December 9, 2023: The Oldest Singer to Hit Number 1

Brenda Lee in 1958, and in 2023

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

December 9, 2023: "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart.

The song was recorded on October 19, 1958, when she was just 13 years old, going on 14. It wasn't the 1st rock and roll song about Christmas, having been preceded by Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" by 1 year. Elvis Presley also recorded "Blue Christmas" in 1957, but, even in his voice, it was hardly rock and roll.

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" didn't reach the charts in 1958 or 1959, but hit Number 14 in 1960. It had a few comebacks after being occasionally featured in Christmas-themed movies. But in the 2010s, Billboard changed its rules to include streaming services as "sales." The increase in streaming led to Christmas songs being "bought" more as Christmas approaches.

In its December 21, 2019 issue, Billboard listed "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey as Number 1 on its Hot 100, setting a new record for longest time from original release to chart-top: 25 years. It's gotten there again every year since. In its December 9, 2023 issue, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" was listed at Number 1, temporarily breaking Mariah's Christmastime hold on the chart. Lee was 2 days short of her 79th birthday.

Billboard's Hot 100 for its December 21, 2024 issue has "All I Want for Christmas Is You" at Number 1, "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" at Number 2, "Jingle Bell Rock" at Number 3, Wham!'s "Last Christmas" at Number 4, and Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" at Number 5. The highest-ranking non-Christmas song is at Number 6: "Die With a Smile," a duet by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars.

Brenda Mae Tarpley is born on December 11, 1944 in Atlanta. We know her as Brenda Lee. At 4-foot-9, and a star having moved to Nashville at age 14, she was once known as Little Miss Dynamite. She began writing songs with Ronnie Self, and her 1st Top 40 hit, in 1959, was "Sweet Nothin's." With a much deeper voice that one would expect from such a tiny teenage girl, it sounded a lot sexier than it should have.

Her facial expressions and dancing probably would have gotten a lot more scrutiny had she been a grown woman. But because she was so young and so small, it was considered cute, and she got away with it. Britney Spears wasn't the first Southern chick who looked way too young to be singin' the lyrics she was singin'. But at least Brenda was fully dressed, and, by the standards of the time, well-dressed.

In 1960, Lee and singer, with Self as writers, had 2 Number 1 hits: "I'm Sorry" and "I Want to Be Wanted." More big hits followed, including "Fool #1" and "Break It To Me Gently." After that, The Beatles arrived, and changed things. She hadn't gotten much taller, but was grown up, and began to turn from rock and roll to country, and became a star in that genre.

She's still at it, and she might be the shortest person in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She was the 1st woman to be elected to both that and the Country Music Hall of Fame: The Country Hall in 1997, the Rock Hall in 2002.

At 79, she became the oldest singer ever to have a Number 1 hit – although Louis Armstrong was 62 when “Hello, Dolly!” hit Number 1 in 1964, and he remains the oldest to hit Number 1 with a new release.

The youngest singer ever to hit Number 1 is Stevie Wonder, who did so at age 13 in 1963, with his live recording of "Fingertips -- Part 2." He was the same age that Brenda Lee was, give or take a few months, when she recorded of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." She is just 5 1/2 years older than Stevie, despite the fact that they currently hold the opposite poles of this particular record.

*

December 9, 2023 was a Saturday. There was 1 game in the NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers, 123-109 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Anthony Davis had 41 points and 20 rebounds. This was the Final of the 1st-ever NBA Cup. I have a separate entry for this event.

Baseball was in the off-season, although this was the day on which the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to the biggest contract in North American sports history to that point, $700 million over 10 years.

One game was played in college football, and it was the format's greatest rivalry: Army beat Navy, 17-11 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

To make up for how few games there were in the other sports, there were 12 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-0 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The New York Islanders beat the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2 at the UBS Arena. Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the winning goal, only 13 seconds into overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Calgary Flames, 4-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Arizona Coyotes, 5-3 at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Nashville Predators, 4-0 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 in a shootout at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the United Center in Chicago. While the Blues consider the Blackhawks their arch-rivals, the Blackhawks' arch-rivals are the Detroit Red Wings.

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Dallas Stars, 6-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2 at the Ball Arena in Denver.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Seattle Kraken, 4-3 at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with 1:48 left in overtime.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

* And the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Edmonton Oilers, the San Jose Sharks, the Anaheim Ducks, the Florida Panthers, the Winnipeg Jets, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild were not scheduled.

In American soccer, the MLS Cup Final was played: The Columbus Crew beat Los Angeles F.C., 2-1 at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. And in English soccer, Arsenal F.C., the North London team I support, lost to Aston Villa, 1-0 at Villa Park in Birmingham, West Midlands.

November 28, 1925: The Grand Ole Opry Is First Broadcast

The Opry stage at the Ryman

November 28, 1925: The Grand Ole Opry is first broadcast, on radio station WSM, 650 on the AM dial, in Nashville, Tennessee. The station itself was brand-new, having gone on the air the preceding October 5, its call letters standing for the slogan of its original owner, the National Life & Accident Insurance Company: "We Shield Millions."

Note: This was also the day the 3rd Madison Square Garden, which would eventually be known as "The Old Garden," opened. I have a separate entry for that event.

George Hay, an Indiana native, had been a reporter for what was then the largest-circulating newspaper in Tennessee, the Memphis-based The Commercial Appeal. When that paper founded a radio station in 1923 (many early radio stations were founded by newspapers), WMC, he was its first evening announcer. In 1924, he left for Chicago station WLS, and hosted a program titled National Barn Dance.

In 1925, he took the concept to Nashville and WSM. The original Opry, officially titled WSM Barn Dance, was a one-hour program, simulating a barn dance but broadcasting from a radio studio. The show's 1st performer was Uncle Jimmy Thompson, a fiddler, already 77 years old. In other words, he had been born in 1848, only 52 years after Tennessee had become a State. (He lived until 1931.)

