This Day in History

 Dec 8, 1980:
John Lennon shot



John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police. For a week, hundreds of bereaved fans kept a vigil outside the Dakota--Lennon's apartment building--and demonstrations of mourning were held around the world.

John Lennon was one half of the singing-songwriting team that made the Beatles the most popular musical group of the 20th century. The other band leader was Paul McCartney, but the rest of the quartet--George Harrison and Ringo Starr--sometimes penned and sang their own songs as well. Hailing from Liverpool, England, and influenced by early American rock and roll, the Beatles took Britain by storm in 1963 with the single "Please Please Me." "Beatlemania" spread to the United States in 1964 with the release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," followed by a sensational U.S. tour. With youth poised to break away from the culturally rigid landscape of the 1950s, the "Fab Four," with their exuberant music and good-natured rebellion, were the perfect catalyst for the shift.

The Beatles sold millions of records and starred in hit movies such as A Hard Day's Night (1964). Their live performances were near riots, with teenage girls screaming and fainting as their boyfriends nodded along to the catchy pop songs. In 1966, the Beatles gave up touring to concentrate on their innovative studio recordings, such as 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, a psychedelic concept album that is regarded as a masterpiece of popular music. The Beatles' music remained relevant to youth throughout the great cultural shifts of the 1960s, and critics of all ages acknowledged the songwriting genius of the Lennon-McCartney team.

Lennon was considered the intellectual Beatle and certainly was the most outspoken of the four. He caused a major controversy in 1966 when he declared that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus," prompting mass burnings of Beatles' records in the American Bible Belt. He later became an anti-war activist and flirted with communism in the lyrics of solo hits like "Imagine," recorded after the Beatles disbanded in 1970. In 1975, Lennon dropped out of the music business to spend more time with his Japanese-born wife, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean. In 1980, he made a comeback with Double-Fantasy, a critically acclaimed album that celebrated his love for Yoko and featured songs written by her.

On December 8, 1980, their peaceful domestic life on New York's Upper West Side was shattered by 25-year-old Mark David Chapman. Psychiatrists deemed Chapman a borderline psychotic. He was instructed to plead insanity, but instead he pleaded guilty to murder. He was sentenced to 20 years to life. In 2000, New York State prison officials denied Chapman a parole hearing, telling him that his "vicious and violent act was apparently fueled by your need to be acknowledged." He remains behind bars at Attica Prison in New York State.

John Lennon is memorialized in "Strawberry Fields," a section of Central Park across the street from the Dakota that Yoko Ono landscaped in honor of her husband.

This Day in History

 Dec 7, 1941:
Pearl Harbor bombed

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II.

With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base.

Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless: Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Japan's losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. These giant aircraft carriers would have their revenge against Japan six months later at the Battle of Midway, reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy in a spectacular victory.

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U.S. entrance into World War I. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind.

The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.   
   
   
       
   
       
   

   
       

This Day in History

 Dec 6, 1992:
Jerry Rice scores record-breaking touchdown




On this day in 1992, Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers catches his 101st career touchdown reception, breaking the record for most career touchdowns previously held by Steve Largent.

Drafted in 1985 out of Mississippi Valley State University, Rice became a star wide receiver for the 49ers, a team that would dominate professional football throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was voted the National Football League’s Most Valuable Player after the players’-strike-shortened 1987 season, when he led the league in scoring (138 points) and set league records for touchdown receptions (23) and touchdown catches in consecutive games (13). Rice’s primary goal, however, was getting his team to the Super Bowl, which he did the following year. Catching 11 passes for 215 yards and one touchdown, Rice led the 49ers to a 20-16 win over the Cincinnati Bengals and was named MVP of Super Bowl XXIII. Teaming with the 49ers’ star quarterback Joe Montana, Rice collected another Super Bowl ring the following year after a lopsided 55-10 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Rice’s record-breaking 101st career touchdown catch came on a rainy afternoon in San Francisco, during only his eighth season with the NFL. (By contrast, Largent made his 100th TD reception in his 14th season.) With 8:56 left in the game (a 27-3 rout of the Miami Dolphins) Rice made a quick move to get open in the middle of the end zone, where he caught a 12-yard pass from Steve Young. Mobbed by his teammates, he ran off the field in triumph. Two years later, Rice became the NFL’s all-time touchdown leader (127), passing the great Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown.

