortons across the street from the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto "the most Canadian place there is." In real life, there isn't one across the street from the Hall of Fame -- there's one in the same building, with an address of 181 Bay Street.

Unfortunately, the franchise has not done well in America. At first, they tried opening stores in cities with NHL teams, like New York. But now, they are only available in the border cities of Buffalo (where Horton was playing when he died) and Detroit.

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May 17, 1964 was a Sunday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Kansas City Athletics, 11-9 and 8-0 at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle and Tom Tresh hit home runs in the opener, while Joe Pepitone hit 2 in the nightcap, as Whitey Ford pitched a 4-hit shutout.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the San Francisco Giants, 6-0 and 1-0 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Bob Hendley pitched a 3-hit shutout in the 1st game, backed by home runs from Orlando Cepeda, Jim Ray Hart and Willie McCovey. Ron Herbel pitched a 7-hit shutout in the 2nd game. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk in the 1st game, and only appeared as a late defensive replacement in the 2nd game.

* A doubleheader was split at Fenway Park in Boston. The Boston Red Sox won the 1st game, 6-2. The Minnesota Twins won the 2nd game, 6-5, as Earl Battey hit a home run in the top of the 9th inning. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-7 with 2 walks, while Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-8 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White sox beat the Washington Senators, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington.

* The Detroit Tigers swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 and 4-1 at Tiger Stadium. Al Kaline hit a home run in the 1st game, then got the 2nd game off.

* A doubleheader was split at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Chicago Cubs won the 1st game, 5-4. The Cincinnati Reds won the 2nd game, 7-1. Ernie Banks went 3-for-8 with 2 RBIs. Frank Robinson went 3-for-6 with 2 home runs, 2 walks and 3 RBIs.

* A doubleheader was split at the 1st Busch Stadium, formerly the last Sportsman's Park, in St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 1st game, 7-3. The Milwaukee Braves won the 2nd game, 4-2. Hank Aaron went 1-for-9.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Colt .45s, 2-0 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Chris Short pitched a 4-hit shutout. The Colts became the Astros the next season.

* And a doubleheader was split at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Dodgers won the 1st game, 3-2. Sandy Koufax outpitched Vern Law. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 2nd game, 8-3. Roberto Clemente went 4-for-8 with a walk.