July 5, 1945: The Order of the Boot

Winston Churchill (left) and Clement Attlee

July 5, 1945: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland holds its 1st general election since the start of World War II. And their message to the incumbent head of government was, "Thank you for saving our arses, now, cheerio."

The war wasn't over yet -- V-J Day was still 40 days away -- but the Nazis had been defeated, and Britain's part in that, as Prime Minister Winston Churchill predicted it would be, was "their finest hour." In spite of his policy that had led to the deaths of 3 million people in British India, Churchill was arguably the most popular person on Earth. After all, the other contenders for that title were Franklin Roosevelt, who was already dead; and Joseph Stalin, who was probably the most hated living person, following the death of Adolf Hitler.

But the people of Britain had long memories. They knew that Churchill, while a great war leader, hadn't previously been good for them in peacetime. And so, they handed his Conservative Party a tremendous defeat, and elected to the Labour Party, led by Clement Attlee. Before the election, the Conservatives, or "Tories," had 386 seats in the House of Commons, while Labour had 154. Afterward, Labour had 393, the Tories 197.

Not that it mattered, any more than it matters over the Electoral College in elections for President of the United States, but, in this election, Labour won 47.7 percent of the popular vote, the Tories 36.2, the Liberal Party 9.0 (12 seats), the National Liberal Party 2.9 (11 seats), and all other parties 4.0 (29 seats).

Attlee thus became only the 2nd Prime Minister from the Labour Party, after James Ramsay MacDonald, who had last held the office 10 years earlier. His postwar program for rebuilding Britain included the National Health Service and educational reforms, which made Britain a less class-stratified country. The Conservatives called it "socialism." The British people decided they liked it.

Despite having been "booted from office," Churchill remained personally popular. After King George VI offered him the Order of the Garter, he accepted, saying, "I had just gotten the Order of the Boot." When his wife, Clementine, told him the defeat was "a blessing in disguise," he told her, "It was very well disguised."

Turnabout is fair play: By the early 1950s, the people of Britain decided that Labour wasn't doing enough, and in the 1950 election, the Tories gained a lot of seats, although not enough to take control. Attlee hung on for another year and a half, but miscalculated, calling for a snap election for October 25, 1951. The Tories won, 321-295, and Churchill served 3 more years as Prime Minister. Attlee never regained the job. Both men resigned as their parties' respective leaders in 1955, Churchill after 15 years, Attlee after 20.

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July 5, 1945 was a Thursday. Michael Blake, author of Dances With Wolves, was born. This was also the day that Prime Minister John Curtin of Australia died in office. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at League Park in Cleveland. Jeff Heath hit a home run leading off the bottom of the 11th inning to win it. Ed Klieman went the distance for the Indians, Ernie "Tiny" Bonham for the Yankees.

* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-5 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 8-4 at Ebbets Field.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 5-4 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-8 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-3 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The A's tied the game in the top of the 9th inning, but the Browns won it in the bottom of the 11th, on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Frank Mancuso.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates were rained out at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on August 8. The Pirates won the opener, 4-0. Elwin "Preacher" Roe, later to star with the Brooklyn Dodgers, allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout. The Phillies won the nightcap, 5-0. Dick Mauney also pitched an 8-hit shutout.

June 9, 1983: "The Longest Suicide Note In History"

June 9, 1983: Britain's Conservative Party wins a 2nd consecutive term, gaining 58 seats in the House of Commons, and increasing the majority of its Leader, the country's 1st female, and most conservative, Prime Minister ever, Margaret Thatcher.

The Labour Party, led by Michael Foot, lost 60 seats. The defeat, the largest for a left-of-center party in Britain since 1924, is attributed to their warmup publication: The New Hope for Britain: Labour's Manifesto 1983. One of their own Members of Parliament -- Gerald Kaufman, once Prime Minister Harold Wilson's press officer -- called the manifesto "the longest suicide note in history."

Born in 1913 in Plymouth, Devon, Foot was first elected to Britain's House of Commons in the postwar election of 1945. In 1980, he was elected Leader of the Labour Party, and thus Leader of the Opposition. He maintained Labour's status as a party further left than America's Democrats and Canada's Liberals, and was beloved by the trade unions. He became the face of socialism for the Western world.