Most of the early performers on the show wouldn't be recognizable names today, but among them was Bill Monroe, the fiddler considered the inventor of bluegrass music, who was still performing up until his death in 1996, and whose song "Blue Moon of Kentucky" would be on the B-side of "That's All Right," the 1st single release of Elvis Presley.

(Elvis only appeared on the Opry once, on October 2, 1954. The audience reacted politely, but Jim Denny, by then the show's manager, told him that his style did not suit the program. Also before becoming nationally known, Elvis made several appearances, and was received considerably better, on a well-known radio show out of Shreveport: The Louisiana Hayride.)

An early regular act was the Fruit Jar Drinkers, whom Hay wanted to close every show, because he liked their "red hot fiddle playing." They were led by a banjo player, Uncle Dave Macon, a.k.a. the Dixie Dewdrop. Music historian Charles Wolfe wrote, "If people call yodelling Jimmie Rodgers 'the father of country music,' then Uncle Dave must certainly be 'the grandfather of country music.'"

If you've ever wondered why, in his song "Blue Suede Shoes" (covered by Elvis), among the things he would forgive before he would accept you stepping on said footwear, Carl Perkins listed, "drink my liquor from an ole fruit jar," this was clearly a tribute to the Fruit Jar Drinkers.

In 1926, WSM joined the 1st American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company, or NBC. On December 10, 1927, after playing Music Appreciation Hour, a classical music show which, that night, had been playing selections from grand opera, WSM Barn Dance came on. And Hay introduced DeFord Bailey by saying, "For the past hour, we have been listening to music largely from grand opera. But, from now on, we will present 'The Grand Ole Opry.'" The name stuck, and has been used ever since.

Bailey was the 1st black performer at the Opry. There wouldn't be a 2nd until Charley Pride in 1966, and a 3rd until Darius Rucker in 2008. As of November 28, 2022, there has yet to be a 4th. If that sounds exclusionary, keep in mind that it's not that easy for white performers to be invited, either. Most of the "members" of the Opry are regulars who live in and around Nashville, although they do tour.

The show became more popular, and made the City of Nashville synonymous with country music, and vice versa. People wanted to watch as they broadcast. The larger studio they built turned out not to be big enough. In 1934, they moved to the Hillsboro Theatre, so they could have a paying audience. They outgrew that, too. They moved to the Dixie Tabernacle in East Nashville in 1936. Then came the War Memorial Auditorium.

Finally, in 1943, they moved back downtown, to the 2,362-seat Ryman Auditorium, and it became known as "The Mother Church of Country Music."

It remained home to the show until 1974, when, due to cramped quarters, it was moved out to the new Grand Ole Opry House at the Opryland USA theme park. In 1997, the park closed, and the Opry Mills Mall was built on the site. All the while, the Opry House remained open.

The Ryman remained open, and was renovated with modern amenities in 1994. In 2010, the flooding of the Cumberland River damaged the Opry House, and the show temporarily moved back to the Ryman while repairs were made.

George Hay died in 1968, at the age of 72. The Opry lives on, sometimes alternating between the Ryman and the Opry House.

*

November 28, 1925 was a Saturday. Baseball season was over. There was no NBA yet. It was the 1st season for the American Basketball League, but that could hardly be called "major league," and I can't find a list of games played there that day. For all I know, there might not have been any.

Three games were played in the NHL. The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0 at the Mount Royal Arena in Montreal. The Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Maroons, 3-2 at the Ottawa Auditorium. And the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto St. Patricks, 3-2 at the Mutual Street Arena. (The St. Patricks became the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927.)

There were also college football games played that day. Most of them did not involved teams currently in major conferences. But one was the Army-Navy Game, played at the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan. Army won, 10-3.

Montana beat Montana State, 28-7 at Montana State's Dornblaser Field in Missoula. Baylor and Rice tied, 7-7 at Rice Field in Houston. And 2 games were played in the Pacific Coast Conference, the league that would eventually evolve into the Pac-12. Washington beat Oregon, 15-14 at Husky Stadium in Seattle. And Washington State beat USC, 17-12 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

There was 1 NFL game played on that Saturday. The Frankford Yellow Jackets beat the Green Bay Packers, 13-7 at Frankford Stadium in Northeast Philadelphia. The Jackets won the NFL Championship in 1926, but the Great Depression did them in, and they folded in 1931. The Pennsylvania law banning professional sports on Sunday wasn't repealed until 1933, making the founding and profitability of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers possible.

The Cleveland Bulldogs were then an NFL team. The Atlantic City Roses were not: They were a semipro team run by the Melrose Athletic Club of Atlantic City, New Jersey. But the Bulldogs played the Roses on this day, winning 12-0 at Bader Field, a minor-league ballpark next to the airport of the same name, where The Sandcastle, later the home of the minor-league Atlantic City Surf, was built.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat North-East team Sunderland, 2-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.

October 10, 1998: The NHL Comes to Tennessee

Jeff Daniels (left) and Bret Hedican

October 10, 1998: The Nashville Predators play their 1st regular-season game. It had been 3 years and change since NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had tried to get the New Jersey Devils to move to Nashville, a move derailed when the team won the 1995 Stanley Cup, resulting in Bettman getting the hell booed out of him when he presented the trophy.

But, what Bettman wants, he usually gets, and he wanted another team in the American South. So the City of Nashville built the Nashville Arena, now named the Bridgestone Arena, and the NHL expanded for the 1998-99 season.

The Predators became the 1st major league hockey team in Tennessee. The NHL had never had a team in the Volunteer State before: Not in Nashville, not in Memphis, not in Knoxville, not anywhere else. Nor did the World Hockey Association of the 1970s put a team there, despite putting teams in Houston and Birmingham, and trying to put a team in Miami.

