September 20, 1776: The Great Fire of New York

Have you ever wondered why Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and even older New Jersey cities like Newark, Elizabeth, Perth Amboy and Trenton have building that predate American independence in 1776, but there aren't too many of them in New York? And why even the ones that are in the City aren't in Manhattan? (Fraunces Tavern, built in 1719, is one of the exceptions.)

This is why:

September 20, 1776, 250 years ago: The Great Fire of New York was set. It didn't "start," it "was set."

It was a bad Summer for the brand-new United States of America. The British Army was attacking the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, commanded by General George Washington. On August 27, Washington's troops were defeated in Brooklyn in what became known as the Battle of Long Island. A dense fog enabled them to escape across the East River to Manhattan, in a maneuver that, in his book 1776, historian David McCullough called "America's Dunkirk."

On September 11, a date that was fraught with history, especially in America, well before 2001, a peace conference was held on Staten Island, including the British naval commander, Admiral Richard Howe, brother of their army commander, General William Howe; and American representatives including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. It failed. A civilian exodus from the City began.

On September 15, British troops landed at Kips Bay, north of what was then the limits of New York City, roughly at what is now East 25th Street. On September 16, the Battle of Harlem Heights was fought, roughly where Riverside Church is now, at 120th Street at Riverside Drive. The Continentals pushed the British back.

On September 20, the British decided to smoke out whatever resistance remained. A fire was set at the Fighting Cocks Tavern, near Whitehall Slip, at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, roughly where Whitehall Ferry Terminal is now. The fire destroyed from 10 to 25 percent of the buildings in the City, while some unaffected parts of the City were plundered. It burned until the next morning.

On September 22, the British executed an American spy, Nathan Hale, a 21-year-old native of Coventry, Connecticut. Captain John Montresor, a British officer who was present at the hanging, reported that Hale's last words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

On October 28, Washington lost the Battle of White Plains. On November 16, defeat in the Battle of Fort Washington, a location named for him, meant that he had to get his troops across the Hudson River, and evacuate New York, roughly at the point where the bridge named for him now stands. They made their way across New Jersey, and across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. As Thomas Paine, who was with them, wrote in his pamphlet The American Crisis, "These are the times that try men's souls."

Washington needed a miracle. On December 25, 1776, he made his own Christmas miracle.

It wasn't until November 25, 1783, after the Treaty of Paris recognizing American independence was signed and copies reached American shores, that the British Army ended their occupation of New York City. On December 4, Washington resigned his commission, and said goodbye to his troops at the oldest remaining building in Manhattan, Fraunces Tavern, which survived the fire, and has survived others over the years.

New York City was rebuilt. It is always being rebuilt. Old buildings -- but not pre-Revolution old -- are always being replaced by new ones. Americans claim to have respect for their heritage, but we tend not to have much respect for our physical history.

I am all for America in general, and New York in particular, looking forward. But you can't know where you're going unless you know where you've been.

September 19, 1951: "A Streetcar Named Desire" Premieres

September 19, 1951, 75 years ago: A film version of A Streetcar Named Desire premieres. Directed by Elia Kazan, it makes a star out of Marlon Brando.

Brando reprised his role of Stanley Kowalski from the play by Thomas "Tennessee" Williams, which premiered on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on December 3, 1947. He had gotten rave reviews, but starring on Broadway could only get a performer so far: In order to become nationally famous, that performer had to star in the film version of a play, or sing on the original soundtrack album. And Streetcar was not a musical. And, as Brando later proved in the film version of Guys and Dolls, he wasn't much of a singer.

Stanley is a factory parts salesman in New Orleans. He is married to Stella, played by Kim Hunter in both original play and film, receiving an Academy Award for the film. Stella is the younger sister of Blanche DuBois, once the pride of a wealthy Mississippi family, but now dependent upon Stanley and Stella, because her divorce, all her husband's fault, left her with nothing; and her subsequent affairs led her family to cut her off, before their squandering of the family fortune meant that they had nothing to leave her when they died.

