Charlie Chaplin... in 1977.
Today, it was announced that Mort Sahl died at the age of 94. He was one of those "people you forgot were still alive." Until he wasn't.
He was one of the earliest comedians to break out of the vaudeville tropes of jokes about silly things like the ways your wife or your mother-in-law could annoy you. He even discussed politics. Especially politics. While there had been political humorists before, he was the 1st one on television.
People compared him to Will Rogers, the actor and newspaper columnist of the 1910s, '20s and '30s. In 1960, Time magazine called him "Will Rogers with fangs." He rejected this: "Will Rogers pretended to be a yokel criticizing the intellectuals who ran the government. I pretend to be an intellectual making fun of the yokels running the government."
In 1956, he described the Presidential election between the Republican incumbent, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the Democratic challenger, Adlai Stevenson, this way: "Eisenhower stands for 'moderation.' Stevenson stands for 'gradualism.' Between these two extremes, we the people must choose!"
In 1960, he described the next election, between Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy, this way: "Neither of them can win." (He was almost right: In popular-vote terms, the election was very close, and although Kennedy finished 1st, he did not get a majority. He did get a solid majority of the Electoral Vote."
Although Kennedy considered Sahl a friend, Sahl was not above joking about his friend, the youngest man ever elected President: "With Kennedy, the country was searching for a son figure."
Still at it in 1980, although far from the peak of his fame, Sahl said, "Ronald Reagan won because he ran against Jimmy Carter. Had he run unopposed, he would have lost."
And yet, he befriended Ronald and Nancy Reagan as well. In 1992, he voted for Ross Perot. In 2008, he defended Sarah Palin. In 2016, he was highly critical of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.
At his peak, he asked from the stage, "Are there any groups I haven't offended?" On another occasion, he said, "If you were the only person left on the planet, I would have to attack you. That's my job."
Mort Sahl lived long enough to see Joe Biden become President. He also lived long enough to see social media, K-pop, and The Masked Singer. So has Tom Lehrer, the great satirist of the 1950s and '60s, who is retired from performing, but still alive.
It got me to thinking:
* The film version of John Steinbeck's East of Eden premiered on April 10, 1955. Albert Einstein died 8 days later. Therefore, Albert Einstein could have seen James Dean act on screen, and was on this Earth at the same time as Jerry Seinfeld.
* Bertrand Russell was a published author as early as 1896, and was publishing books on mathematics in 1903, 2 years before Einstein published his Theory of Special Relativity. He was still alive in 1970. Therefore, he could have seen 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Brady Bunch, and was on this Earth at the same time as myself.
* Pablo Picasso died in 1973. Therefore, he could have seen The Godfather, The Exorcist and All in the Family, and was on this Earth at the same time as Eminem.
* Charlie Chaplin became famous making silent movies during World War I. He died on Christmas Day 1977. Therefore, he could have seen Star Wars. Groucho Marx needed a few more years after Chaplin did to become famous, but was even older, and had actually become friends with shock-rocker Alice Cooper. Both were on this Earth at the same time as Shakira.
* Lillian Gish was, like Chaplin, a silent film legend. She lived until 1993. She could have seen Reservoir Dogs, The Crying Game, Scent of a Woman and... Robert Downey Jr. starring in Chaplin. She was on this Earth at the same time as Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato.
* George Burns made it big in vaudeville in the 1920s, on radio in the 1930s, and on television in the 1950s. He was still alive in 1996. It's highly unlikely that, in the last year of his life, he got out to the movies, but he could have seen 12 Monkeys, From Dusk 'Til Dawn and Dead Man Walking. He was on this Earth at the same time as Halsey and Patrick Mahomes.
Blows your perception of time, doesn't it?
*
October 28, 1865: Arthur Wharton is born in Jamestown, Gold Coast – now the African nation of Ghana. He moved to England to train as a missionary, but abandoned it for sports. He starred in sprinting, cycling and cricket, but is best remembered for soccer.
A goalkeeper, he was the 1st black professional player in the sport, though England did have black amateurs before him. He played from 1885 to 1902, including for the mighty Preston North End team of the late 1880s, just before the Football League was formed. He had stepped away from soccer to focus on running in the 1888-89 season, and thus was not a member of the team that won the 1st League title and the FA Cup, the 1st "Double," going through the League's 22 games unbeaten, earning them the original version of the nickname "The Invincibles."
In 1894, his appearances for Sheffield United made him the 1st black player in the League's top division. He continued to play until 1902, and then became a haulage worker at a coal mine in Yorkshire. He died in 1930, at age 65, after decades of hard drinking, and is now honored with a statue at St. George's Park, the Staffordshire training ground for the England national team, though he never played for the national team.
In 1894, his appearances for Sheffield United made him the 1st black player in the League's top division. He continued to play until 1902, and then became a haulage worker at a coal mine in Yorkshire. He died in 1930, at age 65, after decades of hard drinking, and is now honored with a statue at St. George's Park, the Staffordshire training ground for the England national team, though he never played for the national team.
The weather had gotten progressively colder and wetter as the series went on, and the teams agreed that this would be the last game, and, if Louisville won to tie it, a "championship game" would be played the following Spring.
That championship game was never held. Disputes arose between the NL and the AA during the Winter about the redistribution of players following the dissolution of the Players' League. The AA ended its relationship with the NL before the spring of 1891, so the anticipated championship game was canceled, and no postseason series was held in 1891.
This makes the 1890 Colonels the most successful team in the history of Kentucky sports -- keeping in mind that all those National Championships won by the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville basketball teams don't matter as much as any professional championship.