But when he went into the election of 1983, he approved the party's manifesto, which advocated unilateral nuclear disarmament, higher personal taxation, a return to a more interventionist industrial policy, the abolition of the House of Lords, the nationalization of the banks, and – oddly, given Labour's more recent stance – immediate withdrawal from what was then called the European Economic Community.

The Conservatives gained a net 59 seats, and Foot had to resign as Leader. He was a principled leader, but a poor campaigner. In American terms, he was a George McGovern, rather than a Bernie Sanders.

When he died in 2010, at the age of 96, he was admired (if not liked) by pretty much everyone. When Thatcher died, 3 years later, half the country deeply mourned, and the other half said, "Good riddance!"

Contrary to legend, The Times of London never actually ran a headline about his leadership of a nuclear disarmament committee reading "Foot Heads Arms Body." Someone came forward to admit that he had written the headline, but it was not approved for the paper.

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June 9, 1983 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bob Bailor doubled 2 runs home in the top of the 11th inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 6-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski, in his final season as a player, went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Bob Dernier singled Pete Rose home in the bottom of the 11th inning to win it. Rose had entered the game as a pinch-hitter, and went 2-for-3. Mike Schmidt went 1-for-4 with a walk. Joe Morgan hit 2 home runs.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 10-7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 2-for-4 with a walk. Robin Yount went 1-for-5 with an RBI. Paul Molitor went 0-for-5.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 8-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Each team had the greatest player in their history available for this game, but neither entered: 35-year-old Johnny Bench for the Reds, in his final season as a player, and 23-year-old Tony Gwynn for the Padres, in his 2nd full season.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5 at Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) in Kansas City. George Brett did not play.

* The California Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Tommy John went the distance for the win. Neither Reggie Jackson nor Rod Carew entered the game for the Angels.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-0 at the Astrodome in Houston. Bob Knepper pitched a 2-hit shutout, and got 2 hits himself, including an RBI triple.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-2 before leaving the game due to an injury.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Todd Cruz singled Dave Henderson home in the bottom of the 11th to win it.

* And the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were not scheduled.

June 5, 1963: The Profumo Affair

June 5, 1963: John Profumo resigns as Britain's Secretary of State for War. The equivalent position in America would be the Secretary of Defense.

The issue wasn't that he had been exposed as having an affair with model Christine Keeler. It wasn't even that she was also having an affair with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy in London, who had been exposed as a Soviet spy. Powerful men in the British government had been getting away with naughty behavior since the Romans invaded 2,000 years earlier.

No, the issue was that Profumo had stood before the House of Commons, and had lied about it. That was the true unforgivable sin in British politics.

Keeler was just 17 when she met Stephen Ward, an osteopath with several prominent clients, including Profumo, who served in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Keeler and Ward lived together, but she later said there was no sex involved. She had already had a baby that did not survive, with a U.S. Air Force officer stationed in London. Keeler and Ward had been introduced by Mandy Rice-Davies, an ex-girlfriend of a friend of Ward's -- and she was only 15 at the time.

She was 19 when Ward introduced her to Profumo, who was 46, on July 8, 1961, at a pool party at a Buckinghamshire mansion. Ward also introduced her to Ivanov, who was 35. She soon began affairs with both men, neither of which lasted long -- but lasted long enough to ruin the lives of everyone involved.

The infamous photo of Keeler, taken by Lewis Morley.

She later said she wasn't totally nude, and was wearing underwear.

In 1962, she had simultaneous affairs with jazz singer Lucky Gordon and promoter Johnny Edgecombe. The jealousy between the men boiled over, and Edgecombe slashed Gordon's face with a knife. A few weeks later, she broke up with Edgecombe, and, following her to Ward's house, he fired gunshots into it, hitting no one. He was arrested, and, as the investigation grew, one revelation led to another, until, finally, Profumo could deny it no longer, and had to resign.

