Truly Giants...
Big Blue finally lived up to their name on this date in 1987, winning their first Super Bowl with a convincing 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos. Super Bowl XXI was played in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on January 25, 1987 in a game that propelled Giant quarterback Phil Simms into one of the elite QBs in the NFL. The games MVP completed 22 of 25 passes for 268 yards and 3 touchdowns. His completion percentage of 88% set a Super Bowl record...
CBS-TV provided coverage of the game which featured Pat Summerall and John Madden on play-by-play. Neil Diamond sang the national anthem and the Beach Boys were featured in a halftime salute to Hollywood's 100th anniversary. Nielsen ratings for the game were 45.8 with a market share of 66 and the cost of a 30-second commercial was $600,000...
Bronco quarterback John Elway failed to win a Super Bowl in his fourth season of play but on this same date in 1998 and after 3 previous losses, Elway would lead Denver to a 31-24 win over the Green Bay Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII for the first of 2 consecutive Super Bowl wins for the quarterback...
More January 25 Memories...
1890) The United Mine Workers of America is founded...
1915) In New York, Alexander Graham Bell speaks to his assistant in San Francisco inaugurating the 1st transcontinental phone service...
1924) The 1st Winter Olympic Games are held in Chamonix in the French Alps...
1927) Jack Benny marries Sadye Marks who changes her name to Mary Livingstone...
1937) NBC radio presents the 1st broadcast of "The Guiding Light". The show remains on radio until 1956 before moving to CBS-TV in 1952 ("The Guiding Light" is still on the air and is the longest running program in broadcast history)...
1947) Gangster Al Capone dies at 48...
1959) American Airlines flies the 1st scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707...
1961) John F. Kennedy presents the 1st live presidential news conference from Washington, DC (covered on both radio and television)...
1962) Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" is released...
1971) Charles Manson and 3 female "family" members are sentenced to life imprisonment for their 1969 murders...
1973) "Superstition" tops the charts for Stevie Wonder (it's his 1st #1 song in more than 9 years)...
1981) The 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days arrive in the U.S. and reunite with their families...
1982) Hall & Oates are #1 with "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)"...
1987) The Giants win their 1st Super Bowl (feature story)...
1994) Michael Jackson settles a child molestation lawsuit out of court (one source puts the settlement at $10 million)...
1997) Astrologer Jeane Dixon dies at 79...
1998) After years of trying, John Elway leads Denver to the 1st of 2 consecutive Super Bowl wins (feature story)...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1918) Hall of Fame broadcaster Ernie Harwell...
1919) Journalist Edwin Newman...
1931) Dean Jones...
1931) Corazon Aquino (who will celebrate by buying every pair of shoes she sees)...
1938) Etta James...
1981) Alicia Keys...
Today is the 25th day of 2006 with 340 days remaining in the year but only 54 days until Spring and better yet just 22 days remain until pitchers and catchers...