Since the Colonels, who were brought into the NL in 1892, were contracted after the 1899 season, the only Kentucky-based team that has been remotely "major league" was the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels, who played at Freedom Hall in Louisville and won the 1975 ABA title, coached by Hubie Brown, with players like Dan Issel, Louis Dampier and Playoff MVP Artis Gilmore. They were not, however, invited to join the NBA after the following season.
And as for the Bridegrooms, named for an offseason in which 4 of their players got married, who later became the Dodgers? They would win "World Championships" that they would not have to share in 1899 and 1900, before going 0-6 in World Series play until finally winning in 1955.
The last survivor of the 1890 Colonels was 1st baseman Harry Taylor, who lived until 1955, at the age of 89. The last survivor of the 1890 Bridegrooms was New Jersey native Harry Howell, a pitcher who was also the last survivor of the original 1903 New York Highlanders (Yankees). He lived on into 1956, age 79.
*
October 28, 1901, 120 years ago: Mississippi A&M defeats the University of Mississippi 17-0 in Starkville. It is the 1st time that the school now named Mississippi State and the one known as "Ole Miss" play each other in football.
In 1927, a trophy is introduced, topped by a brass football of that era's design, less streamlined than today's version, and resembling an egg. The game has been known as the Battle for the Golden Egg, or the Egg Bowl, ever since. Ole Miss leads 62-48-6. They will play each other again on Thanksgiving Saturday, November 28. In the last few years, it's been played on the evening of Thanksgiving Day.
*
October 28, 1921, 100 years ago: Stanley Palk (no middle name) is born in Liverpool. A forward, Stan helped Liverpool Football Club win the 1947 Football League title. His name was a bit confusing: His parents were from Cornwall, and "Palk" is a Cornish name, pronounced like "Polk," and that's how it was frequently written. He died in 2009.
October 28, 1921, 100 years ago: Stanley Palk (no middle name) is born in Liverpool. A forward, Stan helped Liverpool Football Club win the 1947 Football League title. His name was a bit confusing: His parents were from Cornwall, and "Palk" is a Cornish name, pronounced like "Polk," and that's how it was frequently written. He died in 2009.
Also on this day, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, commander of French troops in World War I, is given a ticker-tape parade in New York.
October 28, 1922: For the 1st time, a football game is broadcast on live nationwide radio. The year before, the University of Chicago had become one of the first colleges to send its football team to play a team outside its home region, beating Princeton University 9-0 at Palmer Stadium. Now, they would have a rematch at Stagg Field on the South Side of Chicago.
The Princeton Tigers entered the game 4-0, the Chicago Maroons 3-0. After 3 quarters, thanks to 3 touchdowns by John Thomas, Chicago led 18-7. Then came the kind of collapse people would still be talking about nearly a century later if it had happened on TV and the footage preserved. The Maroons fumbled, the Tigers recovered, and took it in for a 40-yard touchdown. Harry Crum scored for Princeton in the closing minutes, and, since Princeton made their PATs and Chicago didn't, the Tigers emerged victorious, 21-18.
Another battle of unbeatens took place at the new Rose Bowl stadium, which first opened on this day, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena. The University of California, from the system's main campus in Berkeley, outside San Francisco, was 4-0, and took on the 5-0 team from the University of Southern California, based in Los Angeles. A safety gave Cal a 2-0 lead at halftime, and the Golden Bears held on 2 goal-line stands, before adding a touchdown and a field goal to win 12-0.
On January 1, 1923, the Rose Bowl game, previously played at the 40,000-seat Tournament Park, is played there for the 1st time. This time, USC will win, beating Penn State 14-3. The Rose Bowl has been played there annually since, except for 1942, when concerns over the bombing of Pearl Harbor led it to be moved to Durham, North Carolina, where host Duke lost to Oregon State.
Originally a horseshoe, an expansion in 1928 made it the largest stadium in the country. Attendance peaked at 106,869, for the 1973 Rose Bowl, in which USC beat Ohio State 42-17. A renovation in 2013, with wider seats, dropped seating capacity to 92,542.
It was the home field for Caltech from 1923 to 1976, California State University at Los Angeles from 1957 to 1969, the North American Soccer League's the Los Angeles Wolves in 1968 and Los Angeles Aztecs in 1978 and '79, and MLS' Los Angeles Galaxy from 1996 to 2002. UCLA have played home games there sine 1982.
It has also hosted the 1983 Army-Navy Game (Navy won, 42-13), 8 games of the 1994 World Cup (including the U.S.' win over Colombia and loss to Romania, and Brazil's win over Italy in the Final), 4 games of the 1999 Women's World Cup (including the U.S.' win over China in the Final), cycling at the 1932 Olympics, and soccer at the 1984 Olympics.
And it has hosted 5 Super Bowls: XI, the Oakland Raiders beating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14; XIV, the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-19; XVII, the Washington Redskins beating the Miami Dolphins 27-17; XXI, the New York Giants beating the Denver Broncos 39-20; and XXVII, the Dallas Cowboys beating the Buffalo Bills 52-17.
On the basis of the win over Chicago, Eastern and Midwestern sportswriters proclaimed Princeton to be the National Champions after the season. Western writers gave the title to Cal. No playoff in those days. Bowl games? Cal had won the Rose Bowl in 1920 and tied it in 1921, but in 1922 and 1923, they didn't go. From September 25, 1920 to October 3, 1925, under coach Andy Smith, the Golden Bears had a 50-game unbeaten streak, still the longest in college football history: Played 50, won 46, tied 4, lost exactly none.
