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.

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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, 1989: The Montreal Massacre

December 6, 1989: Marc Lépine, a 25-year-old engineering student at École polytechnique de Montréal, shoots 28 women on the campus, 14 of whom die. Proclaiming himself an "anti-feminist" in his suicide note – today, we would call him an "incel" – he finished it by shooting and killing himself.

The Canadian government – then led by the Progressive Conservative Party, mind you – took this seriously, and, instead of merely offering "thoughts and prayers," passed new gun control laws. These did not eliminate mass shootings in Canada, but it did reduce them.

The anniversary of the massacre is commemorated annually in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, founded by a survivor of the shooting, Nathalie Provost.

École polytechnique de Montréal has since been absorbed by the Université de Montréal, and is known as Polytechnique Montréal.

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December 6, 1989 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 113-98 at the Boston Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Miami Heat, 121-98 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic, 118-110 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Washington Bullets, 115-107 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Nuggets, 136-117 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors, 121-119 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 5-3 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Washington Capitals, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-4 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Bernie Nicholls scored the winning goal with 2:09 left in overtime.

October 27, 2018: The Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

October 27, 2018: Shabbat morning services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh are desecrated, as 17 people are shot, 11 of them dying. It was, and remains, the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history.

Robert Bowers, a man with a history of online anti-Semitism, was shot and arrested by the police. He survived, and was charged with 63 federal crimes and 36 State crimes. As of this writing, his case has not yet gone to trial.

This shooting was part of a culture of bigotry drummed up by Donald Trump and his illegal, immoral Administration. It was reflective of the neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017, chanting, "Jews will not replace us!"

The Pittsburgh metropolitan area did not stand for this act, perpetrated in Squirrel Hill, an inclusive place that was once the home of the Rev. Fred Rogers, the longtime host of the PBS children's program Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. This happened in Mr. Rogers' actual neighborhood, and it was treated like a desecration. One of those occasional "(City Name) Strong" movements began, with an accompanying logo, in this case based on the U.S. Steel Corporation's "Steelmark" logo that had been used by the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers since 1962.

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October 27, 2018 was a Saturday. It was the end of the Major League Baseball season, and Game 4 of the World Series was played that night. The night before, we saw the longest game in World Series history, going 18 innings, before Max Muncy hit a home run to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

But that would be the only game won by the Dodgers in the Series. They took a 4-0 lead in the 6th inning of Game 4, only to see the Sox score 3 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th, and 5 in the 9th. The Dodgers came back with 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th, but it wasn't enough, and the Red Sox won, 9-6. The next day, the Sox wrapped the Series up, winning Game 5, 5-1.

There were 9 NBA games played that day. Neither the New York Knicks nor the Brooklyn Nets were scheduled:

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 105-103 at the Wells Fargo Arena (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Atlanta Hawks, 97-85 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Miami Heat beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 120-111 at the American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 119-107 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 109-89 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Phoenix Suns, 117-96 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 132-111 at the Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Orlando Magic, 113-91 at the new Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 110-106 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

There were 11 NHL games played that day:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Florida Panthers, 3-2 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

* The New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at the Wells Fargo Center, which had hosted the 76ers-Hornets game earlier in the day. (The New York Rangers were not scheduled.)

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston bruins, 3-0 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 at what's now named the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Buffalo Sabres, 5-4 in overtime at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Nashville Predators, 5-3 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 7-3 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-1 at the Gila River Arena (now the Desert Diamond Arena) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 in a shootout at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Vancouver Canucks, 5-0 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

It was a Saturday, so no NFL games were scheduled. But there were some notable college football games played:

* As is traditional, the last Saturday in October saw "The World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party," played on "neutral ground" in Jacksonville. That's a laugh: Not only is TIAA Bank Field, home of the NFL's Jaguars, in Florida, but the University of Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is 81 miles away, while the University of Georgia's Sanford Stadium is a considerably farther 341 miles away.

Both teams came into the game highly ranked: Georgia was the Number 7 team in the country, Florida the Number 9. Georgia won, 36-17.

* Alabama was then ranked Number 1, but had the week off. Number 2 Clemson went to Tallahassee and beat Florida State, 59-10. Clemson would go on to defeat Alabama in the National Championship Game.