The 1st game didn't go so well for the home team: They lost to the Florida Panthers, 1-0. Ray Whitney scored the only goal, 2:26 into the 3rd period. The Preds and their fans would have to wait 3 days for their 1st win, 3-2 at home to the Carolina Hurricanes.

With a large contingent of people who were not native -- including people who had come to Nashville for the music industry from places where hockey was popular and their allegiances could be transferred, and from places where it wasn't and their fandom could develop -- the Predators built a big fanbase that will probably prevent them from ever seriously considering moving.

They were competitive quickly, too: In their 1st season, they went 28-47-7, although they missed the Playoffs. It took them until 2004 to make the Playoffs, and until 2011 to win a Playoff round. But, by then, they were usually making it. In 2017, they reached the Western Conference Finals for the 1st time, and got all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, before losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

UPDATE: The Predators do not yet have a team Hall of Fame. They have retired one uniform number, the 35 of 2005-21 goaltender Pekka Rinne. Three of their former players have been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Defenseman Shea Weber played for them from 2006 to 2016. The others were elected mainly for how they played elsewhere: Left wing Paul Kariya, who played for them in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons; and center Peter Forsberg, who played 27 games for them in 2006-07. In addition, David Poile, their 1st general manager, from the start of the organization in 1997 until 2023, and still in their front office, has been elected.

Poile, 2010-18 center Mike Fisher and 1998-2022 broadcaster Terry Crisp have been elected to the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame. Fisher is married to country singer Carrie Underwood -- meaning her married name is Carrie Fisher.

*

October 10, 1998 was a Saturday. There were 11 other games in the NHL that day:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 7-1 at the Molson Centre (now the Bell Centre) in Montreal. In a rarity, the Habs got their 7 goals from 7 different players: Saku Koivu, Vincent Damphousse, Craig Rivet, Benoît Brunet, Scott Thronton, Igor Ulanov and Brett Clark. The Ranger goal was scored by Adam Graves.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The New Jersey Devils made it an 0-3 night for the New York Tri-State Area teams, losing to the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 5-3 at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. It was not the 1st regular-season NHL game: That came at the start of the previous season. 

* The Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues played to a tie, 3-3 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 1-0 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes played to a tie, 4-4 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina (now the First Horizon Coliseum).

* The Dallas Stars beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* In another "Original Six" matchup, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3 at the McNichols Arena in Denver.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Northlands Coliseum -- then named the Edmonton Coliseum. Two days later, the name was changed to the Skyreach Centre.

Baseball's League Championship Series were being played. In the American League, the New York Yankees won Game 4, beating the Cleveland Indians, 4-0 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. The Yankees won the series in 6 games.

In the National League, the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). The Padres won the series in 6 games.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Illinois, 41-0 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois. Four weeks later, Ohio State lost to Michigan State, blowing their shot at the National Championship, sole ownership of the Big Ten Conference title, and a bid to the Rose Bowl. They were, however, invited to the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 2 Nebraska were upset by Number 18 Texas A&M, 28-21 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. A&M won the Big 12 Conference Championship, which, under the usual circumstances, would have resulted in an invitation to the Orange Bowl. But since SEC Champion Tennessee were ranked Number 1 at the end, they were invited to the BCS Championship Game, and the slot in the Sugar Bowl that would otherwise have been offered to them was offered instead to A&M. They were beaten by Ohio State.

* Number 3 University of California at Los Angeles beat Number 10 Arizona, 52-28 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson. UCLA won the Pacific-10 Conference title, and were invited to the Rose Bowl.

* Number 4 Tennessee beat Number 7 Georgia, 22-3 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. Tennessee ended up winning the Southeastern Conference title, and were ranked Number 1 in the country after the Conference Championship Games.

* Number 5 Kansas State beat Number 14, Colorado, 16-9 at Folsom Field outside Denver in Boulder, Colorado.

* Number 6 Florida beat Number 11 Louisiana State, 22-10 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. A loss to Tennessee cost Florida the SEC title and a bid to the Sugar Bowl. They were, instead, invited to the Orange Bowl, where they beat Syracuse.

* Rivalry: Number 8 Florida State beat the University of Miami, 26-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami. FSU ended up winning the Atlantic Coast Conference title, and were ranked Number 2 in the country after the Conference Championship Games. And so, in this 1st year of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS), they faced Number 1 Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe. Tennessee won, and were the undisputed National Champions.

* Number 9 Virginia were idle.

* Number 12 Wisconsin beat Purdue, 31-24 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin went on to lose to Michigan, and ended up tied with Ohio State for the Big 10 title. Because Ohio State had been to the Rose Bowl more recently, Wisconsin were invited instead, and beat UCLA.

* Number 19 University of Southern California lost to the University of California: Cal beat USC, 32-31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 22 Notre Dame beat Arizona State, 28-9 at Sun Devil Stadium (now Mountain America Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona.

* Number 23 North Carolina State lost to Georgia Tech, 47-24 at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Texas beat Oklahoma, 34-3 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Although Texas did not win the Big 12 South Division, they received a bid to the Cotton Bowl game at the Cotton Bowl stadium, as they so often did as Champions of the Southwest Conference, and beat Mississippi State.

* Among the service academies, Army beat the University of Houston, 38-28 at Robertson Stadium in Houston; and Air Force beat Navy, 49-7 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* Rutgers, New Jersey's team, were idle.

And in New Jersey high school football, my Alma Mater, East Brunswick, beat Woodbridge, 27-13 at Jay Doyle Field in East Brunswick.

August 14, 1891: The Longest-Widowed First Lady

Sarah Polk, left; and Sarah Polk Fall, her great-niece

August 14, 1891: Sarah Polk dies in Nashville, at the age of 87. No former First Lady had lived longer without her husband, the former President.