Coaching took a severe toll on Smith, who went just 6-3 with Cal in 1925. On a visit to Philadelphia, where he had coached the University of Pennsylvania from 1909 to 1912, he was hospitalized with pneumonia, and died on January 8, 1926, only 49 years old. His career coaching record was 116-32-13, including 74-16-7 at Cal.
Also on this day, Robert Frederick John makes his debut for Arsenal, at left half, having been signed from Caerphilly in his native Wales. It doesn't go so well for the North London team, as they lose 2-1 to Liverpool at Highbury. But Bob John would play 15 seasons for Arsenal, helping them win the League title in 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1935, and the FA Cup in 1930 and 1936.
Also on this day, the Communists finally complete their conquest of Russia, as the Red Army conquers the Siberian port city of Vladivostok. And on the opposite end of the political spectrum, if not quite on the opposite end of the Eurasian continent, the Fascists make their March On Rome, installing Benito Mussolini into power in Italy. The Reds would be in power in Russia for the next 69 years, the Fascists in Italy for 21 years.
*
October 28, 1933: Manuel Francisco dos Santos is born in Mane, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Known as Garrincha, while not the 1st great Brazilian soccer player, he was the 1st to be widely known outside South America.
He starred for Rio club Botafogo from 1953 to 1965, and led Brazil to victory in the 1958 and 1962 World Cups, mentoring a young Pelé along the way. Sadly, his drinking curtailed his health, and he died in 1983.
Also on this day, The Kennel Murder Case premieres. William Powell, in what could be seen as a warmup to playing Nick Charles in the Thin Man movies, plays S.S. Van Dine's private detective Philo Vance. Mary Astor also stars, perhaps as a warmup for playing Brigid O'Shaughnessy in the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon opposite Humphrey Bogart's Sam Spade.
French actor Etienne Girardot plays the coroner, Dr. Doremus. In this film, he says, "I'm a doctor, not a detective." A moment later, he says, "I'm a doctor, not a magician." This predates DeForest Kelley using, "I'm a doctor, not a... " on Star Trek by 33 years, although there's no hint that any Trek writer ever used this movie as inspiration.
*
October 28, 1941, 80 years ago: Pierre Desjardins (no middle name) is born in Montreal. A guard and tackle, he captained his hometown Montreal Alouettes to the 1970 Grey Cup. His Number 63 has been retired, but he has not yet been elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He became a sportscaster, and is still alive.
October 28, 1946, 75 years ago: Two European soccer legends are born on this day. Wim Jansen is born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The midfielder played most of his soccer career with his hometown club, Feyenoord, helping them to win 4 Eredivisie (Dutch 1st division) titles, and the KNVB Beker (national cup) in 1969, having also won the League that year, therefore having done The Double.
In 1970, he helped them to become the 1st Dutch team to win the European Cup, immediately preceding the 3 straight wins by their arch-rivals, Ajax Amsterdam. He also helped them win the UEFA Cup in 1974, defeating that other North London team, Tottenham Hotspur, despite the "Spurs" fans rioting in the stadium and in the streets of Rotterdam, resulting in them getting banned from European play for 2 years.
He played on the Netherlands teams that reached the Finals of the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, each time losing the Final to the host nation (Germany in 1974, Argentina in 1978). He also played in America, for the Washington Diplomats, alongside the superstar formerly of Ajax, Johan Cruijff. He returned to the Netherlands, and joined Cruijff at Ajax, winning the 1982 Eredivisie title.
He managed Feyenoord to KNVB Cups in 1991 and 1992, and, ironically, the team Feyenoord beat to win the European Cup, Glasgow club Celtic, to the Scottish title and the Scottish League Cup in 1998. He later returned to Feyenoord as an assistant coach, and is still alive.
On the same day, Jan Andrzej Domarski is born in Rzeszów, Poland. Also a midfielder, he starred for Stal Rzeszów and Stal Mielec. His 57th-minute goal for the Polish national team against England at London's Wembley Stadium on October 17, 1973 led to a 1-1 draw in the final group qualifying match for the 1974 World Cup. This allowed the Polish team to win the group and qualify, and prevented England for qualifying -- their 1st-ever failure to qualify. (They refused to participate in 1930, '34 and '38, but had qualified for each since it resumed in '50 and won it in '66.) Poland finished 3rd in the World Cup, and won many plaudits for their fine play.
In the 1984-85 season, Jan Domarski was allowed to play in America, for SAC Wisła Chicago. He later managed Stal Rzeszów, and is still alive.
Also on this day, James Buis Richards Jr. is born in Charlotte. A defensive back, he was a member of the Jets team that won Super Bowl III. He is still alive.
October 28, 1949: A Lockheed Constellation crashes in the Azores islands off the coast of Portugal, a refueling stop on the regular route from Paris to New York. All 48 people on board are killed, including Marcel Cerdan, former Middleweight Champion of the World. The man known as the Moroccan Bomber and the Casablanca Clouter was only 33 years old.
The French boxer, once the welterweight champion of Europe, won the Middleweight Championship of the World by knocking out Tony Zale at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, but lost it in his 1st defense, against Jake LaMotta at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit, as he had to drop out of the fight due to a dislocated shoulder.
He was flying from Paris to New York to prepare for his rematch with "the Raging Bull" when his plane crashed. His career record was an amazing 113-4, although it should be noted that nearly all his fights were against Europeans, not exactly the best of competition.