In Super Bowl XXIV, against the San Diego Chargers, Rice strained his shoulder in the first quarter but still caught 10 passes, three for touchdowns, in the 49ers’ 49-26 victory. Plagued by knee injuries, Rice slowed his record-breaking pace a little, but not completely, in the latter half of the 1990s. He left the 49ers in 2000 to sign with the Oakland Raiders, a team he helped lead to Super Bowl XXXVII in the 2002-03 season. In September 2004, Rice’s incredible streak of consecutive games with a reception ended at 274, a number that confirmed his reputation as the most prolific pass receiver in NFL history. He was subsequently traded to the Seattle Seahawks, for whom he scored his last three touchdown receptions, for a total of 197. Seattle refused to give Rice a starting role, however, and he left the team to sign with the Denver Broncos in 2005. When they offered him a reserve position, Rice made the decision to retire after a 20-year career in pro football.

This Day in History

Removal of liquor during prohibition.

  Dec 5, 1933:
Prohibition ends



The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, repealing the 18th Amendment and bringing an end to the era of national prohibition of alcohol in America. At 5:32 p.m. EST, Utah became the 36th state to ratify the amendment, achieving the requisite three-fourths majority of states' approval. Pennsylvania and Ohio had ratified it earlier in the day.

The movement for the prohibition of alcohol began in the early 19th century, when Americans concerned about the adverse effects of drinking began forming temperance societies. By the late 19th century, these groups had become a powerful political force, campaigning on the state level and calling for national liquor abstinence. Several states outlawed the manufacture or sale of alcohol within their own borders. In December 1917, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors for beverage purposes," was passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification. On January 29, 1919, the 18th Amendment achieved the necessary three-fourths majority of state ratification. Prohibition essentially began in June of that year, but the amendment did not officially take effect until January 29, 1920.

In the meantime, Congress passed the Volstead Act on October 28, 1919, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto. The Volstead Act provided for the enforcement of Prohibition, including the creation of a special Prohibition unit of the Treasury Department. In its first six months, the unit destroyed thousands of illicit stills run by bootleggers. However, federal agents and police did little more than slow the flow of booze, and organized crime flourished in America. Large-scale bootleggers like Al Capone of Chicago built criminal empires out of illegal distribution efforts, and federal and state governments lost billions in tax revenue. In most urban areas, the individual consumption of alcohol was largely tolerated and drinkers gathered at "speakeasies," the Prohibition-era term for saloons.

Prohibition, failing fully to enforce sobriety and costing billions, rapidly lost popular support in the early 1930s. In 1933, the 21st Amendment to the Constitution was passed and ratified, ending national Prohibition. After the repeal of the 18th Amendment, some states continued Prohibition by maintaining statewide temperance laws. Mississippi, the last dry state in the Union, ended Prohibition in 1966.

This Day in History

 Dec 4, 1928:
"Irish Godfather" killed by car bomb in St. Paul



"Dapper Dan" Hogan, a St. Paul, Minnesota saloonkeeper and mob boss, is killed on this day in 1928 when someone plants a car bomb under the floorboards of his new Paige coupe. Doctors worked all day to save him--according to the Morning Tribune, "racketeers, police characters, and business men" queued up at the hospital to donate blood to their ailing friend--but Hogan slipped into a coma and died at around 9 p.m. His murder is still unsolved.

Hogan was a pillar of the Twin Cities underworld. His downtown saloon, the Green Lantern, catered to (and laundered the money of) bank robbers, bootleggers, safecrackers and all-around thugs. He was an expert at defusing petty arguments, keeping feuds from getting out of hand, and (the paper said) "keep[ing] the heat out of town," which made him a friend to many lawbreakers and a valuable asset to people (like the crooked-but-well-meaning police chief) who were trying to keep Minneapolis and St. Paul from becoming as bloody and dangerous as Chicago.

Hogan and the police both worked to make sure that gangsters would be safe in the Twin Cities as long as they committed their most egregious crimes outside the city limits. If this position made him more friends than enemies--"his word was said to have been 'as good as a gold bond,'" the paper said, and "to numbers of persons he was something of a Robin Hood"--it also angered many mobsters who resented his stranglehold on the city's rackets. Police speculated that some of his own associates might have been responsible for his murder.

As the newspaper reported the day after Hogan died, car bombs were "the newest form of bomb killing," a murderous technology perfected by New York gangsters and bootleggers. In fact, Hogan was one of the first people to die in a car bomb explosion. The police investigation revealed that two men had entered Dapper Dan's garage early in the morning of December 4, planted a nitroglycerine explosive in the car's undercarriage, and wired it to the starter. When Hogan pressed his foot to that pedal, the bomb went off, nearly severing his right leg. He died from blood loss.