Jessica Tandy played Blanche on Broadway, receiving a Tony Award. In the film, Blanche was played by Vivien Leigh, in her best-known role other than that of another damaged Southern belle, Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind. She won Oscars for both of those roles. The role, including the famed final line, "I have always depended upon the kindness of strangers," was based on Williams' own mother, although the name came from a friend, theater critic and former actress Blanche Marvin.

Stella is pregnant, not that this bothers the unfaithful Stanley. Blanche is prejudiced against the Polish Stanley (never mind that he's a fellow Catholic), and he doesn't much like her, either. Blanche soon starts dating one of Stanley's co-workers, Harold "Mitch" Mitchell, played in both the original production and the film by Karl Malden.

In the middle of the play and movie, there's a poker game involving Stanley, Mitch and some co-workers. A drunken Stanley gets angry at Stella, and hits her. She leaves, staying with their upstairs neighbors. Stanley runs out into the rain, yelling up to the neighbor's apartment. Brando's cry of "Stella!" while getting soaked in the rain became iconic, as did his T-shirt revealing his physique.

Copying the yell became the definitive way to do an impression of Brando for 20 years, until he started mumbling as Vito Corleone in The Godfather. As Brando got old and fat, a series of Baby Boomer jokes included: "1950s: Want to look like Marlon Brando. 1990s: Don't want to look like Marlon Brando."

Stella returns, but the tension between Stanley and Blanche mounts. Stanley starts asking around, and learns about Blanche's past, including her marriage. Her husband's infidelity is changed for the movie, due to the Hays Code: In the play, the husband was discovered to be gay, like author Williams. (The gay subtext of Williams' 1955 play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was also excised when it became a film, in 1958.)

Stanley tells Mitch all, and he breaks up with Blanche. At the same time, Stella goes into labor. It takes a long time, and Stanley goes home to get some sleep. He finds Blanche packing, though it's not clear where she's going. Stanley grabs her, but, again due to the Hays Code, the screen goes dark, implying rather than showing that he rapes her.

The final scene takes place weeks later, after the baby has been born. Blanche is being taken away to a mental hospital. In the original play, Stella stays with Stanley, and doesn't believe Blanche after she told him what he did to her. But for the movie, again because of the Hays Code, which says that evil must be punished, she finally takes Blanche's word for it as Blanche is being taken away, and leaves Stanley, taking the baby with her. That scene was filmed after an ending reflecting the play was filmed, and that version is sometimes shown on television.

Leigh died in 1967, Williams in 1983, Tandy in 1994, Hunter in 2002, Kazan in 2003, Brando in 2004, and Malden in 2009.

The film was remade for ABC television in 1984. Treat Williams played Stanley, Beverly D'Angelo played Stella, Ann-Margret played Blanche, and Randy Quaid played Mitch. CBS aired a version in 1995, with Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Jessica Lange and John Goodman. Baldwin and Lange had recently appeared in a Broadway revival.

As for the title: The Desire Line ran from 1920 to 1948, at the height of streetcar use in New Orleans. The route ran down Royal Street, through the French Quarter, to Desire Street in the Bywater District, and back up to Canal Street. Blanche's route in the play -- "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries, and ride six blocks and get off at... Elysian Fields!" is allegorical, taking advantage of New Orleans's colorful street names: The Desire line itself crossed Elysian Fields Avenue on its way to Canal Street. There, one could transfer to the Cemeteries line, which ran along Canal, blocks away from Elysian Fields.

September 19, 1926: The Duke of Flatbush

September 19, 1926, 100 years ago: Edwin Donald Snider is born in Los Angeles, and grows up in neighboring Compton.