Louis Raftis played him in Martin Scorcese's 1980 film about LaMotta, Raging Bull. In 1983, Marcel Cerdan Jr. played his father in the French film Edith et Marcel, which told of the affair Cerdan Sr. had with the legendary French singer Edith Piaf, played by Evelyn Bouix. In 2007, Jean-Pierre Martins played him opposite Marion Cotillard in her Oscar-winning role as Piaf in La Vie en Rose.
Also on this day, William Bruce Jenner is born in Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York. Bruce won the decathlon at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, becoming an international hero and the best-remembered man on the Wheaties cereal box.
But he became better-known as the weird, desperately trying to hang onto his youth husband of Kris Jenner; the stepfather of Kim, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian; and the father of Burton and Cassandra Jenner with 1st wife Chrystie Crownover; Brandon and Brody Jenner with 2nd wife Linda Thompson; and Kendall and Kylie Jenner with Kris.
In 2014, he and Kris split up. In 2015, he decided to accept the reality of his identity, and made the transition to a woman. She now calls herself Caitlyn Marie Jenner, or "Cait," and has faced both praise for her courage and anger from people who are too bigoted to understand.
Unfortunately, she has also supported Donald Trump, who probably loved Bruce, but hates people like Cait. In 2018, she finally admitted that it was wrong for gay people, or transgender people like herself, to have supported Trump, since he has taken official actions against them.
Also on this day, John Prescott McGovern is born in Montrose, Scotland. A midfielder, he played for manager Brian Clough at Hartlepool United, Derby County, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest. Buying him from Derby was Clough's last-ditch attempt to hang onto the Leeds job, which he lost after only 44 days.
Otherwise, McGovern was one of Clough's golden boys, helping him get the other 3 clubs promoted to the Football League Division One. Together, they won the League at both Derby in 1972 and their East Midlands arch-rivals Forest in 1978. Forest also won the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1977, the League Cup in 1978 and 1979, and, with McGovern as Captain, the European Cup in 1979 and 1980. They are the only English team to win the European Cup, now called the UEFA Champions League, more than they've won the English top flight.
Despite his success as a Captain, he was unsuccessful as a manager, starting in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons as a player-manager with Lancashire club Bolton Wanderers. His most recent job was with Ilkeston Town in Derbyshire in 2001. He now works as a club ambassador for Forest, and a pundit on Radio Nottingham. He is a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
*
October 28, 1956: Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show, the biggest television show of the 1950s and '60s. Legend has it that Sullivan refused to put Elvis on his CBS variety show, because he was "vulgar," then relented when he saw the ratings for Elvis' appearance on The Steve Allen Show, Sullivan's rival -- and then showed Elvis only from the waist up. The reality is a bit more complicated.
Elvis' 1st national TV appearances were on Stage Show, the CBS show produced by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, the brothers who led separate "Big Bands" but occasionally performed together. He appeared 6 times between January 28 and March 24, 1956.
On April 3 and June 5, he appeared on Milton Berle's NBC show, Texaco Star Theatre. The reaction to Elvis' gyrations on the June 5 show were staggering: Berle said, "I got 700,000 pan latters. Not fan mail: Pan mail, saying, 'Uncle Miltie, we'll never watch you again!'"
Since his show was competing with Sullivan's on Sunday nights, Allen, then also the host of The Tonight Show (its 1st host, 1954 to 1957), wanted Elvis for the ratings. But, being a jazz guy who didn't like rock and roll (for some reason, he changed his mind the next year for Jerry Lee Lewis), and a songwriter in his own right, Allen said, "I'd like to present to you the new Elvis Presley!" Elvis came out in white tie and tails, and, under orders to stay still from the neck down, sang "Hound Dog" to a basset hound wearing a top hat. He also did a cowboy sketch with Allen and another rising star, Andy Griffith.
Sullivan, admitting he was one of many people throughout history who had condemned a pop-culture phenomenon without having actually seen it, changed his mind: "What I said then was off the reports I'd heard. Seeing the kinescopes, I don't know what the fuss was all about."
Shortly after signing Elvis to a contract for 3 appearances, Sullivan was nearly killed in a car accident. So on September 9, 1956, while Elvis was in Los Angeles filming his 1st film, Love Me Tender, CBS brought him to their Television City studios in Burbank, and linked to Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theatre) in New York, where legendary British actor Charles Laughton was filling in for Sullivan. Laughton was very respectful both before and after the performance, and Elvis was respectful during it. The ratings were huge.
On October 28, 1956, Ed and Elvis actually met for the 1st time, and the ratings were big again. On January 6, 1957, 2 days before his 22nd birthday, Elvis appeared 1 more time, this time shown only from the waist up. That show was also comedienne Carol Burnett's national TV debut. At the end, Ed noted that Elvis was going back to Hollywood to film again (it turned out to be Loving You), and said, "This is a real decent, fine boy," and this meant the world to Elvis.
The Ed Sullivan Show (known as Toast of the Town until 1955) aired from 1948 to 1971. Although Ed never banned Elvis from the show like he did some performers, Elvis never appeared on it again.
Also on this day, Mahmoud Sabbaghian is born in Aradan, Iran. We know him as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as his father changed the family name in 1960. An engineer by trade, he has long been alleged to have been one of the university students who took Americans hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979, but this has never been proven.
He rose in his country's politics, being elected Governor of a Province in 1993, Mayor of Tehran in 2003, and President in 2005, serving 2 terms, until 2013. He was belligerent toward America and threatening toward Israel, and seen as crazy in the West, but never started any wars.
