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Chuck Davey, a slick left-handed boxer from Detroit who earned two degrees from Michigan State University, was the sport's first "television creation" in the early 1950s. Davey traveled to London as a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic boxing team as an alternate but never competed in the Games. He turned pro in the late 1940s. At a time when boxing was hugely popular and it was possible to watch live televised pro bouts six nights per week, Chuck Davey fit the bill perfectly. He was good-looking, intelligent, popular enough be be pictured twice on the cover of The Ring magazine, and talented enough to win, but he possessed feather fists so his bouts often went the distance or close to it. (This pleased the networks and their sponsors as all the scheduled commercial breaks would be attained.) Over the years the quality of Davey's opposition has been questioned--and he certainly fought his share of tomato cans--but Davey did beat capable fighters such as Ike Williams, Carmen Basilio, and Rocky Graziano in his ascension up the ladder. After compiling 37 wins and two draws in his first 39 fights, Davey earned a shot at Kid Gavilan's world welterweight crown on February 11, 1953 in Chicago. Gavilan, who entered the ring as a 14-5 betting favorite, realized quickly that Davey had no ability to hurt him, so he just methodically wore Davey down. In the third round a flurry of punches knocked Davey down for the first time in his career. Over the next few rounds Gavilan toyed with Davey, occasionally switching to a southpaw stance just for the fun of it. In the ninth round, Gavilan floored Davey three more times. The fight was stopped by Davey's corner before round 10. Davey was pretty much discredited as a title threat after the bad loss to Gavilan. At one point he lost four out of five fights. He won two bouts in 1955 and then retired with an overall pro record of 42-5-2 with 26 knockouts. In 1998, Davey was paralyzed in a swimming mishap when a large ocean wave violently slammed him onto a beach. Davey died in 2002 at age 77.
Tags:
boxing
Chuck
Davey
TV
Added: 28th June 2015
Views: 1430
Rating: 
Posted By: Lava1964 |
 
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A photo is indeed worth 10,000 words sometimes. Here's a great example: A young girl sits outside her shattered London home after a German air raid in 1940.
Tags:
London
Blitz
photo
1940
Added: 5th July 2015
Views: 2497
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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On Friday, December 5, 1952 a substantial fog rolled across London, England. This was not a particularly rare occurrence in that city. What made it memorable and lethal was the fact that it stayed for the better part of four days and basically brought the British capital to a standstill. The first week in December 1952 brought unusually cold weather to Great Britain. An unusual weather system known as an anticyclone moved over London. (Anticyclones are high pressure systems that create stationary surface hazes.) Not only was the thickening mist not moving, the smoke from the city's coal-burning furnaces in homes and offices was also trapped. In the early 1950s, the coal used in most London households was of a lower grade than the type used before the Second World War. (The higher quality coal was saved for export.) It also had a high sulfur content. Because the anticyclone was trapping both the fog and the coal smoke, the city was engulfed in a stinky blanket of mist that made many basic outdoor activities impossible. Driving became a dangerous adventure. City buses moved at a snail's pace, often with policemen preceding them on foot with torches. Within a short while bus service stopped altogether due to the low visibility. (The unaffected London Underground kept its schedule, however). Private cars were abandoned on the streets. Most outdoor activities, including sports events, were cancelled. The smog became so bad that it began to seep into indoor venues. Movie theaters and concert halls had to cancel shows because of diminished visibility. Finally, after four days of intense smog, a new weather system cleared London's skies on Tuesday, December 9. However, about 4,000 Londoners died from respiratory illnesses shortly thereafter related to breathing the unhealthy coal smoke. Health officials later put the death toll at about 12,000 from the lingering effects of what became known as The Great Smog. In 1956 the British parliament passed the Clean Air Act which mandated pollution controls and restricted furnaces to burning pollution-free fuels. The legislation worked. London has not experienced anything even close to The Great Smog of 1952 in all the years since then.