NOTE: My cutoff date for this project is 1869, the year of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, the 1st openly professional baseball team, and the 1st American football game. I had managed to work in references to every pre-1869 President except Polk. This was the only way I could think of to do it.

Sarah Childress had been born on September 4, 1803 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. James Knox Polk had been born on November 2, 1795 in Pineville, North Carolina, now a suburb of Charlotte, before his family moved to Murfreesboro. When he was 19, and she was 12, they were taught together in a one-room schoolhouse in Murfreesboro.

James graduated from the University of North Carolina, well before the invention of basketball. However, UNC still beats Duke: Its Presidential connection is that Richard Nixon graduated from its law school.

In 1823, he returned to Murfreesboro to practice law, and became acquainted with Tennessee's best-known lawyer, and its leading politician, former U.S. Army Major General Andrew Jackson. James was 27, Sarah was 20. Jackson told James that Sarah was "wealthy, pretty, ambitious and intelligent," and urged him to marry her. On January 1, 1824, he did, at her parents' plantation outside Murfreesboro.

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee from 1825 to 1839, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839, and Governor of Tennessee from 1839 to 1841, Polk was nonetheless considered a "dark horse" candidate when he ran for the Democratic Party's nomination for President. Yet, on November 1, 1844, he was elected the 11th President of the United States. 

He defeated Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, who thus became the 1st man to go 0-for-3 in Presidential elections. Others have done so, but Clay is the only man to be nominated 3 times and lose all 3. The popular vote was actually very close, since Clay, a leading figure in American politics for over 30 years, was better-known nationally than Polk. Polk won 49.5 percent of the popular vote, making him the 1st plurality President since the popular vote began being recorded from every State then in the Union (starting in 1828); while Clay won 48.1 percent. The Electoral Vote was less close, as Polk won 170-105.

The only known photo of the Polks together.

This is also the earliest known photo

of a President and a First Lady together.

Texas was annexed right before his Inauguration, so he doesn't get credit for adding Dallas, Houston and San Antonio. But in 1846, he launched the Mexican-American War, which was essentially won in a year and a half. Cities whose teams are possible because of his expansionism are San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and, now, Las Vegas.

A devout Presbyterian, Sarah banned dancing, card games, and hard liquor (but not wine) at official receptions. Unlike the waltzed favored by her immediate predecessor, Julia Tyler, the Polk entertainments were sedate and sober affairs which earned the First Lady the nickname "Sahara Sarah."

Having achieved his ambitions, James kept his promise to not run for re-election, contracted cholera, and died on June 15, 1849, just 3 months after leaving office -- the shortest ex-Presidency ever. He was 53 years old, and left Sarah a widow at 46.

Sarah never remarried, and lived at Polk Place, the Nashville house she and James intended for their retirement. They never had children, but she unofficially adopted a grandniece, Sarah Polk, later Sarah Fall, whom she raised as her own daughter. Despite being a Southerner, she supported the Union during the American Civil War. Upon her death, she was buried alongside her husband in a tomb on the grounds of the State Capitol in Nashville.

Some First Ladies predeceased their husbands. A few wives of Presidents died before their husbands could become President, and thus they never became First Lady. Of those who did outlive their husbands, Sarah Polk did so by 42 years; Frances Cleveland, 39; Edith Wilson, 38; Lucretia Garfield, 37; Claudia Johnson (a.k.a. Lady Bird, Mrs. Lyndon), 34; Edith Roosevelt (Mrs. Theodore), 30; Jacqueline Kennedy, 30; Julia Tyler, 28; Grace Coolidge, 24; Anna Harrison (Mrs. William Henry), 23; Mary Lincoln, 17; Julia Grant, 17; Eleanor Roosevelt (Mrs. Franklin), 17; Dolley Madison, 13; Nellie Taft, 13; Nancy Reagan, 12; Bess Truman, 10; Mamie Eisenhower, 10; Ida McKinley, 6; Betty Ford, 5; Louisa Adams (Mrs. John Quincy), 4; Martha Washington, 3; Peggy Taylor, 2; Florence Harding, 1; and Eliza Johnson (Mrs. Andrew), just 6 months.

The longest any President has lived after being widowed is actually longer: Thomas Jefferson lived 44 years after the death of his wife, Martha.

George Bancroft, who served as Secretary of the Navy, was the last surviving member of Polk's Cabinet, dying the same year as Sarah Polk, 1891.

Polk remains the only President born in North Carolina, although he represented Tennessee.

*

August 14, 1891 was a Friday. There were 4 baseball games played that day, all in the National League, rather than in the American Association:

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-1 at the Polo Grounds.

* The Brooklyn Bridegrooms beat the Chicago Colts, 10-6 at the original Washington Park in Brooklyn. The Chicago team became the Cubs in 1903, and the Brooklyn team became the Dodgers in 1911.

* The Boston Beaneaters beat the Cleveland Spiders, 5-2 at the South End Grounds in Boston. The Cleveland team went out of business after the 1899 season, making the American League team now known as the Cleveland Guardians possible. The Boston team became the Braves in 1912.

* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds. That stadium burned down in 1894, and what would become known as Baker Bowl was built on the site.

July 31, 1964: The Death of Jim Reeves

July 31, 1964: Country singer Jim Reeves is killed in a plane crash. He was 3 weeks short of his 31st birthday.

James Travis Reeves was born on August 20, 1923 in Galloway, in eastern Texas. He pitched in the St. Louis Cardinals' farm system before an injury ended his career. After failing his U.S. Army draft exam, he became a radio announcer, and had the perfect voice for it. But that voice was so good that, like many other disc jockeys, he began to think he could sing as well as anybody whose records he was playing. Unlike most of those deejays, he turned out to be right.