Ward went on trial -- not for espionage, but for "living on the earnings of prostitution." One thing led to another, and it was revealed that Rice-Davies had also had an affair with William Waldorf Astor, the 3rd Viscount Astor. He denied this, and when Rice-Davies was asked about it, she told the media, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?" This phrase became famous, and would be abbreviated to "MRDA," for "Mandy Rice-Davies Applies."

Ward was convicted, but committed suicide via pills before sentence could be pronounced. Ivanov was recalled by his country, and resumed his naval career. Keeler was convicted of perjury, was sentenced to 9 months in prison, and served 6. She later married twice, with a child from each marriage. Having lost her money in legal fees, she got by over the years with paid TV appearances, talking about the scandal. Rice-Davies was never prosecuted, and became a singer and a novelist.

The government appointed Tom Denning, Baron Denning, the Master of the Rolls, to investigate the various rumors that had emanated from and around the Profumo affair. His report, published on September 26, 1963, concluded that there had been no security leaks, nor evidence to link members of the government with associated scandals. In other words, there was no evidence that any state secrets were leaked to the Soviet Union as a result of the affair(s). Denning laid most of the blame for the affair on Ward, an "utterly immoral" man whose diplomatic activities were "misconceived and misdirected."

Nevertheless, Macmillan resigned as Prime Minister on October 18, 1963, citing his health, replaced by Foreign Minister Alec Douglas-Home. While the Conservative Party government might have been doomed in the 1964 election anyway, the Profumo affair didn't help, as Labour won 317 seats to the Tories' 304, and Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.

Profumo's wife, actress Valerie Hobson, forgave him, and they retreated into charity work, rebuilding his reputation. By the time he died, he had long been back in British society's good graces.

In 1989, the story gained back some traction for 2 reasons: The film Scandal retold the story, with Ian McKellen as Profumo, Deborah Grant as Hobson, Joanne Whalley as Keeler, Bridget Fonda as Rice-Davies, John Hurt as Ward, Leslie Phillips as Astor, Dutch actor Jeroen Krabbé as Ivanov, Leon Herbert as Gordon, Fine Young Cannibals lead singer Roland Gift as Edgecombe. And it was mentioned in Billy Joel's rapid-fire history song "We Didn't Start the Fire," leading a generation not old enough to remember 1963 what the line "British politician sex" was about.

Astor died in 1966, Macmillan in 1986, Ivanov in 1994, Hobson in 1998, Denning in 1999, Profumo in 2006, Edgecombe in 2010, Rice-Davies in 2014, Keeler and Gordon in 2017.

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June 5, 1963 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3 in Baltimore, but it was costly for them. At the time, Memorial Stadium had a chain-link fence in the outfield, making for easier removal for football games. After already going 2-for-2, Mickey Mantle went deep into center field to try to catch a ball hit by Brooks Robinson. It was no use, as it went over that fence for a home run. But it making the attempt, Mantle got his foot caught in the fence, and broke it. He was out for 2 months, the longest of his many in-season injuries. At any rate, Whitey Ford outpitched Milt Pappas, and Roger Maris hit a home run.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 11-9 at the Polo Grounds. The Mets scored 7 runs in the 6th inning, and forced extra innings. But Bubba Morton singled home 2 runs in the top of the 10th inning to win it for the Braves. Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews each went 3-for-5, and Mathews added 2 RBIs.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Ray Culp pitched a 3-hit shutout. Stan Musial, in his last season, when 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 and 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Over the 2 games, Roberto Clemente went 2-for-8, Bill Mazeroski went 5-for-8 with a home run and 4 RBIs; Frank Robinson went 4-for-7 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs, and rookie Pete Rose went 0-for-5 with a walk.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Jim Bunning outpitched Jim "Mudcat" Grant. Al Kaline went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The Chicago Cubs swept a doubleheader from the San Francisco Giants, 9-5 and 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Willie Mays went 1-for-2 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs in the 1st game, and appeared as a pinch-hitter without reaching base in the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 4-for-7 with 2 home runs, a walk, and 3 RBIs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Athletics, 4-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Jim Roland (7 innings) and Bill Dailey combined on a 5-hit shutout. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Colt .45s, 5-1 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Sandy Koufax went the distance for the win. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* A doubleheader was split at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Los Angeles Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their stadium in Anaheim was built. The Chicago White Sox won the opener, 3-0. John Buzhardt allowed 9 hits, but kept the shutout. The Angels won the nightcap, 8-2.