The first real car bomb--or, in this case, horse-drawn-wagon bomb--exploded on September 16, 1920 outside the J.P. Morgan Company's offices in New York City's financial district. Italian anarchist Mario Buda had planted it there, hoping to kill Morgan himself; as it happened, the robber baron was out of town, but 40 other people died (and about 200 were wounded) in the blast. There were occasional car-bomb attacks after that--most notably in Saigon in 1952, Algiers in 1962, and Palermo in 1963--but vehicle weapons remained relatively uncommon until the 1970s and 80s, when they became the terrifying trademark of groups like the Irish Republican Army and Hezbollah. In 1995, right-wing terrorists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols used a bomb hidden in a Ryder truck to blow up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

This Day in History

 Dec 3, 1979:
Eleven people killed in a stampede outside Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio

The general-admission ticketing policy for rock concerts at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum in the 1970s was known as "festival seating." That term and that ticketing policy would become infamous in the wake of one of the deadliest rock-concert incidents in history. Eleven people, including three high-school students, were killed on this day in 1979, when a crowd of general-admission ticket-holders to a Cincinnati Who concert surged forward in an attempt to enter Riverfront Coliseum and secure prime unreserved seats inside.

Festival seating had already been eliminated at many similar venues in the United States by 1979, yet the system remained in place at Riverfront Coliseum despite a dangerous incident at a Led Zeppelin show two years earlier. That day, 60 would-be concertgoers were arrested, and dozens more injured, when the crowd outside the venue surged up against the Coliseum's locked glass doors.

In the early evening hours of December 3, 1979, those same doors stood locked before a restless and growing crowd of Who fans. That evening's concert was scheduled to begin at 8:00 pm, but ticket-holders had begun to gather outside the Coliseum shortly after noon, and by 3:00 pm, police had been called in to maintain order as the crowd swelled into the thousands. By 7:00 pm, an estimated 8,000 ticket-holders were jostling for position in a plaza at the Coliseum's west gate, and the crowd began to press forward. When a police lieutenant on the scene tried to convince the show's promoters to open the locked glass doors at the west gate entrance, he was told that there were not enough ticket-takers on duty inside, and that union rules prevented them from recruiting ushers to perform that duty. At approximately 7:20, the crowd surged forward powerfully as one set of glass doors shattered and the others were thrown open.

With Coliseum security nowhere in sight, the police on hand were aware almost immediately that the situation had the potential for disaster, yet they were physically unable to slow the stream of people flowing through the plaza for at least the next 15 minutes. At approximately 7:45 pm, they began to work their way into the crowd, where they found the first of what would eventually turn out to be 11 concert-goers lying on the ground, dead from asphyxiation.

Afraid of how the crowd might react to a cancellation, Cincinnati fire officials instructed the promoters to go on with the show, and the members of the Who were not told what had happened until after completing their final encore hours later.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, the City of Cincinnati banned festival seating at its concert venues. That ban was overturned, however, 24 years later, and improved crowd-control procedures have thus far prevented a reoccurrence of any such incident.


   
   
   
       
   

This Day in History

 Dec 2, 1975:
Archie Griffin wins second consecutive Heisman Trophy



On December 2, 1975, Ohio State University running back Archie Griffin becomes the first player in history to win the Heisman Trophy two years in a row. Following in the footsteps of his three older brothers, all football stars, the young Griffin trained hard to get in shape and lose the nickname "Tank" given to him by his childhood football coaches. He had an impressive high school career, rushing for 1,737 yards and scoring 29 touchdowns during his senior year at Columbus Eastmoor High School in Columbus, Ohio. At OSU, Coach Woody Hayes hesitated before putting Griffin in the starting lineup, but relented after he put in a tremendous 239-yard performance off the bench in a come-from-behind victory over North Carolina during his freshman season.

From that point on, Griffin started every game for the Buckeyes. During each of his four years at OSU, the team won or shared the Big Ten title and went to the Rose Bowl. In 1974, Griffin became only the fifth player to win the Heisman, the coveted trophy given each year to the most outstanding player in college football, as a junior. He won in a landslide that year, receiving more than four times the number of first place votes as the runner-up, Anthony Davis of Southern California, and winning all five regions (East, South, Midwest, Southwest and Far West).

During his senior season, far from slumping, Griffin extended his stretch of 100-plus-yard games to 31 (during which the Buckeyes went 29-1-1) and amassed an NCAA record-breaking 5,177 career rushing yards. He triumphed in Heisman voting by a slightly smaller margin, taking four out of the five regions (Chuck Muncie of California took the Far West). His uniform number (45) was the first one ever retired by Ohio State.

After his graduation in March 1976, Griffin went number 21 in the NFL draft and joined the Cincinnati Bengals. He played pro football for seven years, running a total of 691 times for 2,808 yards before his only serious injury, a torn stomach muscle, ended his career. Griffin returned to his alma mater in 1984, becoming associate athletic director and later president of the OSU Alumni Association.