* Number 3 Notre Dame played Navy at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Given that San Diego is a Navy city, it should have been a "home game" for the Naval Academy. But Notre Dame won, 44-22.

* In New Jersey, Rutgers had the week off, while Princeton walloped Cornell 66-0 at Powers Field in Princeton.

* And in New York City, Columbia beat Yale 17-10 at Wien Stadium in Upper Manhattan.

October 1, 2017: The Las Vegas Massacre

October 1, 2017: The largest mass shooting in American history takes place on the Las Vegas Strip. Stephen Paddock, a 64-year-old real estate executive from nearby Mesquite, Nevada, who had previously been a law-abiding gun owner, took a room on the 32nd floor at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, opened the window, and opened fire with more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition. He shot 471 people, 60 of whom died, all of whom had been attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival. He then shot and killed himself.

The American federal government, then led by Donald Trump in the White House, Mitch McConnell in the U.S. Senate, and Paul Ryan in the U.S. House of Representatives: What did they do about this? Nothing. They were all Republicans, beholden to the National Rifle Association.

The day was a Sunday, before the start of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League seasons The NHL's new expansion team, the Vegas Golden Knights, hung a banner in memory of the victims in their new arena, the T-Mobile Center.

It was the last day of Major League Baseball's regular season, and there was a full slate of games:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1 at the new Yankee Stadium. Jordan Montgomery was the starting pitcher for the Yankees, but it was Domingo German in relief who turned out to be the losing pitcher. The only Yankee run came on a home run to Matt Holliday.

* The New York Mets got clobbered by the Philadelphia Phillies, 11-0 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Washington Nationals, 11-8 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins, 8-5 at Marlins Park in Miami.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-1 at Target Field in Minneapolis.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals, 14-2 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in Arlington, Texas.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-3 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-2 at Angel Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at what's now named Oracle Park in San Francisco.

And, being a Sunday, there was a full slate of National Football League games:

* The New York Giants lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 25-23 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The New York Jets beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 23-20 at MetLife Stadium in the New York suburb of East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey. Chandler Catanzaro kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Miami Dolphins, 20-0 at Wembley Stadium in London.

* The Carolina Panthers beat the New England Patriots, 33-30 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. Take that, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens, 26-9 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns, 31-7 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, the team that used to be the Houston Oilers, 57-14 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston. And the Titans weren't a bad team, either: They went 9-7, and not only ended up making the Playoffs, but winning a Playoff game, beating the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 14-7 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Dallas Cowboys, 35-30 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 16-10 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the San Francisco 49ers, 18-15 in overtime at what's now named State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 26-24 at what's now named Dignity Sports Health Park in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California. Only 25,000 people can fit in the stadium, and most of them seemed to be rooting for the Eagles. I have a separate entry for this event.

* And the Seattle Seahawks beat the Indianapolis Colts, 46-18 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle.

The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Washington Redskins, 29-20 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers had a bye.

Also on October 1, 2017, Arsenal beat Brighton & Hove Albion, 2-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London. 

September 6, 1949: The "Walk of Death" In Camden

September 6, 1949: The "Walk of Death" occurs in Camden, the largest city in southern New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. It is regarded as the 1st mass shooting in American history.

Born in Camden in 1921, Howard Unruh was a moralist and a mama's boy. Serving in World War II changed him, leading to a description of him as "moody, nervous and detached." In 1949, he began arguing with his neighbors.

At 9:20 AM on September 6, he took a Lugar P08 pistol and some ammunition, walked onto River Road, into the shop of his neighbor, shoemaker John Pilarchik, and killed him. He then went to the barbershop of another neighbor, Clark Hoover, killing both him and Orris Smith, the 6-year-old boy whose hair he was cutting. He ran toward the pharmacy of another neighbor, Maurice Cohen. Before he could get there, he saw insurance man James Hutton blocking his path. A man truly in the wrong place at the wrong time, Hutton was killed, even though Unruh had never even met him before.

The Cohen family tried to escape. But Maurice's wife Rose and 12-year-old son Charles hid in closest, and Unruh found Rose, and killed her. Then he killed Cohen's mother, Minnie, because she was on the phone with the police. He followed Maurice onto a porch roof, and shot him. Charles got away unharmed, the only surviving member of the family.