*
October 28, 1961, 60 years ago: Ground is broken for Flushing Meadow Park, the stadium that will later bear the name of the attorney, activist and baseball fan who made it possible, William A. Shea. On February 18, 2009, 47 years, 3 months and 21 days later, demolition was completed.
Also on this day, Robert Paul Melvin is born outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California. A catcher, he played for 7 teams, including the Yankees in 1994, his last season. Like a lot of mediocre athletes, he took his knowledge and became a better coach.
He was on the coaching staff of the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the 2001 World Series. He was manager of the Seattle Mariners in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Diamondbacks from 2005 to 2009, and has been manager of the Oakland Athletics since 2011. He is now the longest-tenured manager in MLB: No manager has been with his current team longer.
He led the D-backs to the National League Western Division title and the NL Championship Series in 2007, and was named NL Manager of the Year. He's led the A's to the American League Western Division title in 2012, 2013 and 2020; and to the AL Wild Card in 2014, 2018 and 2019. He was named AL Manager of the Year in 2012 and 2018.
Also on this day, President John F. Kennedy responds to a letter from 8-year-old Michelle Rochon of Marine City, Michigan, on the St. Clair River near Port Huron, and Sarnia, Ontario. She had heard that the Soviet Union was going to test a 50-megaton atomic bomb, "Tsar Bomba," above the Arctic Circle, not far from the North Pole. She wrote to JFK, "Dear Mr. Kennedy: Please stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole. Because they will kill Santa Claus. I am 8 years old. I am in the 3rd grade at Holy Cross School. Yours truly, Michelle Rochon." On this date, he wrote back:
Elvis' 1st national TV appearances were on Stage Show, the CBS show produced by Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, the brothers who led separate "Big Bands" but occasionally performed together. He appeared 6 times between January 28 and March 24, 1956.
On April 3 and June 5, he appeared on Milton Berle's NBC show, Texaco Star Theatre. The reaction to Elvis' gyrations on the June 5 show were staggering: Berle said, "I got 700,000 pan latters. Not fan mail: Pan mail, saying, 'Uncle Miltie, we'll never watch you again!'"
Since his show was competing with Sullivan's on Sunday nights, Allen, then also the host of The Tonight Show (its 1st host, 1954 to 1957), wanted Elvis for the ratings. But, being a jazz guy who didn't like rock and roll (for some reason, he changed his mind the next year for Jerry Lee Lewis), and a songwriter in his own right, Allen said, "I'd like to present to you the new Elvis Presley!" Elvis came out in white tie and tails, and, under orders to stay still from the neck down, sang "Hound Dog" to a basset hound wearing a top hat. He also did a cowboy sketch with Allen and another rising star, Andy Griffith.
Sullivan, admitting he was one of many people throughout history who had condemned a pop-culture phenomenon without having actually seen it, changed his mind: "What I said then was off the reports I'd heard. Seeing the kinescopes, I don't know what the fuss was all about."
Shortly after signing Elvis to a contract for 3 appearances, Sullivan was nearly killed in a car accident. So on September 9, 1956, while Elvis was in Los Angeles filming his 1st film, Love Me Tender, CBS brought him to their Television City studios in Burbank, and linked to Studio 50 (now the Ed Sullivan Theatre) in New York, where legendary British actor Charles Laughton was filling in for Sullivan. Laughton was very respectful both before and after the performance, and Elvis was respectful during it. The ratings were huge.
On October 28, 1956, Ed and Elvis actually met for the 1st time, and the ratings were big again. On January 6, 1957, 2 days before his 22nd birthday, Elvis appeared 1 more time, this time shown only from the waist up. That show was also comedienne Carol Burnett's national TV debut. At the end, Ed noted that Elvis was going back to Hollywood to film again (it turned out to be Loving You), and said, "This is a real decent, fine boy," and this meant the world to Elvis.
The Ed Sullivan Show (known as Toast of the Town until 1955) aired from 1948 to 1971. Although Ed never banned Elvis from the show like he did some performers, Elvis never appeared on it again.
Also on this day, Mahmoud Sabbaghian is born in Aradan, Iran. We know him as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as his father changed the family name in 1960. An engineer by trade, he has long been alleged to have been one of the university students who took Americans hostage at the American Embassy in Tehran in 1979, but this has never been proven.
He rose in his country's politics, being elected Governor of a Province in 1993, Mayor of Tehran in 2003, and President in 2005, serving 2 terms, until 2013. He was belligerent toward America and threatening toward Israel, and seen as crazy in the West, but never started any wars.
*
October 28, 1961, 60 years ago: Ground is broken for Flushing Meadow Park, the stadium that will later bear the name of the attorney, activist and baseball fan who made it possible, William A. Shea. On February 18, 2009, 47 years, 3 months and 21 days later, demolition was completed.
Also on this day, Robert Paul Melvin is born outside San Francisco in Palo Alto, California. A catcher, he played for 7 teams, including the Yankees in 1994, his last season. Like a lot of mediocre athletes, he took his knowledge and became a better coach.
He was on the coaching staff of the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won the 2001 World Series. He was manager of the Seattle Mariners in the 2003 and 2004 seasons, the Diamondbacks from 2005 to 2009, and has been manager of the Oakland Athletics since 2011. He is now the longest-tenured manager in MLB: No manager has been with his current team longer.
He led the D-backs to the National League Western Division title and the NL Championship Series in 2007, and was named NL Manager of the Year. He's led the A's to the American League Western Division title in 2012, 2013 and 2020; and to the AL Wild Card in 2014, 2018 and 2019. He was named AL Manager of the Year in 2012 and 2018.
