MARCH 11 — 1862 Lincoln relieves Gen. McLellan of command as General-In-Chief; 1888 Great Blizzard of 1888; 1901 “Chief Tokohama” signed to Baltimore Orioles; 1941 FDR signs Lend Lease Act; SPORTS: Weber State beats N. Carolina in 1st round of NCAA tourny, 1963 Chicago Loyola beats Tennessee Tech 111-42, 1958 Notre Dame gets 86 rebounds, 1958 #1 W. Virginia loses to Manhattan
MARCH 11
1862 – Lincoln relieves McLellan from command as general-in-chief.
After the Union defeat at the first Battle of Bull Run, Mclellan was placed in charge of the union army but he had a bit of an attitude and didn’t take President Lincoln very seriously. But as confident as he was about himself, he was unable to withstand the pressures of running the entire union force. So Lincoln relieved some of the pressure off him by appointed him general of the Potomac Army. Under the same order, Lincoln appointed General Henry Halleck head of the Dep’t of Mississippi, John Fremont in command in the Appalachian region and George McLellan Mountain Department in the east. Five months later, Halleck would fill the role as general-in-chief.
1888 The Great Blizzard of 88.
50 inches of snow in four days, folks. New York City was completely buries and cutoff from the world as telegraph and communication lines were broken. 85 Mile and hour winds blew. The NY Stock Exchange was shut down for the first time ever for two days. 400 people died, including Republican Party leader Roscoe Conkling. In those days, gas and water main lines were above ground. Not good. Mark Twain was stuck at a hotel and PT Barnum was stuck inside Madison Square Garden. As you can imagine, this led to the eventual invention of the underground subway system.
1901 – Chief Tokohama is signed onto the Baltimore Orioles.
He was in real life an African American named Charlie Grant who played second base. But this was way before Jackie Robinson and black players were simply banned from professional baseball and had to play in the Negro League. But he was just that good and much too large for a minor league. Manager John McGraw did not underestimate the athletic talent of men in the Negro league and desired integration, but in those days he had to keep his opinion to himself. So he signed Grant as a Native American Indian with the fictitious name of Chief Tokohama. He got the name from a creek he saw on a map. Grant had fairly light skin and straight hair and was able to pull off secret, until Chicago White Sox owner Charlie Chomsky discovered the deception and the jig was up and grant would be sent back to the Negro league, never to play in the majors. Grant died accidentally years later by the way, when he was working as a janitor a car hit and killed him after its tire blew out. Weird
1941 FDR signs Lend-Lease.
This act set up a system that would allow the United States to lend or lease war supplies to any nation deemed “vital to the defense of the United States.” This really helped out Great Britain against the Nazis and prepared the United States for war while still remain neutral in its official position. After the war, the Lend-Lease program grew into the Marshall pPlan, which allocated funds for the recovery of friendly democratic nations.
1999 #3 seed North Carolina loses to #14 seed Weber State in the first round of the NCAA tournament
1963 Chicago Loyola beats Tennessee Tech 111-42 in NCAA tournament – largest margin of victory
1958 Notre Dame gets 86 rebounds in the NCAA tournament game – most ever
1958 #1 ranked West Virginia loses to Manhattan – Jerry West held to 10 points