"Eat your words" - Cassius Clay (2/25/64)...
Only those in the crowd of 8,297 in the ringside seats on Tuesday Night, February 25, 1964 were close enough to hear Cassius Clay shouting at the beat reporters who didn't give the new champ a chance against Sonny Liston. Liston was installed as the heavy favorite at 8-1 but Clay (not yet Ali) would give the old champ all he asked for and more and after Liston couldn't answer the bell for round 7, it was all over...
The 22-year old Clay fell one round short on his prediction of a victory in 8 but didn't fall short of "floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee" in decisively beating Liston at Convention Hall in Miami Beach...
Officially the bout was scored as a TKO in the 7th round and the reign of one of the greatest heavyweight fighters of all-time had it's beginning. Only 3 of 46 sports writers covering the fight had picked Clay to win and for those that didn't ? Cassius Clay had an answer, "Eat your words"...
February 24 Memories...
1868) The 1st parade to use floats ? The New Orleans Mardi Gras...
1868) The U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Andrew Johnson over his attempt to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (The Senate would later acquit Johnson)...
1903) An area in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is leased to the U.S. for a naval base...
1938) The 1st nylon bristle toothbrush is made by Du Pont...
1964) The Beatles appear on "The Ed Sullivan Show" for the 3rd time via video tape...
1965) The Beach Boys record "Help Me Rhonda"...
1978) "The Second Barry Manilow Special" airs on ABC-TV with Ray Charles as guest star...
1979) The Police release "Roxanne"...
1980) The U.S. hockey team wins a gold medal at Lake Placid by beating Finland 4-2...
1981) Buckingham Palace announces the engagement of Britain's Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer...
1981) Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Scarsdale diet doctor Tarnower (HBO presents "Mrs. Harris", a TV movie about the murder tomorrow (Saturday) night at 8 (EST)...
1982) Pat Benatar receives a Grammy for "Fire and Ice". Al Jarreau wins for "Best Male Pop Vocalist"...
1982) Wayne Gretzky scores his 77th goal of the season setting a record for 78 games...
1983) Kim Carnes wins a Grammy for "Record of the Year" ("Bette Davis Eyes")...
1987) Larry King suffers a heart attack...
1989) That wacky Margaret Ray is found in David Letterman's home in CT claiming to be his wife (Letterman is not amused)...
1992) The U.S. Postal Service unveils 2 versions of a proposed Elvis Presley stamp. The younger Elvis design will be chosen and issued on January 8, 1993...
1992) Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love rock down the aisle in Hawaii...
1992) "Wayne's World" starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey opens in U.S. theaters (schhhhhhwiiiing!)...
1993) Eric Clapton wins 6 Grammy Awards for the song "Tears in Heaven"...
1994) Comedian Garrett Morris is shot during a robbery attempt but eventually recovers from his wounds...
1994) Figure skater Oksana Baiul of the Ukraine injures her back in practice but 2 days later beats Nancy Kerrigan to win a gold medal at Lillehammer, Norway...
1998) Elton John is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II although he is introduced as "Sir John Elton"...
1998) Comedian Henny Youngman dies at 91...
1999) Lauryn Hill wins 5 Grammy's for her debut solo album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (she sets a record for a female artist that has since been tied by Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Beyonce)...
2004) President George W. Bush urges approval of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content in the timeline, multiple reference sources were used...
Happy Birthday To...
1921) Abe ("Fish") Vigoda...
1931) Dominic Chianese ("Uncle Junior" of the "Sopranos", who lives across the street)...
1932) Red-faced, screaming former Georgia governor and senator Zell Miller...
1942) Connecticut senator Joseph Lieberman...
1945) Barry Bostwick...
1947) Rupert Holmes...
1956) Former Met (for about a minute) and Baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Murray...
1956) Paula Zahn...
Today is the 55th day of 2006 with 310 days remaining in the year, 24 days until Spring and 36 days until opening day...
Saturday, February 25, 2006...
February 25 Memories...
1793) George Washington holds the 1st Cabinet meeting on record, at his home...
1836) Inventor Samuel Colt receives a patent for the Colt 45 (the gun not the malt liquor)...