One of the great ironies of North American sports history is that, while the greatest of all Los Angeles Dodgers, Sandy Koufax, was from Brooklyn but didn't find his control until after the move, the 2 men often cited as the greatest Brooklyn Dodgers, Robinson and Snider, were both from the Los Angeles area: Jackie was born in Georgia and grew up in Pasadena, while "the Duke of Flatbush" was, yes, straight outta Compton.

Snider hit 407 home runs. Today, there's some real donkeys with more than that, but, when he retired in 1964, the only ones with more were Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Mel Ott, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig, Stan Musial, Eddie Mathews and Mickey Mantle. His 389 homers in a Dodger uniform is still a franchise record, regardless of coast. (Eric Karros is the L.A. leader, with a mere 289.)

Duke's lifetime batting average was .292, and 8 times he hit at least .300. His career OPS+ was a whopping 140. He wasn't as good in center field as Mays, but he was roughly as good as Mantle.

And that brings up the inevitable question of the 3 New York center fielders: Willie, Mickey, and the Duke. Who was better? Looking at their career stats, it seems silly to put the Duke into the equation; it's got to be either the Say Hey Kid or the Mick, not the Duke.

And yet...

Mickey and Willie entered the majors in 1951. Duke was in his 5th full season. Makes sense, he was 5 years older:

* Edwin Donald Snider, born September 19, 1926 in Los Angeles.
* Willie Howard Mays Jr., born May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama.
* Mickey Charles Mantle, born October 20, 1931 in Spavinaw, Oklahoma.

If you look at what they did while all 3 were together, the case for the Duke gets a lot better:

* In 1951, Willie had a sensational rookie season, while the Duke a pretty good season, and Mickey struggled and got sent down to the minors before regaining his stroke and keeping it for a generation. Willie 1st, Duke 2nd, Mickey 3rd.

* In 1952, Willie was drafted into the Army early on, and missed most of the season. The Duke's stats went down a little. Mickey, still only 20 until right after the World Series, had a little bit better year. Mickey 1st, Duke 2nd, Willie 3rd (not that it was his fault).

* In 1953, Willie was still in the Korean War, but the Duke bounced back with a season in which he led both leagues in slugging percentage and OPS+ (not that the former was then mentioned much or the latter, well, at all). Mickey's season was more bark than bite, as some of his 21 homers were of the variety that came to be called "tape measure" due to their distance, hitting shots that were contenders for the title of longest ever hit in Washington, Philadelphia and St. Louis. But he didn't have as good a season as the Duke. Duke 1st, Mickey 2nd, Willie 3rd (again, through no fault of his own).

* In 1954, Willie returned with his best season, a batting title and a World Championship. The Duke had a sensational season, but not quite as sensational as Willie's. In spite of the Yankees not winning the Pennant for the first time since he arrived, Mickey had his best season yet, but not as good as the other two. Willie 1st, Duke 2nd, Mickey 3rd.

* In 1955, the Duke had his best season, and not just because the Dodgers finally went all the way. I don't want to say Campy didn't deserve the MVP, but the Duke led both leagues in RBIs and he, as much as Podres, was deserving of being named MVP of the '55 Series. Willie had another great year, and Mickey finally began to not just hit the tar out of the ball, but do so with consistency. Great year, but not as good as the other two. Duke 1st, Willie 2nd, Mickey 3rd.

* In 1956, Mickey came into his own, winning the Triple Crown -- in fact, becoming the last player to date to lead both leagues in all 3 categories. The Duke had another great year, leading the NL with a career-high 43 homers. By almost anybody else's standards, Willie had a great year, but not as good as the other two. Mickey 1st, Duke 2nd, Willie 3rd.

* In 1957, the last season of all 3 teams in New York, Mickey won another MVP had batted .365, a figure neither Willie nor the Duke ever approached (in fact, no New York-based player has since). The Duke was still quite productive; his tailoff in 1958 can be attributed to going from the cozy confines of Ebbets Field to the misshapen field at the L.A. Coliseum, but he still had 88 RBIs in leading what was now his hometown team to the 1959 World Championship and a .296 average in 1961.