He was announcing for KWHK in Shreveport, Louisiana, the station that broadcast the South's most popular music program, The Louisiana Hayride. One night, a performer was late, and Reeves was asked to substitute. By the Autumn of 1955, "Gentleman Jim" was a country-singing star. "Four Walls" was his 1st big hit, in 1957. In 1960, "He'll Have to Go" hit Number 1 on Billboard magazine's country chart, and Number 2 on its pop chart. Now, Jim was popular from coast to coast, and from border to border.

He became popular in Britain, and in 1963, with "Welcome to My World" a big hit, he toured U.S. military bases there, and in Europe. But on July 2, 1964, he recorded 3 songs whose titles would prove retroactively foreboding: "Make the World Go Away," "Missing You," and "Is It Really Over?"

Jim was a licensed pilot, and on July 31, 1964, with Dean Manuel -- his business partner, manager, and the pianist of his backing group, the Blue Boys -- he took off from Batesville, Arkansas in a Beechcraft Debonair. They had almost gotten to Nashville, to the suburbs of Brentwood, when they flew into a thunderstorm. Reeves turned to his left, to stay over the road leading to Nashville International Airport, but this put him deeper into the storm. The FAA's investigation suggested that he had suffered spatial disorientation, let his airspeed get too low, stalled, and crashed at 4:52 PM. Contrary to rumor, the plane was not upside down when it hit.

Country singer Marty Robbins, a friend of Reeves', had heard the explosion. He contacted another singer who was a friend of Reeves', Ernest Tubb, and they led the search for the wreckage. But the plane went down in the woods, and it took 2 days to find it. Reeves left behind a wife, but no children, and was laid to rest in Carthage, Texas, near his childhood home.

Buddy Holly, Jim Reeves, Otis Redding, Jim Croce: All died in the crashes of Beechcraft planes.

*

July 31, 1964 was a Friday. This was also the day that the probe Ranger 7 took the first close-up pictures of the surface of the Moon. I have a separate entry for that event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Minnesota Twins, 4-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Al Downing took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the 8th, but gave up a home run to Bob Allison. In the bottom of the 9th, he allowed a single to Rich Rollins, and a game-winning home run to Harmon Killebrew. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the Houston Colt .45s, 3-0 and 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Frank Lary pitched a 2-hit shutout against the Astros-to-be in the opener.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 6-0 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Juan Pizarro pitched a 4-hit shutout, striking out 14 and walking just 1.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 8-6 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Willie Mays went 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Detroit Tigers, 12-3 and 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Al Kaline went 3-for-8 with 3 RBIs over the 2 games.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 13-3 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Hank Aaron, Joe Torre and Denis Menke hit home runs for the Braves. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-6 at Busch Stadium (formerly Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Pete Rose went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* A doubleheader was split at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The Baltimore Orioles won the opener, 6-1. The Kansas City Athletics won the nightcap, 7-6. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-8 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Dick Brown hit 2 home runs for the O's, but the A's won, scoring 6 runs in the 8th, and with Ed Charles hitting a home run in the bottom of the 9th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Angels groundshared with the Dodgers until their Anaheim stadium was built. Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-3 with 2 walks.

July 9, 1918: The Dutchman's Curve Train Wreck

July 9, 1918: The worst train disaster in American history occurs, in Nashville, Tennessee. Two passenger trains, operated by the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway -- the "NC&StL" -- collided head-on, costing at least 101 lives, and injuring an additional 171.

The trains involved were the No. 4, scheduled to depart Nashville for Memphis, Tennessee at 7:00 AM; and the No. 1 from Memphis, about half an hour late for a scheduled arrival in Nashville at 7:10. At about 7:20, the trains collided while traversing a section of single track line known as "Dutchman's Curve," west of downtown Nashville, in the present-day neighborhood of Belle Meade. The trains were each traveling at an estimated 50 to 60 mph. The impact derailed them both, and destroyed several wooden cars.

An investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) attributed the cause of the accident to several factors, notably serious errors by the crew of train No. 4 and interlocking tower operators, all of whom failed to properly account for the presence of train No. 1 on the line. The ICC also pointed to a lack of a proper system for the accurate determination of train positions and noted that the wooden construction of the cars greatly increased the number of fatalities.

Just 4 months later, on November 1, the 2nd-worst American train disaster occurred in Brooklyn, the Malbone Street Wreck. It remains America's worst rapid-transit disaster.

*

July 9, 1918 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees and the Chicago White Sox split a doubleheader was split at the Polo Grounds. The Yankees won the opener, 6-4. Ray Caldwell outpitched Eddie Cicotte. The White Sox won the nightcap, 4-3. John "Shano" Collins singled Charles "Swede" Risberg home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. Joe Benz went all 10 innings for the win.

Over the 2 games, Eddie Collins (Hall of Fame 2nd baseman, no relation to Shano) went 2-for-7 with a walk and 2 RBIs. "Shoeless" Joe Jackson missed most of the season due to working in a shipyard, part of the U.S. government's "Work Or Fight" order for World War I. Jackson, Cicotte and Risberg would be among the "Eight Men Out" in the Black Sox Scandal.

* The New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6 at Weeghman Park (later Wrigley Field) in Chicago. Jim Thorpe went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, including a home run that won the game in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Brooklyn Robins, as the Dodgers were known while Wilbert Robinson managed them from 1914 to 1931, lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4. Zack Wheat went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Wally Mayer singled Frank Truesdale home with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning. Bullet Joe Bush went all 12 innings for the win, outpitching Jim Bagby Sr., who also went the distance. Babe Ruth went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Tris Speaker went 1-for-5 against his former team.

* A doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Athletics won the 1st game, 3-1. The Detroit Tigers won the 2nd game, 5-4. Over the 2 games, Ty Cobb went 4-for-8 with a stolen base.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Senators, 7-6 at American League Park (later Griffith Stadium) in Washington. George Sisler went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Walter Johnson did not pitch, but drew a walk as a pinch-hitter.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 7-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* And the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to play at Redland Field (later renamed Crosley Field) on this day. To ease the strain on America's railroads during the war, the game was moved back, so that they played a doubleheader on July 7. The Reds won the 1st game, 5-2. The Phils won the 2nd game, the would-be July 9 game, 4-3.