1901) The United States Steel Corporation is incorporated by J.P. Morgan in Pittsburgh...
1940) The Rangers and Montreal play the 1st televised NHL game. Aired on W2XBS in New York, only one camera was used and was in a fixed position (P.S. the Rangers beat the Canadiens 6-2 at Madison Square Garden)...
1950) The brilliant "Your Show of Shows" debuts on NBC-TV starring Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner and Howard Morris (just who were some of the contributing comedy writers ? Well how about Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and others. Surprisingly the show only lasts until June 5, 1954)...
1964) Cassius Clay TKOs Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight championship (feature story)...
1983) Playwright Tennessee Williams is found dead in his New York hotel suite at 71...
1987) Frank Sinatra guest stars on CBS-TVs "Magnum P.I."...
1989) After 29 seasons and 2 Super Bowl rings as Dallas coach, Tom Landry is dumped by Cowboys new owner Jerry Jones (Jimmy Johnson replaces Landry)...
1992) James Brown receives a "Lifetime Achievement" Grammy...
1994) Phil Rizzuto says "Holy Cow !" when told he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (the outstanding Yankee shortstop waited 28 years for this moment). Rizzuto was 76 at the time...
1994) Bad Girl Tonya Harding puts that Lucy of "Peanuts" face on when a last-minute loose skate lace turns her from lutzing contender to klutzy pretender (Tonya would not medal)...
1997) A jury in Media, PA convicts multimillionaire John E. du Pont of 3rd-degree murder but decides he was mentally ill when he killed world-class wrestler David Schultz...
1998) Bo Diddley and Roy Orbison receive "Lifetime Achievement" Grammy Awards...
2000) A jury in Albany acquits 4 New York City police officers of 2nd-degree murder and lesser charges in the February, 1999 shooting death of Amadou Diallo...
2002) Former NBA star (the Nets') Jayson Williams is charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of his limo driver at Williams' estate in Alexandria Township, NJ...
2004) The controversial Mel Gibson film "The Passion of the Christ" opens on Ash Wednesday...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content in the timeline, multiple reference sources are used...
Happy Birthday To...
1919) Baseball Hall of Famer (N.Y. Giants) Monte Irvin...
1929) Former "Tonight Show" musician and Johnny Carson punching bag Tommy Newsom...
1937) CBS-TV news anchor Bob Schieffer...
1938) Diane Baker...
1943) Talk-show host Sally Jessy Raphael...
1965) Tea Leoni...
Today is the 56th day of 2006 with 309 days remaining in the year, 23 days until Spring and 35 days until opening day...
Sunday, February 26, 2006...
February 26 Memories...
1815) Napoleon Bonaparte escapes from the island of Elba to begin his 2nd conquest of France...
1919) Congress establishes Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona...
1930) New York City installs traffic lights (prior to that New Yorkers waited at intersections going "one Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi")...
1951) The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, limiting U.S. Presidents to two terms in office...
1955) Billboard Magazine reports that the 45rpm single is outselling the 78s for the 1st time...
1966) The Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown" is released...
1977) The Eagles release "Hotel California"...
1985) Chuck Berry receives a "Lifetime Achievement" Grammy...
1987) The Tower Commission rebukes President Ronald Reagan for failing to control his national security staff in the Iran-Contra affair...
1990) Cornell Gunter of the Coasters is murdered in Las Vegas at 53...
1991) Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announces on Baghdad Radio that he has ordered his troops to withdraw from Kuwait...
1993) Six people are killed and more than a thousand injured when a van explodes in the World Trade Center parking garage. This was an act of terrorism by Islamic extremists...
1998) A Texas jury rejects an $11 million lawsuit by cattlemen who blamed Oprah Winfrey for a price drop after her on-air comment about mad-cow disease (to show there are no hard feelings Oprah awards a new steer and lasso to each cattleman)...
To ensure accuracy of dates and content in the timeline, multiple reference sources are used...
Happy Birthday To...
1921) Betty Hutton...
1928) Fats Domino...
1931) Robert Novak...
1945) Mitch Ryder...
1953) Michael Bolton...
Today is the 57th day of 2006 with 308 days remaining in the year, 22 days until Spring and 34 days until opening day...
