July 18, 1964: A race riot begins in Harlem in Upper Manhattan, lasting 6 days. It begins "a chain reaction of riots" that would include, among others, North Philadelphia the next month, Watts in Los Angeles in 1965, Chicago and Cleveland in 1966, Newark and Detroit in 1967, and many American cities in 1968.
The riot began when a policeman, Lieutenant Thomas Gilligan, shot and killed 15-year-old James Powell. Gilligan said that Powell had a knife. Powell was hardly a threat to Gilligan. He turned out to be the only death in the riots, but 118 people were injured, and 465 were arrested.
There had previously been riots in Harlem, America's best-known mostly-black neighborhood, in 1900, 1935 and 1943. This time, however, there were television cameras, and people saw things they had previously only read about in the newspaper. And, depending on their political views, they "saw what they wanted to see."
The event helped to mark 1964 as a turning point in New York. It included what turned out to be the last Pennant of the old Yankee Dynasty, and the opening of Shea Stadium, the new home of the Mets and the Jets. A World's Fair opened in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in Queens, across Roosevelt Avenue from Shea.
It was the year that The Beatles excited the country, especially New York, as they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in Midtown Manhattan. And it was one of the last great years of the Broadway stage, as Fiddler On the Roof, Funny Girl, Golden Boy, What Makes Sammy Run? and Hello, Dolly! premiered.
But it was also the year of the most notable, if not the most damaging, of the Harlem riots, and also of the murder of Kitty Genovese in the Kew Gardens section of Queens. Two weeks after her murder, The New York Times published an article claiming that 38 witnesses either saw her stabbing or heard her screams, and that none of them called the police or came to her aid.
The murder and the race riot raised the idea that New York was in a crime wave that was getting out of control, and that idea lasted 30 years, until the 1994 Crime Bill.
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July 18, 1964 was a Saturday. The NFL, the NBA and the NHL were in their off-seasons. But there were Major League Baseball games played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 6-4 at Yankee Stadium. This was a wild game. Al Downing pitched 10 innings for the Yankees, but didn't get the win. Dick Donovan pitched only 4 for the Indians, but didn't get the loss. Despite all the heavy hitters in the Yankee lineup, the only home run was hit by light-hitting shortstop Tony Kubek.
The Indians took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 12th inning, but couldn't hold it, as Kubek then hit his homer. But Pete Mikkelsen melted down in the top of the 15th, and the Tribe won.
* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 15-7 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. (Officially, it had been Busch Stadium since 1953.)
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 12-6 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles won the 1st game 6-1, and the Detroit Tigers won the 2nd game 3-0.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-4 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Braves, 8-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium.
* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Jim Fregosi hit a home run in the top of the 13th inning.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
* And the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Athletics were supposed to play at Comiskey Park in Chicago on that day, but got rained out. It was made up as the opener of a doubleheader on October 2, and the White Sox won 3-2.