Also on this day, President John F. Kennedy responds to a letter from 8-year-old Michelle Rochon of Marine City, Michigan, on the St. Clair River near Port Huron, and Sarnia, Ontario. She had heard that the Soviet Union was going to test a 50-megaton atomic bomb, "Tsar Bomba," above the Arctic Circle, not far from the North Pole. She wrote to JFK, "Dear Mr. Kennedy: Please stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole. Because they will kill Santa Claus. I am 8 years old. I am in the 3rd grade at Holy Cross School. Yours truly, Michelle Rochon." On this date, he wrote back:
Dear Michelle:
I was glad to get your letter about trying to stop the Russians from bombing the North Pole and risking the life of Santa Claus.
I share your concern about the atmospheric testing of the Soviet Union, not only for the North Pole but for countries throughout the world; not only for Santa Claus but for people throughout the world.
However, you must not worry about Santa Claus. I talked with him yesterday and he is fine. He will be making his rounds again this Christmas.
Sincerely,
JOHN KENNEDY
Interestingly, Kennedy's name was typed on the letter, rather than signed with a pen.
As of last Christmas, Michelle was still alive, age 66, using her married name, Michelle Phillips -- not to be confused with the singer and actress of the same name -- and still living in Marine City. In a 2014 interview, she said that, after the letter was published, she got thank-you letters from people claiming to be Santa Claus -- postmarked from all over the country.
"I don't know why it didn't hit me that there were all these different Santa Clauses," she said. "I just figured it was all the one Santa Claus." As the 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street suggested was possible, the federal government seemed to be recognizing Santa's existence: "I had proof there was a Santa Claus. The United States told me they talked to Santa Claus, and he was fine."
One year later, to the day, in very related news...
October 28, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis is resolved, as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev
announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. In a secret deal between Khrushchev and Kennedy, JFK agrees to the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The fact that the Turkey part of the deal is not made public makes it look like the Soviets have backed down, rather than that the deal was a true compromise.
Much of the world thought that this was it, that World War III was assured, that the NFL and AFL games of this day might be the last sporting events that they'd ever see, or even that they would be prevented. They weren't, and the world moved on.
One event the world moved on to was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed on July 26, 1963 by JFK, Khrushchev, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, banning nuclear testing in the atmosphere -- including above the Arctic Circle.
Another event he world moved on to was the NFL contest at Yankee Stadium. Y.A. Tittle ties an NFL record with 7 touchdown passes, and the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 49-34. The Giants go on to the NFL Championship Game.
Tittle is 1 of 8 NFL quarterbacks to have thrown 7 touchdown passes in a single game. Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears did it against the Giants in 1943. Adrian Burk of the Philadelphia Eagles did it against the Redskins in 1954. Although it was in the AFL, the NFL counts George Blanda of the Houston Oilers doing it against the New York Titans (the Jets) in 1961. Joe Kapp of the Minnesota Vikings did it against the Baltimore Colts in 1969.
It was done twice in 2013, by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos against the Baltimore Ravens, and by Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles against the Oakland Raiders. In 2015, the Giants were victimized again, by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.
October 28, 1963: Demolition begins on the original Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, built in 1910. Since most of the station's operations were underground, there wasn't much disruption of service.
When the Pennsylvania Plaza complex opened in 1968, including the new Madison Square Garden above it, Penn Station had become completely subterranean, and it went from being one of the most beloved transit centers in America to one of the most hated.
October 28, 1967: Julia Fiona Roberts is born in the Atlanta suburb of Smyrna, Georgia. Time
magazine once called her "America's favorite movie star." Not "actress,""movie star." There is a difference, although she did win an Oscar as Best Actress for Erin Brockovich in 2001. Her brother Eric Roberts and his daughter Emma Roberts are also renowned actors.
What does she have to do with sports? Well, one of the scenes for her 1997 film My Best Friend's Wedding was filmed at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago (now Guaranteed Rate Field).
*
October 28, 1970: After playing their 1st 7 games on the road, and losing them all, the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers finally make their home debut, the 1st NBA game played in Cleveland since the Rebels failed at the end of the league's 1st season, 1946-47.
The Cavs lose, 110-99 to the San Diego Rockets at the Cleveland Arena. In fact, they will start their history 0-15, the worst of any team in the history of North American major league sports to that point, since topped only by the 1976 and '77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0-26 before finally winning an NFL game.
The "Cadavers" (a.k.a. the Cavalosers) will finally win for the 1st time on November 12, 1970, 125-110, away to the Portland Trail Blazers. They will be 1-18 when they finally win at home for the 1st time, beating fellow expansion team the Buffalo Braves 108-106 on December 6. They finish 15-67. They reached the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in 1976, but not the NBA Finals until 2007. They finally won an NBA Championship in 2016.
October 28, 1971, 50 years ago: Britain's House of Commons votes 356-244 in favor of joining the European Economic Community, a.k.a. the Common Market, which later becomes the European Union. In 2019, they will vote to leave it. The 1971 vote led to an imperfect situation that nonetheless helped Britain tremendously. The 2019 vote was based on lies and bigotry, and has already hurt Britain badly.
What does she have to do with sports? Well, one of the scenes for her 1997 film My Best Friend's Wedding was filmed at the new Comiskey Park in Chicago (now Guaranteed Rate Field).
*
October 28, 1970: After playing their 1st 7 games on the road, and losing them all, the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers finally make their home debut, the 1st NBA game played in Cleveland since the Rebels failed at the end of the league's 1st season, 1946-47.
