today

On This Day

February 25, 1964 – 22-year-old Cassius Clay shocks the odds-makers by dethroning world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout.  Clay predicted victory, boasting that he would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.”

On This Day

February 22, 1980 – The Miracle On Ice.  In one of the most dramatic upsets in Olympic history, the underdog U.S. hockey team, made up of college players, defeats the four-time defending gold-medal winning Soviet team at the XIII Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. The Soviet squad, previously regarded as the finest in the world, fell to the youthful American team 4-3 before a frenzied crowd of 10,000 spectators. Two days later, the Americans defeated Finland 4-2 to clinch the hockey gold.

On This Day

February 17, 1966 – Brian Wilson rolled tape on take one of “Good Vibrations”.  Six months, four studios and $50,000 later, he finally completed his three-minute-and-thirty-nine-second symphony, pieced together from more than 90 hours of tape recorded during literally hundreds of sessions.  Wilson’s masterpiece was released as part of the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds”, that is widely regarded as one of the all-time best albums.