William Ferdie Brown (December 2, 1940 – October 22, 2019)

He was known for creating one of the NFL’s most iconic moments on
January 9, 1977, when he raced 75 yards to the end zone to score on an interception from the Minnesota Vikings during Super Bowl XI.

Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker said Tuesday in a release:
“Willie Brown was the epitome of the Raiders’ motto of ‘commitment to
excellence’ that was integral to the team’s sustained success. He
embodied virtues like passion, integrity, perseverance and always
led by example. His character, on and off the field, made all those
around him better. His legacy will be preserved forever in Canton,
Ohio to inspire generations of fans.”

Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in
1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders’ administrative
staff.

MIKE GRACIA

On this day in 1962, President John F. Kennedy went on radio and television to inform the United States about his order to send U.S.
forces to blockade Cuba. The blockade was in response to the
discovery of Soviet missile bases on the island.

Aerial view of missile launch site at San Cristobal, Cuba.

View of anti-Vietnam war protestors around the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on 21 October 1967

In Washington, D.C. nearly 100,000 people gather to protest the American war
effort in Vietnam. More than 50,000 of the protesters marched to the Pentagon
to ask for an end to the conflict. The protest was the most dramatic sign of
waning U.S. support for President Lyndon Johnson’s war in Vietnam. Polls
taken in the summer of 1967 revealed that, for the first time, American
support for the war had fallen below 50 percent.

Outside the Pentagon during the 1967 demonstrations.

A scuffle between the military police and protesters outside the
Pentagon (above & below).      

Akagi Japanese aircraft carrier.

Deep-sea explorers and historians on Sunday announced they apparently
found a second World War II-era Japanese aircraft carrier that sank during
the Battle of Midway.

Director of undersea operations for Vulcan Ind. Rob Kraft said a review of
sonar data captured Sunday showed either the Japanese carrier Akagi
or the Soryu resting in nearly 18,000 feet of water in the Pacific Ocean
more than 1,300 miles northwest of Pearl Harbor. Hawaii. 

The researchers used an autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV,
equipped with sonar to find the ship. The vehicle had been out
overnight collecting data, and the image of a warship appeared in
the first set of readings on Sunday morning.

Officials said the crew planned to deploy the AUV for another eight-hour
mission where it will capture high-resolution sonar images of the site to
measure the ship and confirm its identity.  
     
The finding came on the heels of last week’s discovery, another Japanese
aircraft carrier, the Kaga, which U.S. forces also sank during the Battle of
Midway in June 1942.

Until now, only one of the seven ships that went down in the air-and-sea
battle, five Japanese vessels and two American ships, had been found.

.

On October 20, 1947, the notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in
Washington, as a Congressional committee begins investigating
Communist influence in one of the world’s richest and most
glamorous communities: Hollywood.

After World War II, the Cold War began to heat up between the world’s
two superpowers—the United States and the communist-controlled
Soviet Union. In Washington, conservative watchdogs worked to out
communists in government before setting their sights on alleged
“Reds” in the famously liberal movie industry. In an investigation that
began in October 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee 
grilled a number of prominent witnesses, asking bluntly “Are you or
have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” Whether out
of patriotism or fear, some witnesses—including director Elia Kazan,
actors Gary Cooper and Robert Taylor and studio honchos Walt Disney
and Jack Warner—gave the committee names of colleagues they
suspected of being communists.

A small group known as the “Hollywood Ten” resisted, complaining
that the hearings were illegal and violated their First Amendment
rights.