The Cavs lose, 110-99 to the San Diego Rockets at the Cleveland Arena. In fact, they will start their history 0-15, the worst of any team in the history of North American major league sports to that point, since topped only by the 1976 and '77 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 0-26 before finally winning an NFL game.
The "Cadavers" (a.k.a. the Cavalosers) will finally win for the 1st time on November 12, 1970, 125-110, away to the Portland Trail Blazers. They will be 1-18 when they finally win at home for the 1st time, beating fellow expansion team the Buffalo Braves 108-106 on December 6. They finish 15-67. They reached the NBA Eastern Conference Finals in 1976, but not the NBA Finals until 2007. They finally won an NBA Championship in 2016.
October 28, 1971, 50 years ago: Britain's House of Commons votes 356-244 in favor of joining the European Economic Community, a.k.a. the Common Market, which later becomes the European Union. In 2019, they will vote to leave it. The 1971 vote led to an imperfect situation that nonetheless helped Britain tremendously. The 2019 vote was based on lies and bigotry, and has already hurt Britain badly.
October 28, 1975: I underwent surgery at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, then located at 123rd Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan's Spanish Harlem, to correct a problem in my legs that made walking difficult. The surgery was successful, to an extent, although I still developed arthritis, and the pain in my legs frequently makes walking a chore.
My 2 weeks in that hospital are a blur, as I was almost 6. What I do remember from the experience, I wouldn't wish on anyone. I've been a hospital patient on Halloween Night at age 5, and I've been a hospital patient on Thanksgiving Day at 17. Halloween at 5 in a hospital is worse.
Those 2 weeks included the Daily News' "FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD" headline and the Rangers' trade of Eddie Giacomin and his well-received return to The Garden, but I don't remember those things happening at the time. Nor do I remember, the week before, the 1975 World Series, including Carlton Fisk's "Fenway Twist."
I told myself that, one day, I would walk out of that hospital. When I left it, it was in a wheelchair. I returned on July 11, 1976, for the back half of the previous October's surgery. After 1 week, I left, but, again, it was in a wheelchair.
I was walking within a few weeks, And have made literally hundreds of trips into New York City since. Joint Diseases has since moved into a new building Downtown, at 301 East 17th Street in the Gramercy Park area, where it has been renamed the NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital. Sportscaster Howard Cosell died there in 1995. The old building is now an apartment building, with the ground floor occupied by another health care facility, the Ralph Lauren Cancer Center.
But I still hadn't walked out of that building -- or the new version of the same hospital. As the poet Robert Service put it, "A promise made is a debt unpaid." I kept telling myself, "Someday... "
On February 21, 2019, over 43 years later, I finally went up to 1919 Madison, found the entrance to the Ralph Lauren Cancer Center, walked in, and walked out. On December 26, 2019, I not only walked into NYU Langone, but I asked about the possibilities for hip replacement surgery there. For insurance reasons, they couldn't help me. With that in mind, I walked out. (I got my right hip replaced at St. Peter's Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey 2 months later. The left hip's replacement is still ending.)
Those 2 walkouts may not be the same thing as walking out of the Hospital for Joint Diseases, but, at least now, I have walked out of the building I promised myself I would one day walk out of, and out of the new building that, until recently, had the name. Doing these things didn't really change my life at all, but I'm still glad I did them.
October 28, 1977: The Sex Pistols release what turns out to be their one and only album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. It may have been the most influential album released that day, but it wasn't the best, or even the best album released that day by a British group: On the same day, Queen release News of the World.
It contains perhaps the last true double-sided hit record: "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions." Lead guitarist Brian May wrote the former, wanting it to sound like a stadium chant, which, of course, it became. Lead singer Freddie Mercury wrote the latter, and when he sang about paying his dues, and about thanking the audience for "fame, and fortune, and everything that goes with it," he was completely sincere both times.
Neither song was written about the newly-crowned World Champion New York Yankees, although the confusion was understandable.
*
October 28, 1981, 40 years ago: Nathan Richard McLouth is born in Muskegon, Michigan. In 2008, the center fielder for the Atlanta Braves was named to the All-Star Team and won a Gold Glove. In 2012, he drove the Yankees crazy for the Baltimore Orioles. He helped the Washington Nationals win the NL East in 2014, then retired due to nagging injuries. His Hispanic teammates considered him baseball's best Spanish-speaker among native English speakers.
Also on this day, Sean Considine (no middle name) is born in Dixon, Illinois, outside Rockford, and grows up in nearby Byron. A safety, he was with the Baltimore Ravens when they won Super Bowl XLVII. He is now an assistant coach at his high school, and runs a mobile meat market business.
Also on this day, Milan Baroš is born in Valašské Meziříčí, in what is now the Czech Republic. A member of the Liverpool team that (as their fans never cease to remind us) won the UEFA Champions League in that remarkable Final comeback against AC Milan in 2005, he also helped Olympique Lyonnais win France's Ligue 1 in 2007, Portsmouth the FA Cup in 2008, and Istanbul's Galatasaray with the Turkish Super Lig in 2012.
Playing for the Czech national team, top scorer at Euro 2004, and was part of the squad that knocked the U.S. out of the 2006 World Cup. He is now retired.
October 28, 1989: The Oakland Athletics take an 8-0 lead, and beat the San Francisco Giants 9-6 at Candlestick Park, to complete a 4-game sweep of the Bay Bridge World Series‚ the 1st Series sweep since 1976. Oakland native Dave Stewart‚ who won Games 1 and 3‚ is named MVP. However, with the Loma Prieta Earthquake only 11 days prior, it may be the most subdued World Series celebration ever.