July 7, 1959: Rock and Roll’s 1st “Supergroup”?

Phil (left) and Don Everly

July 7, 1959: A recording session is held at RCA Records' Studio B in Nashville, Tennessee. From 1957 to 1977, this studio, at 1611 Roy Acuff Place (at the time, Sigler Street), was the site of the recording of some of the greatest songs in the history of rock and roll and country music.

This session may have been the first of what would later be known as rock "super sessions," and, possibly, rock's first "supergroup."

The song is "(Till) I Kissed You," by The Everly Brothers, Don and Phil. The song is written by Don. Among the other musicians on it were guitarist Sonny Curtis and drummer Jerry Allison, who were members of Buddy Holly's band, The Crickets. As a result, the song sounds like a tribute to Holly, who was killed in a plane crash 5 months earlier.

The song also has the man regarded as country music's greatest guitarist (and also as one of its best producers), Chet Atkins; Hank Williams' bass fiddle player, Floyd "Lightnin'" Chance; and Elvis Presley's pianist, Floyd Cramer, in one of his best performances.

The producer is Archie Bleyer, The Everlys' usual producer, who was also the producer for pre-rock acts The Chordettes (which included his wife, Janet Ertel), Julius La Rosa and Andy Williams. So the song has representatives from several of the top music "franchises" of the 1950s -- pop, rock and country. It is recorded on the label that Bleyer founded, Cadence Records, who rented the studio from RCA.

According to Billboard magazine, "Till I Kissed You" -- or "Till I Kissed Ya," in the Brothers' Kentucky accent -- hit Number 4 on their main popular music chart, the Hot 100; Number 8 on their C&W (Country & Western) chart; and, although everybody involved was white, not black, Number 2 on their R&B (Rhythm & Blues) charts.

The song was covered by reggae singer Jimmy London in 1975, and a version by Connie Smith reached Number 10 on Billboard's country chart in 1976.

Steve Beisser, a friend of mine who was a professional musician, cited the December 4, 1956 "Million Dollar Quartet" at Sun Records in Memphis, with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, as the first great rock jam session. But he added, "Really, as a record, though, and not just as a jam session, this might be one of the first recordings to feature that many people who were marquee names on their own working together."

Later "supergroups" would be intentionally formed. In the 1960s, these included Cream; Blind Faith; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and the 1968 "Super Session" brought together by Al Kooper, with Stephen Stills and Michael Bloomfield. In the 1970s: Humble Pie; The Eagles; Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Beck, Bogert & Appice; Journey; and Bad Company. In the 1980s: Asia, The Honeydrippers, The Highwaymen, Rollins Band, The Traveling Wilburys and Bad English. And, in the 2000s: Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, Gorillaz, and, in a one-shot deal for the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge!, Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya and Pink.

Archie Bleyer died in 1989, Floyd Cramer in 1997, Chet Atkins in 2001, Lightnin' Chance in 2005, Phil Everly in 2014, and Don Everly in 2021. As of July 7, 2022, Sonny Curtis and Jerry Allison are still alive. (UPDATE: Allison died later in the year, and Curtis died in 2025.)

*

July 7, 1959 was a Tuesday. Only one game was played on this day: Major League Baseball's All-Star Game. For the 1st time, MLB played 2 All-Star Games in 1 season, added to make money for the players' pension fund. This 1st game was played at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. A home run by Eddie Mathews of the Milwaukee Braves gives the National League a 5-4 win.

The 2nd All-Star Game of the year was played on August 3, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The American League won that one, 5-3.

April 21, 1947: Hank Williams Records "Move It On Over"

April 21, 1947: Hank Williams records "Move It On Over." It becomes his 1st hit record, and some people even call it "the first rock and roll record."

Hiram Williams (no middle name) was born on September 17, 1923 in Mount Olive, Alabama. By 1937, he had dropped out of school to sing country songs on an Alabama radio station. At that time, he started calling himself Hank, because he thought, "It sounded more like a hillbilly and Western star than 'Hiram.'" World War II delayed his rise: A back injury gave him a medical deferment, but his entire band got drafted.

On April 21, 1947, 6 days after Jackie Robinson re-integrated baseball, Hank went into Castle Recording Laboratory, on the 2nd floor of the Hotel Tulane, at 206 8th Avenue North in Nashville, where he had made his first professional recordings the year before, and recorded "Move It On Over."

The song tells of a man who defied his wife's wish that he not go out drinking, so she locks him out, and he has to sleep in the doghouse. The expression, "in the doghouse," meaning someone is angry with you, was already in common use. So he's saying, "Move it on over" to the family dog: "Move over, little dog, 'cause the big dog's movin' in."

The song has an electric guitar solo, so it retroactively gets placed on lists of songs considered "the first rock and roll record." However, the song is driven by violins, or rather "fiddles" as they say in country music, not guitars. The main part of the song, though not the chorus, would be adapted -- probably consciously -- by songwriter Jimmy Myers for "Rock Around the Clock," recorded by Bill Haley, which became the 1st rock and roll song to hit Number 1, in 1955. Haley also covered "Move It On Over" in 1957.

By that time, Hank Williams was dead, a result of substance abuse. His flight to a show in Ohio on New Year's Day 1953 was canceled due to fog, he got a driver, who found him dead in the back seat shortly after midnight. He was not yet 30 years old. He has thus been called "the first dead rock star."

On May 26, 1949, Hank's son was born in Shreveport, Louisiana: Randall Hank Williams, known professionally as Hank Williams Jr. My father, a big country music fan despite having lived his entire life in New Jersey, told me that Hank Williams' greatest contribution to country music was Hank Williams Jr.