And the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators were rained out at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (And yet, just 42 miles away, Baltimore got its entire game in.) The game was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on August 2. The Red Sox won the 1st game, 5-0. Earl Wilson pitched a 6-hit shutout, and helped his own cause with a home run. The Senators won the 2nd game, 4-3. Over the 2 games, Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-8 with a walk and an RBI.

May 3, 1979: The Thatcher Revolution

May 3, 1979: The Conservative Party wins Great Britain's national election, gaining 62 seats and a majority in the House of Commons. This makes the Conservatives' Leader, Margaret Thatcher, Britain's 1st female Prime Minister.

The Conservative Party, a.k.a. the Tories, have long been known in Britain as "the natural party of government." That, of course, is elitism. But, after 5 years of Labour Party government, and Britain sinking deeper into an economic abyss -- one that had lasted pretty much since the previous Tory takeover, in 1970, leading to the last Labour win, in 1974 -- things weren't getting any better.

The Tories, backed by many of the country's leading national newspapers, ran a populist campaign, convincing the working people of the country that the party of the rich could help the poor, while the party that proclaimed Socialism was to blame for all their problems. The people bought it: Except for staunch Labour areas like North London, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle in England; Cardiff and Swansea in Wales; and Edinburgh and Glasgow in Scotland, the Tories pretty much swept the country. Labour's leader, James Callaghan, was out, and Thatcher was in.

She talked as tough as any male politician, and became known as the Iron Lady. She cracked down on the country's labor unions, and sent more troops into Northern Ireland to strike back at the Irish Republican Army -- as if the IRA weren't already playing defense against paramilitary groups funded by the Labour leaders of the previous British government.

In 1982, when Argentina took back the nearby Falkland Islands, a British colony, Thatcher sent the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force to take them back. They did so in only 71 days. This wild success, with "only" 255 deaths, made her even more popular.

And, like Ronald Reagan, elected President of the United States in 1980, she cut taxes for the rich, and the economy built a "paper prosperity," in which the country once again seemed to be doing well on the surface. But cultural depictions of 1980s Britain since she left office -- including films like Billy Elliott, TV shows like Ashes to Ashes and In the Long Run, and the This Is England film and TV series -- revealed that, for people who weren't well off, things hadn't changed all that much. As The Who said a decade earlier, "Meet the new boss: Same as the old boss."

But the toughness that "Maggie" showed (including surviving an assassination attempt in Brighton in 1984), and the veneer of prosperity she brought, made her enormously popular with British conservatives. But anybody to the left of center despised her.

She built a strong rapport with Reagan, and, together, they dominated the world stage in the 1980s, until Reagan left office due to the two-term limit in 1989, and Thatcher was forced out by an intraparty squabble in 1990, having won 3 general elections, and becoming the longest-lasting Prime Minister in over 150 years. (Others had served longer than her 11 1/2 years, but not consecutively.)

But America and Britain are different. In 2004, when Reagan died, America's liberals held their tongues for a week, until the funeral, not talking about the damage Reagan had done. In 2013, when Thatcher died, half of Britain was deeply saddened, and the other half cheered.

As I said, many national newspapers are conservative, especially the tabloids, including The Sun, the Daily Express, the Telegraph (a.k.a. the Torygraph), and the Daily Mail (known as the Daily Fail for its poor journalism and the Daily Heil for its politics). Britain's biggest leftist newspaper, the Daily Mirror, did not mince words with its front page, nor did it lie.

Oddly, the leading portrayals of her, through 2002, have been by Americans: Meryl Streep in the 2011 film The Iron Lady, and Gillian Anderson in the 2020 season of the Netflix TV series The Crown.