Tags:
London
Great
Smog
pollution
Added: 4th November 2015
Views: 1281
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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The Jules Rimet Trophy--more commonly known as soccer's World Cup--was stolen on March 20, 1966. It was snatched from a glass display case at Methodist Central Hall in the Westminster section of London, England when the security guard assigned to keep an eye on it was temporarily absent from his post. England was going to host the quadrennial soccer tourney in three months--and the theft was a huge embarrassment for the country's Football Association. Shortly thereafter Joe Mears, the president of the F.A., received a parcel containing part of the World Cup. It was accompanied by a ransom note from a man calling himself Jackson. It demanded 15,000 British pounds in small denominations or else he would melt down the golden symbol of soccer supremacy. Mears contacted the police who arranged for a detective named Len Buggy to act on behalf of the ailing Mears who suffered from heart trouble. Buggy agreed to meet Jackson at London's Battersea Park at a specified time. Buggy brought a briefcase containing only about 500 pounds but Jackson did not bother to count it. Instead he got into Buggy's car and instructed him to drive aimlessly around London for 10 minutes. Jackson noticed a police van tailing the car. He panicked and attempted to escape on foot. He was quickly apprehended and identified as Edward Betchley, a 46-year-old army veteran. He claimed to be acting as a middle-man for a mysterious fellow he called The Pole. Betchley was the only man who was ever arrested in connection with the crime. He served two years in prison and died shortly thereafter of emphysema in 1969. The World Cup was missing for a week until David Corbett took Pickles--his mongrel dog--for a walk in the Norwich section of London on March 27. Pickles was drawn to a bundle tightly wrapped in newspaper lying near a parked car. Corbett removed the newspaper and there was the World Cup! Corbett immediately contacted police--who promptly interrogated him as a possible suspect. They finally let him go at 2:30 a.m. for lack of evidence. Pickles became a celebrity pooch. He was named Dog of the Year, was awarded a year's supply of dog food, appeared on several British TV shows, and had a feature role in a movie. Pickles was also invited to appear on TV programs in Chile, Yugoslavia and Brazil, but Corbett declined the offers as they would have required Pickles to go through strict quarantine measures and get several vaccinations to travel abroad. Corbett estimates that Pickles earned him 3000 pounds--money he put toward the purchase of a new house. When England won the World Cup on July 30, Pickles was invited to attend the team's private post-match victory party--a gathering so exclusive that even the players' wives were barred by the F.A.! Sadly Pickles accidentally suffocated in 1967 when his choke leash became entangled in a tree.
Tags:
Pickles
dog
stolen
World
Cup
soccer
Added: 19th February 2016
Views: 2475
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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In September 1962 CBS unveiled something new--an hour-long sitcom titled Fair Exchange. Its premise was that an American family and a British family swapped teenage daughters for a year. Why? The two families' patriarchs had been Second World War flying buddies. The American daughter, Patty Walker, wanted to study in London, so the two families, in effect, arranged their own version of an exchange student program. (Judy Carne played the English teen, Heather Finch. It was her first American television role. Even though she played a teenager, Carne was 23 years old at the time.) The episodes generally focused on the difficulties each girl had adopting to the cultural differences of her new location. Filmed in both England and Hollywood, the 60-minute format proved too unwieldy and the show was canceled in December 1962. Three months later, after loyal fans put pressure on CBS, the network returned Fair Exchange to its schedule--but only in a revised half-hour format. Ratings did not merit the show continuing beyond one season, however. Fair Exchange was again cancelled before the 1963-64 TV season began after 27 episodes. Here is the opening montage for the 60-minute version.
Tags:
Fair
Exchange
sitcom
Judy
Carne
CBS
Added: 26th April 2018
Views: 928
Rating:
Posted By: Lava1964 |
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Written by William S. Bickley
Produced by Larry Rosen
Directed by Jerry London
Original Air Date: February 4, 1972
The Partridge family awakes one morning to find they have an unexpected visitor: Russian immigrant Nicholas Minsky Pushkin, or, as he is otherwise know, Pushkin the Magnificent. Nicholas is a jack-of-all-trades: master chef, master carpenter, master artist, etc. Nicholas has decided to offer his services to a typical middle-class American family and the Partridges are that lucky family.
The family likes Nicholas well enough but he seems to break as many things as he fixes. In his sincere desire to be helpful, Nicholas paints the garage door while the Partridges are away on a concert date. It may sound innocent, but Pushkin the Magnificent has painted a scantily-clad young lady on the garage door and although Nicholas is an accomplished artist, the location of the work is a cause for much embarrassment, and the neighbors are in an uproar.
As it turns out, Nicholas may not be the greatest of carpenters, but he is a recognized artist. The local museum purchases the garage door for a large sum so Shirley is able to buy a new garage door and Pushkin is able to take a vacation with the remaining money.
Song:
"Last Night," music and lyrics by Wes Farrell & Tony Romeo (on Shopping Bag)
Tags:
The
Partridge
Family
Added: 11th August 2018
Views: 876
Rating:
Posted By: Maitlandsplace |
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Written by William S. Bickley
Produced by Larry Rosen
Directed by Jerry London
Original Air Date: February 4, 1972
The Partridge family awakes one morning to find they have an unexpected visitor: Russian immigrant Nicholas Minsky Pushkin, or, as he is otherwise know, Pushkin the Magnificent. Nicholas is a jack-of-all-trades: master chef, master carpenter, master artist, etc. Nicholas has decided to offer his services to a typical middle-class American family and the Partridges are that lucky family.
The family likes Nicholas well enough but he seems to break as many things as he fixes. In his sincere desire to be helpful, Nicholas paints the garage door while the Partridges are away on a concert date. It may sound innocent, but Pushkin the Magnificent has painted a scantily-clad young lady on the garage door and although Nicholas is an accomplished artist, the location of the work is a cause for much embarrassment, and the neighbors are in an uproar.
As it turns out, Nicholas may not be the greatest of carpenters, but he is a recognized artist. The local museum purchases the garage door for a large sum so Shirley is able to buy a new garage door and Pushkin is able to take a vacation with the remaining money.
Song:
"Last Night," music and lyrics by Wes Farrell & Tony Romeo (on Shopping Bag)
Category
Tags:
The
Partridge
Family,
70s
Added: 11th August 2018
Views: 844
Rating:
Posted By: Maitlandsplace |
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