It was only with the move to Dodger Stadium in 1962 that he really began to slow down, at age 35/36, and he was gone 2 years later, playing, ironically, at the Polo Grounds for the Mets and then closing with the Giants. Willie had another really good year, but not quite up to the standard that was being set by New York center fielders; he didn't really have a subpar year until 1969 and was still pretty productive until 1971 when he was 40. So, in '57, Mickey 1st, Duke 2nd, Willie 3rd.

Willie: 1st, 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd; average, 2.29.
Mickey: 3rd, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 1st, 1st; average, 2.00.
Duke: 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 2nd; average, 1.72.

Surprise! Granted, this takes into account Willie's 2 missing seasons, but even if you count only '51, '54, '55, '56 and '57, the Duke still holds his own, no worse than 2nd each time.

If this Duke wasn't quite a king, he was certainly no bum.

He was not happy when the Dodgers were moved out of Brooklyn after the 1957 season, but he was glad to be going home. He helped them win National League Pennants in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956 and 1959, and the 1955 and 1959 World Series. He briefly played for the Mets toward the end of his career, although it was a bit weird to see him wear Number 11, instead of the 4 that would later be retired by the Dodgers. It was even weirder to see him end his career in 1964 with the San Francisco version of the Giants, as a teammate of Mays.

He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1999, The Sporting News listed him at Number 83 on their list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players. He died on February 27, 2011, at the age of 84, having outlived Mantle by over 15 years.

James Lipton, host of Inside the Actors Studio, was also born in September 19, 1926, in his case in Detroit.

September 19, 1926: The San Siro Opens

September 19, 1926, 100 years ago: Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro -- San Siro New Football Stadium -- opens in the San Siro section of Milan, Italy, about 3 miles west of the center of town. Unlike most sports stadiums in Europe at the time, it was designed specifically for soccer -- known in Italy as "calcio," not a variation of "football" -- without a running track.

The 1st match is a Milan Derby -- or Derby della Madonnina, as Milan is known as "The Madonna's City" -- and Internazionale Milano defeats Associazione Calcio Milan, 6-3. A full house of 35,000 attends.

A.C. Milan, known as simply Milan for short, and as the Rossoneri for their shirts of red and black stripes, have played their home games there ever since. Inter Milan, or just Inter, known as the Nerazzurri for their shirts of black and blue stripes, began playing home games there in 1947.

Expansions were undertaken in 1935 and 1955. In 1987, a renovation began to prepare the stadium for the 1990 World Cup. A minor renovation was undertaken in 2015-16. Current capacity is 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy, as well as the most famous.

The stadium hosted 3 games of the 1934 World Cup, which Italy won, as they did in France in 1938, in large part due to Giuseppe Meazza, the Milan-born Inter striker. He died in 1979. The following year, the stadium was officially renamed Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. But it is still called "The San Siro" around the world, and it has surpassed the Duomo as Milan's most famous building.

Since moving in, both Milan teams have been remarkably successful. AC Milan have won 19 league titles, 16 of them in Italy's Serie A since moving in: 1951, 1955, 1957, 1959, 1962, 1968, 1979, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2011 and 2022. They have won the Coppa Italia 5 times: 1967, 1972, 1973, 1977 and 2003 -- although they've never won "The Double," the league and the cup in the same season. They've won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League 7 times, 2nd only to Real Madrid: 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003 and 2007.

Inter have won 21 titles, 2nd among Italian teams behind Juventus. They've won 16 since moving into the San Siro: 1953, 1954, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1971, 1980, 1989, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2021, 2024 and 2026. They've won the Coppa Italia 10 times, 9 since moving in: 1978, 1982, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011, 2022, 2023 and 2026. This means they've won 2 Doubles, in 2006 and 2010. And they've won the European Cup/Champions League 3 times: Back-to-back titles in 1964 and 1965, and in 2010, making them the 1st, and still the only, Italian team to win a "European Treble."