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May 3, 1979 was a Thursday. There were 6 Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-6 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 10-2 at San Diego Stadium (later Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). Dave Winfield went 1-for-4 with a home run.

* And the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mike Schmidt hit a solo home run, and Pete Rose went 2-for-3 with an RBI. But that was all the runs the Phils got off eventual National League Rookie of the Year Rick Sutcliffe, who outpitched Steve Carlton.

Football was out of season. The NBA and the World Hockey Association were each between rounds of the Playoffs. The NHL was in its Stanley Cup Semifinals. Both series were in Game 4, and both games went to overtime. The New York Islanders beat the New York Rangers, 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. Bobby Nystrom scored the winning goal, 3:40 into overtime. But the Rangers would win the next 2 games to take the series.

In the other series, the Boston Bruins beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Boston Garden. Jean Ratelle scored the winner, 3:46 into overtime. But the Canadiens would win the series in overtime of Game 7, and then beat the Rangers for the Cup in 5 games.

May 1, 1997: Tony Blair's New Labour

May 1, 1997: The Labour Party wins a solid majority in Britain's national election. It is their 1st election win in 23 years, and leads to their 1st time in power in 18 years. The new Prime Minister will be their Leader, Tony Blair.

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born on May 6, 1953 in Edinburgh, Scotland -- on the same day as another polarizing figure from Scotland, soccer star and manager Graeme Souness. With the Labour Party having been tainted by accusations of Socialism, and ridiculed through 18 years of Conservative Party government -- 11 1/2 under Margaret Thatcher, and 6 1/2 under John Major -- Blair looked at the success of America's President, Bill Clinton, a member of the Democratic Party, but a master of "Third Way" or "triangulation" politics.

So Blair, succeeding as Leader of Labour, changed its direction. "New Labour" would embrace free-market reforms, as the Conservatives, or "Tories," did under Thatcher, while maintaining Labour's previous standards of fighting for working people and the National Health Service. He even titled his campaign pamphlet New Britain. (The citizens of New Britain, Connecticut were not contacted for comment, by the media of either country.)

He was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1997 to 2007, winning a slightly reduced majority in the 2001 election, and taking a hit but maintaining his majority in 2005. He was an icon for the Labour Party, although the Tories called him "Tony Blur," because his New Labour had blurred the lines between Labour's traditional socialism and Thatcher's sadistic Tory economics, which the Tories actually liked about him.

But the entire country turned on him when he supported the Iraq War in 2003. Now, both major parties hate him. His actions since, including cozying up to American corporations, have further smeared his image. He could have been a great man. Instead, he let his friendship with George W. Bush take him down a terrible path.

UPDATE: In 1997, Tony Blair looked like the Scottish Bill Clinton: A political wizard who would fix everything right-wingers broke. In 2003, he looked like a "9/11 Democrat": Too scared of terrorism to oppose Bush and Dick Cheney. In 2026, with his demands that Labour move right and align with Donald Trump, he looks like a posh Zell Miller: A turncoat asshole.

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May 1, 1997 was a Thursday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were in progress, but no games were scheduled. There were 2 games in the NBA Playoffs. The Orlando Magic beat their arch-rivals, the Miami Heat, 99-91 at the Orlando Arena. Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway scored 41 points. And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Phoenix Suns, 122-115 in overtime at the America West Arena in Phoenix.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets lost to the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Shea Stadium. Andy Ashby outpitch Dave Mlicki. John Flaherty, later a catcher and broadcaster for the Yankees, went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs. Tony Gwynn went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Rickey Henderson was with the Padres at the time, but did not get into this game.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 4-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Pedro Martínez pitched a 3-hit shutout. Darrin Fletcher hit a home run.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Pedro Astacio allowed 9 hits, but kept a shutout. Derrick May got 4 of them. Todd Zeile hit a home run for the Dodgers.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts against his former team.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. David Justice went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs. Manny Ramirez and Omar Vizquel also homered for the Tribe. 