Unruh walked back to River Road, saw a car coming, and shot the driver, Alvin Day. He went after another neighbor at his store, tailor Thomas Zegrino. He wasn't there, making him the only intended victim to survive. But his wife Helga was there, and Unruh killed her.

He ran back to River Road, saw a car waiting at an intersection, and shot everybody in it: Helen Wilson, her son John, and her mother, Emma Matlack. All 3 died. He then fired through an apartment window, killing 2-year-old Thomas Hamilton. Total victims: 13.

A man named Frank Engel saw Unruh from a tavern window, ran out, and shot him in the leg. Trying to get away, Unruh shot at Madeline Harris and her son Armand, outside their home. Both were wounded, but survived.

Unruh went back to his apartment building, which was quickly surrounded by the police. They lobbed tear gas bombs into the apartment. He came out and gave up. The police found a list of his intended victims, an arsenal of weapons, and a Bible opened to the 24th Chapter of The Gospel of Matthew.

Unruh was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, making him immune to criminal prosecution. He was taken to Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, and remained there until his death on October 19, 2009 -- 60 years after his crime. In his last interview with a psychologist, he showed no remorse, saying, "I'd have killed a thousand if I had enough bullets."

He even outlived Charles Cohen, 12 at the time of the shooting. He died on September 4, 2009, at the age of 72. His funeral was 2 days later, on the 60th Anniversary of the crime. In the intervening years, mass shootings started out rare, then became common in the 1980s, and got out of control early in the 21st Century.

On February 14, 2018, there was a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people died. Carly Novell survived the mass shooting, by hiding in a closet. Just like her grandfather: Charles Cohen.

As Mark Twain once put it, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

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September 6, 1949 was a Tuesday. There were 4 baseball games played that day:

* The New York Giants split a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies at the Polo Grounds. The Phils won the opener, 4-2, when Bill Nicholson, known as "Swish" because he struck out a lot, singled, and, with the help of an error, Stan Lopata and Del Ennis scored. The Giants won the nightcap, 4-1, on a home run by Wes Westrum.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Boston Braves, 10-2 at Braves Field in Boston. Don Newcombe went the distance for the win. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* And the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Ralph Kiner hit a home run. The Pirates scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th, and the Reds could only come back with 1 in the bottom half.

July 18, 1984: The San Ysidro McDonald's Massacre

July 18, 1984: A mass shooting occurs at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego. There were 40 people wounded, and 21 of them died.

The shooter was James Huberty, age 41, from Canton, Ohio. His mother had left the family when he was little, and he never recovered from this trauma, taking up target shooting at a young age. By 1984, he was living in San Diego, married with 2 daughters, and had been charged with domestic violence against them and his wife.

As the Summer of 1984 began, there seemed nothing amiss. But on July 17, he called a local mental health clinic, and left his contact information. Unfortunately, the receptionists had misspelled his name, and she noted that he was calm when he called, and had admitted that he had never been hospitalized for psychiatric issues, so she didn't see any urgency.

The police responded to the shooting, and one of their snipers killed Huberty. McDonald's suspended all advertising for a time. In an act of solidarity with their arch-rivals, Burger King did the same.

At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, and stunned people. Times have changed, and the willingness of America's leaders to let mentally unstable people have firearms has led to so many mass shootings, a few worse than this one.

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July 18, 1984 was a Wednesday. The Major League Baseball season had just restarted following the All-Star Game in San Francisco, a 3-1 win for the National League 8 days earlier. Here are the day's MLB games:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Don Baylor hit a home run in support of Ron Guidry.

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Montreal Expos 3-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Ken Oberkfell won the game with a double in the 10th inning.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-6 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 4-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Had the Padres been scheduled to play at home, the game would probably have been postponed.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-4 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Darrell Porter hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals, 2-1 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.)

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the California Angels, 8-2 at Anaheim Stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. (The team is now named the Los Angeles Angels, and the ballpark is named Angel Stadium of Anaheim.)

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* And the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were out of season. This was during the brief experiment with Spring pro football, the United States Football League. The USFL title game had been played 3 days earlier, and the Philadelphia Stars beat the Arizona Wranglers, 23-3 at Tampa Stadium. 