The 1960s was the golden age of Italian soccer, with both Milan teams practicing "catenaccio," meaning "padlock," a supreme defensive strategy. Between them, Milan and "Il Grande Inter" won 4 European Cups, and Inter lost 1 other Final, in 7 seasons.

Milan's fans sit in the Curva Sud, the south end; Inter's in the Curva Nord, the north end. Unlike such other Italian rivalries as Roma-Lazio and Juventus-Torino, this rivalry tends to be mostly talk, and violence is rare.

The San Siro hosted 3 games of UEFA Euro 1980, 6 games of the 1990 World Cup, and 4 Finals of the European Cup: 1965, 1970, 2001 and 2016. It was the main stadium for the 2026 Winter Olympics, which were divided between Milan and 1956 hosts Cortina d'Ampezzo.

By a coincidence that I, as a fan of theirs, have enjoyed, North London team Arsenal F.C. became the 1st British team to beat each of the hosts at the San Siro, both in Champions League play: Inter in 2003, and AC Milan in 2008.

In 2019, a plan to build a new 70,000-seat stadium next door, to be used by both teams, was put forward, intended to be ready for the 2022-23 season. It didn't happen. In 2023, AC Milan announced plans for a separate stadium, next to their club headquarters in the city's southern suburbs. This would have left the new San Siro to be home to Inter only. This plan also fell through.

In 2025, the two clubs announced an agreement on a new stadium, adjacent to the current one. Construction is set to begin in late 2027.

September 18, 1951: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" Premieres

September 18, 1951, 75 years ago: The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres. Directed by Robert Wise, it becomes a classic of science fiction.

A flying saucer lands on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. Out steps a regular-sized human-looking man named Klaatu (played by Michael Rennie) and a considerably taller robot named Gort (Lock Martin). The U.S. Army have surrounded the saucer, and they shoot Klaatu. Still alive, he orders Gort not to interfere. Klaatu is taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but escapes, and quickly heals.

He takes on a human identity, and blends in among people to learn how they really think and feel. This is considerably easier than it would soon become, since most Americans do not yet have television sets, and haven't seen him before, including his face on news broadcasts. He is aided by Helen Benson (Patricia Neal), a young widow, and her son, Bobby (Billy Gray).

Not liking what he sees, Klaatu returns to his ship. At 12:00 Noon, U.S. Eastern Time, the next day, he uses the controls on his ship to stop all electrical equipment on Earth for 30 minutes, except for essential services, such as hospitals, and aircraft already in flight.

This gets the world's attention. He tells the world that an interplanetary organization has created a police force of invincible robots like Gort. He says, "In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer." Then they leave Earth.

In real life, at this point, Earth had developed nuclear weapons, but rocketry was still in the beginning stages: The defined barrier between "Earth" and "space" had been breached, but nothing had yet been placed into Earth orbit. And the Cold War was at a hot point: The Korean War had been going for a little more than a year. The film tapped into Cold War fears, and suggested that turning away from such aggression was a better idea.

A remake was released in 2008, starring Keanu Reeves, but was not well-received.

*

September 18, 1951 was a Tuesday. Dee Dee Ramone, bass guitarist for The Ramones, was born on this day. So was Ben Carson, the neurosurgeon who ran for the Republican nomination for President in 2016, and was then appointed by Donald Trump to be Secretary of... Housing & Urban Development. 

September 18, 1926: The Great Miami Hurricane

September 18, 1926, 100 years ago: What becomes known as the Great Miami Hurricane makes landfall. Hurricanes didn't start to be identified with girls' names until 1953, and with boys' names until 1979. This one was the 7th of the Atlantic hurricane season, so its name would have started with a G.