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati. John Smoltz outpitched Dave Burba.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. Scott Erickson outpitched Scott Aldred. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Florida Marlins, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-0 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. José Rosado had a 3-hit shutout going after 7 2/3rds innings, Mitch Williams finished the 8th, and Jim Converse finished the 4-hit shutout. Chili Davis hit a home run, and Jay Bell went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Boston Red Sox and the Anaheim Angels were rained out at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 25. The Angels swept, 5-4 and 8-5.

* And the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, the Detroit Tigers, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers were not scheduled.

January 22, 1924: Labour Breaks Through In Britain

January 22, 1924: James Ramsay MacDonald becomes the 1st Leader of Britain's Labor Party to become Prime Minister. He ends up only serving for 9 months, but then serves again from 1929 to 1935, as the Labour Party succeeded the Liberal Party as Britain's main left-of-center party.

He was born on October 12, 1866 in Lossiemouth, Moray, Scotland, and turned to socialism in 1887, after seeing "Bloody Sunday" in London on November 13. A contemporary report noted that 400 anti-unemployment demonstrators were arrested, and 75 people were badly injured, including many police, two policemen being stabbed and one protester bayonetted.

He began referring to himself as "Ramsay MacDonald" to avoid confusion with Jimmie MacDonald, a prominent London trade unionist of the time. He was first elected to Parliament in 1892, as a member of the Liberal Party. In 1893, he joined the Independent Labour Party, and in 1906, merged it with the Labour Representation Committee, which became the Labour Party. Officially, he was its Leader from 1911 to 1914, and again from 1922 to 1931.

In the election of December 6, 1923, the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, lost 86 seats. MacDonald led Labour to gain 49 seats, while the Liberal Party, under former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, gained 43 seats. That made the count in the House of Commons as follows: Conservatives (or "Tories") 258, Labour 191, Liberals 158. No party had a majority.

Asquith didn't want the Tories to stay in charge, and joining a coalition with them would have antagonized Labour to the point where national strife might have resulted. He knew that his Party was now doomed to being the 2nd-biggest left-of-center party in the country, so it would be better to work with the bigger one.

At a party meeting on December 18, Asquith convinced former Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the other major living Liberal figure, to go along with him. After a series of negotiations, on January 22, 1924, Ramsay MacDonald was able to visit King George V, and tell him, "I can form a government."

But the government didn't last long. Neither Asquith nor Lloyd George could keep the Liberals in line with Labour, and a vote of no confidence in MacDonald passed. In the general election of October 29, the Tories gained 154 seats, and Labour lost 40. The Liberals were devastated, losing 118 seats and dropping to just 40.

From 1931 to 1935, MacDonald headed a National Government dominated by the Conservative Party and supported by only a few Labour members. MacDonald was expelled from the Labour Party as a result.

Such gratitude. For half a century, he was demonized by Labour Party as a turncoat who consorted with the enemy and drove the Party to its lowest point. Later, however, scholarly opinion raised his status as an important founder and leader of the Labour Party, and a man who held Britain together during its darkest economic times.

He lost the 1935 general election, and the death a few weeks later of King George V, who had called MacDonald his favorite Prime Minister, devastated him. His physical and mental health collapsed as a result, and he died on November 9, 1937, on a Liverpool-to-Valparaíso, Chile voyage aboard the cruise ship MV Reina del Pacifico, which had been recommended for his health. He was 71 years old.

The original Liberal Party went out of business in 1988. Since then, the 3rd-largest party in Britain has been the Liberal Democratic Party.

Other Prime Ministers from the Labour Party: Clement Attlee, 1945-51; Harold Wilson, 1964-70 and 1974-76; James Callaghan, 1976-79; Tony Blair, 1997-2007; and Gordon Brown, 2007-10. The current Party Leader is Sir Keir Starmer. Despite having been knighted, he still serves in the House of Commons, rather than the House of Lords. Britain's next national election must be held no later than January 28, 2025.

UPDATE: The election came on July 4, 2024, and Starmer led Labour to victory. The Liberal Democrats won 72 seats, their highest total ever, and the highest for a party other than Labour or the Conservatives since 1924.

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January 22, 1924 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. Professional basketball barely existed. And there were no games scheduled in the NHL. So there were no scores on this historic day.