June 12, 2016: The Pulse Nightclub Shooting

June 12, 2016: Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, is hosting a Latin Night when 102 people are shot by a single gunman. Of those, 49 died.

The shooter was Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old Long Island native, a son of Afghan immigrants, who was working for the Florida Department of Corrections. His family was described as moderate Muslims, but going back to his childhood, he had a preoccupation with violence. He had sworn allegiance to the terrorist group ISIL, and said that the killing of ISIL official Abu Waheeb in Iraq the month before set him off. After a 3-hour standoff inside the club, Orlando police shot and killed him.

The massacre was officially classified a terrorist attack, and still ranks as the deadliest one in America since 9/11. It was the deadliest mass shooting in American history, but that record only lasted until October 1, 2017, in Las Vegas -- one that has not been officially classified as a terrorist attack.

The massacre deeply shook the people of Central Florida, and gay Americans everywhere. At the time, what was then named Orlando City Stadium was being constructed in Orlando, to be the home of Major League Soccer's Orlando City SC (Soccer Club), and the National Women's Soccer League's Orlando Pride, a name obliquely referencing women's soccer's ties to the gay community.

When the stadium opened on February 24, 2017, 49 seats in Section 12 were painted in a rainbow pattern, as a memorial to the Pulse victims. The venue was renamed Exploria Stadium in 2019. (UPDATe: It was renamed Inter&Co Stadium in 2024.)

Pulse had opened in 2004. It never reopened after the shooting, not even in a different location. The building is being converted into a memorial and museum, with its opening planned for later in 2022. (UPDATE: As of June 12, 2026, various reasons have delayed the start of construction.)

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June 12, 2016 was a Sunday. Though the shooting took place at 2:00 AM on Sunday, June 12 -- meaning that some people had gotten in on Saturday night, June 11 -- not one single sporting event scheduled for the 12th was postponed.

It was the off-season for the NFL. The NBA Finals were underway, and the Golden State Warriors had a 3-games-to-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Cavs won the next 3 straight to take the title.

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played that night. The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the SAP Center in San Jose, to clinch the Cup.

And there was a full slate of Major League Baseball games played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Yankee Stadium II. Michael Pineda gave up a home run to Ian Kinsler, and got outpitched by Michael Fullmer.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-3 at Miller Park (now named American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 at Nationals Park in Washington.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 13-2 at Turner Field in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Rays beat the Houston Astros, 5-0 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-9 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-3 at PNC Par in Pittsburgh.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Max Kepler hit a 3-run walkoff home run in the 10th inning.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres, 2-1 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Miami 6-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-3 at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-4 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. 

April 20, 1999: The Columbine Massacre

April 20, 1999: A mass shooting kills 12 students and a teacher at Columbine High School, in the Denver suburb of Littleton, Colorado. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting at an American school. Another 21 were wounded, but survived.

What made it more chilling is that it was done by 2 of the school's own students, both seniors within weeks of graduation: Eric Harris, who had just turned 18 and had recently moved there after many places as the child of a U.S. Air Force officer; and Dylan Klebold, still 17 and a lifelong resident of the community.

Both worked at a nearby pizza parlor. According to Harris' journal, he had planned to exceed the death toll of the Oklahoma City bombing, 4 years plus 1 day earlier: 168.

President Bill Clinton, being a Democrat, had managed, through legislation while Congress was controlled by Democrats, to greatly reduce gun crime in America. Now, he wanted to do more. The Congress of that time, being controlled by Republicans, did nothing. No new legislation regarding gun control was put on the Presidential desk.

The school, and the unincorporated community in which it stands, were named for the State Flower of Colorado. The school opened in 1973, and, with retroactive irony, its mascot is the Rebels, with a logo reminiscent of the Continental Army in the War of the American Revolution. If Harris and Klebold only had the kind of weapons available then, the death toll would have been much lower.

Among Columbine's graduates is Darrel Akerfelds, who pitched for 4 different major league teams from 1986 to 1991. He also died too soon, at 50, in 2012, from cancer.

A memorial to the victims opened at the school near the start of the 2007-08 schoolyear. Today, the school has an enrollment of about 1,700.