The extension of passenger rail service to Key West in 1912, and the development of commercial air-conditioning in the early 20th Century, made living in Florida palatable. In the 1920s, particularly from 1924 onward, the "Florida Land Boom" was underway, taking advantage of the "paper prosperity" of the "Roaring Twenties," leaving behind entirely new, planned developments incorporated into towns and cities. Of course, being that Florida was a Southern State, these places were racially segregated.

This helped to make Miami and surrounding South Florida a major tourist destination. It gave Miami a rare status, enjoyed by possibly no other city in the Eastern U.S., besides New Orleans: It was a "major city" without having a major league baseball team.

But a lack of knowledge about storm frequency, and poor building standards, made these buildings, including houses, as susceptible to hurricanes as many buildings in San Francisco were to earthquakes and fires prior to that city's 1906 disaster.

There was warning, as the hurricane had already devastated the Bahamas, and Turks and Caicos. When it made landfall on September 18, the waves were as high as 15 feet. Although South Florida would be hit by damaging hurricanes in the interim, these would remain the highest waves there until Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

Miami and Miami Beach were flooded, knee-deep. The County Causeway, connecting the two since 1920 (and later renamed for General Douglas MacArthur), was submerged under 6 feet of water. Yachts and other large vessels were carried out to sea. Power lines were downed, cutting off communication with the rest of the country. Most wooden buildings were either blown down or lost their roofs. Concrete and steel buildings were warped at their bases.

The hurricane moved inland, and caused damage on the Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The number of deaths is uncertain, but is believed to be over 500. With inflation factored in, it remains the most damaging hurricane in American history.

And that's just in the short term. In the long term, Florida took a long time to recover, economically and culturally. The land speculators went bankrupt. Historians in Florida have suggested that the State fell into a depression 3 years sooner than the country as a whole did. Additional hurricanes in 1928 and 1935 didn't help. 

September 17, 1976: Bill Lucas Becomes the 1st Black GM In MLB

September 17, 1976, 50 years ago: The Atlanta Braves promote Bill Lucas to the office of general manager. This makes him the 1st black man to hold that position in Major League Baseball.

This came 2 years after Frank Robinson was appointed the 1st black manager, 14 years after Buck O'Neil became the 1st black coach, and 29 years after Jackie Robinson became the 1st black player since 1884.

William DeVaughn Lucas was born on January 25, 1936 in Jacksonville, graduated from the historically black Florida A&M University, and signed with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 -- partly because his sister, Barbara, was married to Braves star Hank Aaron. (They later split up, and Aaron remarried.) An infielder, he never reached the major leagues, although he did miss 2 years as an officer in the U.S. Army. He joined the Braves' front office in 1965, as they were preparing their move to Atlanta for the next season.

In 1972, he was named director of their farm system, a common position from which teams have promoted men to the GM position. Atlanta was the hometown of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., former Mayor William Hartsfield had billed it as "the City Too Busy to Hate," Maynard Jackson had been elected as its 1st black Mayor in 1973, and Aaron had broken the career home run record at Atlanta Stadium in 1974. (It was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium the following year.)

Lucas was in the process of building the team that would become the centerpiece of team owner Ted Turner's national "SuperStation TBS" over the next few years, including Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Brett Butler and Steve Bedrosian.

But Lucas would not live to see his work come to fruition. On May 1, 1979, shortly after congratulating Braves ace Phil Niekro on his 200th career win (by phone, as Lucas was in Atlanta and the game was in Pittsburgh), he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He died 4 days later, only 43 years old.

Murphy said, "Bill's dream was for this organization to become a success. It is our sacred honor to be chosen to fulfill his dream." Maybe it would have been fulfilled had he lived. But it didn't happen: They won the National League Western Division title in 1982, and almost won another in 1983, but that's as close as they got. The Braves did not win a Pennant between 1958, when they were still in Milwaukee, and 1991, when a new GM, John Schuerholz, put together the team that dominated the NL in the 1990s.

For his contributions to their organization, the Braves named Lucas to their team Hall of Fame.