On January 6, 1953, 5 days after Hank Sr. died, his daughter was born in Montgomery, with the name Antha Belle Jett. She became a country singer under the name Jett Williams. On December 12, 1972, in Nashville, Hank Jr. became the father of Shelton Hank Williams, who performs "psychobilly" or "cowpunk" music under the name Hank Williams III. On March 12, 1981, in Cullman, Alabama, Hank Jr. became the father of Holly Williams, also a country hitmaker. And in 1991, Hank III became the father of Coleman Williams, who calls himself simply "IV," the Roman numeral for 4, pronounced like "four."

A much harder, louder version of "Move It On Over" was done in 1978 by George Thorogood & The Destroyers.

The Hotel Tulane was demolished in 1956. An office building is now on the site.

*

April 21, 1947 was a Monday. Rock star Iggy Pop was born. Football was out of season. The NBA, still known as the Basketball Association of America, was conducting the Finals of its 1st season. The next day, the Philadelphia Warriors beat the Chicago Stags to clinch the title. The NHL season was wrapped up 2 days earlier, when the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup, beating the Montreal Canadiens.

And there were only baseball games played that day -- and yet, both Chicago teams played. The White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-4 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. And the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Hank Wyse pitched a 3-hit shutout. Lennie Merullo went 4-for-4 with ab RBI.

Both of these were day games. Each of these ballparks would be the last in its League to put up permanent lights: Briggs Stadium in 1948 -- it was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 -- and Wrigley Field in 1988.

January 8, 2000: The Music City Miracle

January 8, 2000: The Music City Miracle takes place, one of the wildest and most controversial plays in NFL history.

The Houston Oilers moved in 1997, becoming the Tennessee Oilers. After 1 season at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, they realized they weren't going to draw enough fans as a lame-duck team. All previous pro football teams in Tennessee had been based in Memphis, and, since Memphis and Nashville don't like each other, Nashvillians never really adopted the WFL's Memphis Southmen or the USFL's Memphis Showboats; and Memphis fans, knowing the Oilers would be in Nashville in 1999, rejected them.

So they moved to Nashville a year earlier than they'd intended, even though Vanderbilt Stadium seated only 41,000. After all, they weren't getting that much in Memphis.

In 1999, the Adelphia Coliseum -- now named Nissan Stadium -- opened, across the Cumberland River to the east of downtown Nashville. They changed their name again, to the Tennessee Titans, and adopted a new logo and new colors as well. The people of Nashville really took to them, because, for the first time, they had a true Nashville team to root for.

Winning helped: After going 8-8 in each of their 2 seasons as the Tennessee Oilers, head coach Jeff Fisher led the Titans to a record of 13-3, the best in the franchise's 40-season history. Ordinarily, this would be good enough to win the Division. But the Jacksonville Jaguars went 14-2 to win the AFC Central Division. So the Titans got into the Playoffs as a Wild Card.

But they would get the 1st round of the Playoffs at home. The franchise hadn't made the Playoffs in 6 years, since they were still in the Astrodome.

Their opponents were the Buffalo Bills. Although the Bills had won 4 straight AFC Championships from 1990 to 1993, including beating the Oilers in a Playoff game with the biggest comeback in NFL history, they lost 4 straight Super Bowls. A few players from those teams were still with them as they took the field at Adelphia.

The 1st quarter ended scoreless. Early in the 2nd quarter, Jevon Kearse, known as "The Freak" and winner of the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year, sacked Bills quarterback Ron Johnson in the end zone. It was 1 of 6 sacks on the day by the Titans, 1 of 2 by Kearse. Quarterback Steve McNair led the Titans down the field, and scored on a 1-yard run. That made it 9-0 Tennessee.

The next time the Titans had the ball, Al Del Greco attempted a 45-yard field goal, and missed. But the Bills committed a defensive penalty on the play, and Del Greco made the re-kick. The 1st half ended 12-0 in the Titans' favor.

Bills fans need to remember this: For much of the half, their team really wasn't in the game. The Titans held them to 64 yards, and they were penalized for almost as many: 44, after being penalized, how many times, Ed Rooney? "Nine times!"

But on the Bills' 1st play of the 2nd half, Antowain Smith ran for 44 yards. Four plays later, he scored from 4 yards out. On their next drive, Kearse made a big mistake with a roughing-the-passer penalty. This led to Smith scoring another touchdown, early in the 4th quarter, giving the Bills a 13-12 lead. But they couldn't make the 2-point conversion.

Del Greco kicked another field goal to put the Titans ahead 15-13 with 1:48 left in regulation. The Bills drove, and, with 20 seconds left, Steve Christie -- who had kicked the overtime winner in that comeback, 7 years and 5 days earlier -- kicked from 41 yards out, and it was 16-15 Buffalo.

The Bills treated the game as already won. Hall-of-Fame defensive end Bruce Smith was caught on film saying, "We got a win on the road, baby!" But the Bills still had to kick off, and hold the Titans off for another 16 seconds.

Perhaps some Tennessee fans were thinking of the ending of the 1982 California vs. Stanford game, which Cal won with a lateral-filled kickoff return known simply as "The Play." But Titans special teams coordinator Alan Lowry was thinking of a different play from the same year.

He was then an assistant coach with the Dallas Cowboys. Also in Dallas is Southern Methodist University -- both teams used the Cotton Bowl as their main home field from 1960 to 1971 -- and SMU used a trick play on a kickoff return to beat Texas Tech. Lowry made the Titans practice the play, which he called "Home Run Throwback," mixing his sports metaphors. They even used it once in the regular season, scoring a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons.

Christie tried a "pooch kick," to make it harder to run the ball back. Lorenzo Neal picked the ball up. Right behind him was Frank Wycheck, and Neal handed him the ball. This was key: The Bills saw this, and keyed on Wycheck.