*
October 28, 1995: The Braves win Game 6 of the World Series 1-0‚ on a combined 1-hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers. David Justice's 6th-inning homer accounts for the game's only run.
In winning‚ the Braves become the 1st team to win World Championships representing 3 different cities: Boston in 1914‚ Milwaukee in 1957‚ and Atlanta in 1995. Catcher Tony Peña's leadoff single in the 6th is Cleveland's only hit. The Indians, who led the majors in homers and runs scored‚ bat just .179‚ the lowest average for a 6-games series since 1911.
October 28, 1996, 25 years ago: John Robert Eichel is born in the Boston suburb of Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Last year, with Boston University, Jack Eichel won the Hobey Baker Award, the hockey equivalent of the Heisman Trophy for collegiate player of the year. He was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres, and became their youngest goalscorer ever. "The Eichel Tower" is now their Captain.
*
October 28, 2001, 20 years ago: The Arizona Diamondbacks jump out to a 2-0 World Series lead on the Yankees, as Randy Johnson hurls a 3-hit shutout. Matt Williams hits a 3-run homer for the Diamondbacks. Andy Pettitte takes the loss for New York. This makes Williams the 1st player to hit Series home runs for 3 different teams, having also done so for the 1989 Giants and the 1997 Indians. (He would later confess to having used steroids.)
October 28, 2007: The Boston Red Sox hold off a late comeback by the Colorado Rockies, and win Game 4, 4-3, to sweep the World Series. After 86 years of never winning a Series, the Sox now have 2 in the last 4 years, 7 total. When Boston Globe columnist, now WEEI radio show host, Michael Holley writes a book about this group of Red Sox, and titles it Red Sox Rule, many people fume over the the wording, but, for now, few can put up much of a complaint about its essential truth.
October 28, 2009: For the 1st time, a World Series game is played at the new Yankee Stadium. However, as with the 1st at the old Stadium in 1923, and the 1st after that Stadium's reopening following the renovation in 1976, the home team loses. Chase Utley hits 2 homers off CC Sabathia, and Cliff Lee pitches lights-out, and the Phillies beat the Yankees 6-1.
October 28, 2011, 10 years ago: Game 7 of the World Series. After being down by 10 1/2 games on August 25 for the NL Central Division lead, the Cardinals beat the Texas Rangers at Busch Stadium 6-2, to win their 11th World Championship, easily the most of any NL team.
Next best is the Giants with 8, although only 3 of those were in San Francisco; if we're talking about the most in 1 city, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds are next with 5.
David Freese, the 9th and 11th inning hero of the night before, gets his 21st RBI of the postseason, setting a new record. (Keeping in mind there was no Division Series before 1995, and no League Championship Series before 1969.) He is named Series MVP.
The Rangers were 1 strike away from winning the World Series in both the 9th and 10th innings of Game 6. They had already clowned their way to a World Series defeat in 2010, and have since choked away an AL West title and the Wild Card play-in game in 2012, and lost in the AL Division Series in 2015 and 2016. It doesn't look like they're going to win the 1st World Series in franchise history anytime soon.
At this point, the Cardinals had won 11 World Series. All other National League teams combined had won 34.
October 28, 2012: Game 4 of the World Series. The Giants complete a sweep of the Detroit Tigers, with Marco Scutaro's 10th inning single scoring Ryan Theriot to give San Francisco a 4-3 win at Comerica Park.
Through the 2021 season, the Giants have won 8 World Series in New York and San Francisco combined -- but they haven't clinched a Series at home since 1922. They clinched in Washington in 1933, in Cleveland in 1954, in Dallas (well, Arlington) in 2010, in Detroit in 2012, and in Kansas City in 2014.
October 28, 2015: Game 2 of the World Series. The Mets take a 1-0 lead on the Kansas City Royals in the top of the 4th. But Jacob deGrom melts down in the bottom of the 5th, and so the Mets blow a lead in a World Series game for the 2nd day in a row. Johnny Cueto becomes the 1st American League pitcher with a complete-game World Series win since Jack Morris in 1991, and the Royals win, 7-1. The Series goes to New York with the Royals up 2-0.
October 28, 2017: The University of Michigan football team beats Rutgers, 35-14. Attendance at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor: 111,213. This is the largest crowd ever to see a Rutgers sporting event.
October 28, 2018: Los Angeles becomes the 1st metropolitan area to host games in Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and Major League Soccer on the same day. The Rams beat the Green Bay Packers, 29-27 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, to move to 8-0. (They will lose to the New Orleans Saints the next week.) At the Staples Center, the Clippers beat the Washington Wizards 136-104, and then the Kings beat the New York Rangers 4-3. And the Galaxy lose to the Houston Dynamo 3-2 at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson.
Most importantly, Game 5 of the World Series is held at Dodger Stadium. Andrew Bentinendi hits a 2-run home run for the Red Sox in the top of the 1st, while David Freese hits a solo homer for the Dodgers in the bottom of the inning. That 2-1 score holds until the 7th, when J.D. Martinez homers to make it 4-1, extending Clayton Kershaw's poor postseason record. Steve Pearce hits a home run in the 8th, cementing his status as the Series' Most Valuable Player.
The Red Sox win 5-1, taking the Series in 5 games, their 4th World Championship since 2004 -- and their 4th since 1918. There was no steroid-using David Ortiz this time, so they clearly found a new way to cheat. A little more than 3 months later, Boston would beat Los Angeles for another World Championship, as the New England Patriots beat the Rams in Super Bowl LIII.