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April 20, 1999 was a Tuesday. Only 1 game was canceled in any sport: The Colorado Rockies, the team closest to the crime, canceled their games that night and the next one, at Coors Field against the Montreal Expos. The April 20 game was made up on August 13, and the Expos won, 14-13 in 10 innings.

These games were played in Major League Baseball on the day of the shooting:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. David Cone and Mariano Rivera combined on a 4-hit shutout. Paul O'Neill hit 2 home runs.

* The New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati. (It had been Riverfront Stadium from 1970 to 1996.) Marge Schott, who had owned the Reds since 1984, sells the team on this day, against her will, under orders from MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, after 25 years of cheapness, bigotry, and one Pennant and World Series win. Nobody misses her, except maybe Trump fans.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-3 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 5-1 at the SkyDome in Toronto. (It was renamed the Rogers Centre in 2005.)

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Oakland Athletics, 5-1 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. (It was renamed Progressive Field in 2008.)

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 1-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Houston Astros beat the Chicago Cubs, 10-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-1 at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago. (It was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003, Guaranteed Rate Field in 2016, and just Rate Field in 2025.) Yes, both Chicago teams played at home on the same day, but only the ChiSox won. Attendance on the North Side: 28,876. Attendance on the South Side: 8,980.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-7 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Chris Latham drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 13th inning.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-1 at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix. (It was renamed Chase Field in 2005.)

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 7-3 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. (It had been San Diego Stadium from 1967 to 1981, then Jack Murphy Stadium until 1997. It would be SDCCU Stadium from 2017 until its demolition in 2020.) Trevor Hoffman, recorder of more saves than any pitcher in MLB history except for Mariano Rivera, imploded in the 10th inning to lose this game.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-4 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Florida Marlins beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at Candlestick Park (then named 3Com Park at Candlestick Point) in San Francisco.

One more note, although this is about a game that I do not consider a sport: On this day, for his comic strip B.C., Johnny Hart drew this strip, showing that he loves golf, but is frustrated by it:

In case you're having trouble reading it:

Panel 1: Woman asks male golfer, "Let me get this straight, the less I hit the ball, the better I am doing." Golfer says, "That's right."

Panel 2: Woman asks golfer, "Then why do it at all?"

Panel 3, at night, so, clearly, golfer has been thinking about it the whole time: "Why... do it... at all?"

April 16, 2007: The Virginia Tech Massacre

April 16, 2007: A massacre occurs on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a.k.a. Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, in the Shenandoah Mountains of western Virginia. (Not to be confused with West Virginia.)

Seung-Hui Cho, a 23-year-old Korean immigrant and Tech student, shot 49 people, killing 32 of them, before killing himself. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in American history. In 2016 and 2017, it was surpassed by mass shootings in Orlando and Las Vegas, respectively.

Naturally, in the face of a heinous and preventable crime, the American federal government, led by George W. Bush, did nothing.

The Tech community rallied around the victims' families, and the New York Yankees even played a fundraising Spring Training game on campus. On March 18, 2008, the Yankees beat Tech, 11-0, in a game stopped after 7 innings. Oddly, the Yankees did it without hitting a home run. Attendance: 5,311.

*

April 16, 2007 was a Monday. There were 10 games played in Major League Baseball on that day. Neither of the New York teams played in them:

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-1 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 9-7 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-6 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals, 12-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 12-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Houston Astros beat the Florida Marlins, 4-3 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-0 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-1 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

Football was out of season. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The New Jersey Nets beat the New York Knicks, 104-95 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat, 91-89 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. (It's now named the Kaseya Center.)

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the San Antonio Spurs, 101-91 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Phoenix Suns, 120-117 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tracy McGrady had 39 points for the Rockets.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 122-107 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. (It's now named the Ball Arena.)

* The Utah Jazz beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 130-93 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena).

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 102-96 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* And the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets -- a situation forced by the rebuilding of the Smoothie King Arena in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina -- beat the Sacramento Kings, 125-118 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento. (It's now named the Sleep Train Arena.)

And these games were played in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, all in the 1st Round:

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. (It's now named the Benchmark International Arena.) The Lightning took a 2-1 lead, but the Devils took the next 3 to win the series.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. The Sabres took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-1 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose. (It's now named the SAP Center.) The Sharks took a 2-1 lead, and won the series 4-1.