Wycheck then threw the ball across the field, to Kevin Dyson. Except for Christie, every Bills player was fooled. Dyson ran down the sideline 75 yards, and had every other Titan available to block every Bill player coming over, and scored a touchdown.

Titans broadcaster Mike Keith had the call:

Do the Titans have a miracle left in them, in what has been a magical season to this point? If they do, they need it now. Christie kicks it high and short. Gonna be fielded by Lorenzo Neal at the 25, pitches it back to Wycheck, he throws it across the field to Dyson, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, 5, end zone! Touchdown, Titans! There are no flags on the field! It's a miracle! Tennessee has pulled a miracle! A miracle for the Titans!

On TV for ABC, Mike Patrick had a similar call: "Dyson's going to go all the way! And there is no flag!"

Why would there be a penalty flag? Because it looked to many people like Wycheck had thrown a forward pass on a kickoff, which is illegal. The referee agreed to review the play.

The referee was Phil Luckett. Twice, in the previous season, he had been involved in controversy. On Thanksgiving, he had flipped the coin for overtime, and heard the Pittsburgh Steelers' Jerome Bettis call "Heads" then change his mind to "Tails," and went with the initial call of "Heads." The coin landed tails, the Detroit Lions got the ball, and they kicked a field goal to win without the Steelers even getting the ball. The Steelers missed the Playoffs due in part to losing that game.

A few weeks later, Vinny Testaverde fell a foot short of the goal line on a 4th down play, but the ball was ruled to have crossed the plane of the goal line, giving the New York Jets a win they didn't really deserve against the Seattle Seahawks. Luckett wasn't the official who made the call, and it wasn't reviewable under the rules of that season; but as head official for the game, he got blamed. So, for the 1999 season, the NFL team owners voted to bring instant replay back, and this was the biggest reviewed play since that decision.

The rule for instant replay is that, in order for the call on the field to be overturned, it must be conclusively shown to have been wrong. The replay didn't conclusively show that Wycheck's throw was a forward pass. I've seen it many times, and have never had any doubt that it was a lateral, slightly (maybe a foot or two) backward. No one reviewing the play thought the throw was the slightest bit forward. The touchdown was allowed to stand.

There were still 3 seconds left on the clock when Dyson crossed the goal line. So this crazy game wasn't over yet. But the Bills didn't have a "miracle" of their own, and the Titans won, 22-16.

During the off-season, the NFL office hired a computer analyst to check the play. Once again, it was affirmed that the Wycheck throw was a lateral. After 22 years, Bills fans still disagree.

But, through 2 different broadcasters' use of the word "miracle," the play and the game have become known as the Music City Miracle.

The Titans went on to beat the Indianapolis Colts and the Jaguars, to win the franchise's 1st AFC Championship. As the Oilers, they had won the AFL Championship in 1960 and 1961, but had lost the AFL Championship Game in 1962 and 1967, and had lost the AFC Championship Game in 1978 and 1979. So this would be the franchise's 1st trip to the Super Bowl.

The Titans lost Super Bowl XXXIV to the St. Louis Rams, 24-17. On the game's final play, Dyson, who had scored the touchdown on the Music City Miracle, was tackled by Mike Jones, 1 yard short of a touchdown that, with an extra point, would have sent the game to overtime -- or, with a 2-point conversion, would have won Tennessee the World Championship.

The Titans made the Playoffs in 5 of the next 9 years, and lost another AFC Championship Game in 2002. Then they went into a down period. But they have rebuilt. They reached the AFC Championship Game again in 2019, made the Playoffs again in 2020, and are among the AFC favorites this season.

The Bills missed the Playoffs for the next 17 seasons in a row. But they, too, have built a contender, and reached the AFC Championship Game in 2020. We could see another Bills vs. Titans Playoff game in the next few weeks.

UPDATE: Both teams were eliminated from the 2021-22 Playoffs in the Divisional round. Frank Wycheck died on December 9, 2023, at the age of 52. He thought he had CTE, and he may have been right, because he died from falling and hitting his head.

The day after, the Bills got hit with a similar play against the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was nullified for offside. Like the Music City Miracle, the officials got the call correct. And the Bills won the game.

*

January 8, 2000 was a Saturday. Also in Nashville on that day, singer Noah Cyrus was born to country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Both would be surpassed in stardom by Noah's sister Miley.

An NFC Playoff game was also played that day: The Washington Redskins beat the Detroit Lions, 27-13. It was the 1st Playoff game played at FedEx Field in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The team currently known as the Washington Football Team has been so inept since, that stadium has only hosted 3 more, and Washington have lost them all. In fact, their only Playoff victory since has been on the road, at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2005 season.

There were 12 games played in the NBA that day, including both New York Tri-State Area teams:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 89-86 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Nets beat the Miami Heat, 90-89 at the new American Airlines Arena (now the Kaseya Center) in Miami.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-105 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Grant Hill scored 40 points in defeat, while the T-Wolves got 28 from Terrell Brandon.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics, 96-79 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Washington Wizards, 130-129 in 2 overtimes at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 95-85 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 103-87 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Orlando Magic, 127-92 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 97-92 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Indiana Pacers, 107-94 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles. Michael Olowokandi had 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Clips.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 96-91 at the Rose Garden (now the Moda Center) in Portland.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 110-100 at the KeyArena in Seattle.

There were 11 games played in the NHL that day, including all 3 New York Tri-State Area teams:

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 4-3 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The New York Islanders beat the Boston Bruins, 5-2 at the FleetCenter (now the TD Garden) in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 6-2 at the First Union Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-0 at the MCI Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators, 7-4 at the Corel Centre in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Ontario. (It's now the Canadian Tire Centre. The town was absorbed into Ottawa proper in 2001.)

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 5-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 6-3 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-2 at the Kiel Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary. Phil Housley scored with 32 seconds left in overtime to win it.

* And the Florida Panthers beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).