1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,640 Speaker 1: Hey, y'all, Eve's here. Today's episode contains not just one, 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: but two nuggets of history. These are coming from the 3 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: T d I h C Vault, so you'll also here 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,479 Speaker 1: to hosts. Consider it a double feature. Enjoy the show. 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: Welcome to This Day in History Class from how Stuff 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: Works dot com and from the desk of Stuff you 7 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class. It's the show where we explore 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: the past one day at a time with a quick 9 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: look at what happened today in history. Hello and welcome 10 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and it's October. 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: The Saturday Night massacre took place on this day in 12 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three, and this goes back to Watergate. Richard 13 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: Nixon was president and was campaigning for re election and 14 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: in June of nineteen seventy two, during his re election campaign, 15 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: five people broke into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at 16 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: the Watergate Complex of Washington, d C. These burglars had 17 00:00:56,640 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 1: all kinds of bugs with them that they were planning 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: to put aunt around the DNC headquarters. They were caught, 19 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: they were put on trial. Some of them entered a 20 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:09,080 Speaker 1: guilty plea and the rest were convicted. In January of 21 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy three. At first, it wasn't clear that they 22 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: had any connection to the White House, but that connection 23 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: was unearthed through reporting in the Washington Post. An investigation 24 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: of the President's potential involvement in this break in started 25 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: in May of nineteen seventy three, after Nixon had been 26 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:33,479 Speaker 1: re elected president in a landslide. Archibald Cox was leading 27 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: the investigation. He was a special prosecutor, and this is 28 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: a position that the Justice Department had a very hard 29 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: time feeling. No one really wanted to do it. It 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: was viewed as a no win situation. During this investigation, 31 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,559 Speaker 1: Cox wanted the White House to hand over a set 32 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,880 Speaker 1: of secret recordings that had been made in the Oval Office. 33 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 1: These were evidence that Nixon had been involved. An appeals 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,639 Speaker 1: court had ordered the president to turn these over, along 35 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: with other documents, on October twelve, and he hadn't done it. Instead, 36 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:09,000 Speaker 1: the White House had offered a compromise that one Senator, 37 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: who was hard of hearing and was also heavily medicated 38 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: following being shot in a robbery attempt. One senator was 39 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: going to listen to the tapes and then confirm whether 40 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,919 Speaker 1: a White House prepared summary of the tapes was accurate. 41 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 1: Cox saw the many holes in this plan and refused 42 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: to this compromise. So then on October twenty, Nixon ordered 43 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: Elliott Richardson, who was the Attorney General, to fire Cox 44 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: as special prosecutor. The Attorney General was the only person 45 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: who had the authority to do that, but he refused 46 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,919 Speaker 1: to do it and resigned. The Deputy Attorney General, William Rucklehouse, 47 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: then became the acting Attorney General. Nixon ordered him to 48 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: fire Archibald Cox. He also refused to do it and 49 00:02:55,880 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: also resigned. Then Solicitor General Robert Bork became the interim 50 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: Attorney General. He was the one who finally carried out 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: Nixon's order to fire Archibald Cox, fearful that the constitutional 52 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:12,359 Speaker 1: crisis in play was just going to get worse if 53 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,360 Speaker 1: he didn't. Almost immediately after these firings, Nixon ordered the 54 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: Special Prosecutor's office to be shut down and the investigation ended. 55 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: FBI agents were sent to seal off the offices of 56 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,120 Speaker 1: the Attorney General and the deputy Attorney General and the 57 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: Special Prosecutor. Richard Nixon was obviously hoping that this would 58 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: put an end to the investigation into his activities, it 59 00:03:32,280 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: did not. It had the opposite effect. Before the Saturday 60 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: night massacre, the president had been calling the investigation a 61 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,440 Speaker 1: witch hunt. He had claimed that the increasingly detailed reporting 62 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: from the Washington Post that was making a lot of 63 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: connections between him and what happened at the Watergate and 64 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: the cover up of what happened at the Watergate. He 65 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: was saying that that was all just the work of 66 00:03:55,600 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 1: a liberal newspaper that had a grudge against him. A 67 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: significant portion of the American public also really thought that 68 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: this was an unfair effort to kind of get the president, 69 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: and people were a lot more worried about the economy 70 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: than they were worried about Watergate. But the Saturday night 71 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: massacre really turned all of that around. It stoked public 72 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,400 Speaker 1: and media interest into the incident, into into the cover up, 73 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: and into the president's subsequent behavior. The media began issuing 74 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:28,720 Speaker 1: increasingly alarming reports about the ongoing constitutional crisis. Congress started 75 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,480 Speaker 1: calling for impeachment and filing resolutions calling for the president 76 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,600 Speaker 1: to resign. Citizens wrote tens of thousands of telegrams, overwhelmingly 77 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 1: calling for further investigation. People also phoned their representatives. Nixon 78 00:04:43,680 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: under all of this pressure, finally appointed a new special 79 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: prosecutor finally agreed to release those tapes. The tapes clearly 80 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,560 Speaker 1: implicated the president, especially a conversation between Nixon and his 81 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: chief of staff about using the CIA to hamper the 82 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: FBI investigation at the break end. There's also a very 83 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: famous eighteen and a half minute gap in the recordings 84 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: from shortly after the break in. Richard Nixon resigned as 85 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: president on August eighth, nine four, rather than be impeached. 86 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: Thanks to Tory Harrison for her audio work on this show, 87 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:18,599 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to This Day in History Class on 88 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, and where I Real to get 89 00:05:21,080 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and you can tune in tomorrow for a 90 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:35,159 Speaker 1: new way to see its stars. Hi everyone, I'm Eves 91 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: and welcome to This Day in History Class, a podcast 92 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,240 Speaker 1: where we one day ship nugs of history straight to 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: your brain through your ear hole. The day was October 94 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: twentie ninety one. During a college football game between Oklahoma 95 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: and m and Drake University, a white player named Will 96 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,240 Speaker 1: Banks Smith salted a black player named Johnny Bright. The 97 00:06:03,279 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: incident was indicative of the racial discrimination and violence prevalent 98 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: at the time. Oklahoma State University didn't formally apologize for 99 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,919 Speaker 1: the occurrence until more than fifty years later. The Oklahoma 100 00:06:15,960 --> 00:06:18,000 Speaker 1: A and M Aggies were set to play against the 101 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,160 Speaker 1: Drake Bulldogs and Stillwater, Oklahoma at Louis Field in nineteen 102 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: Bright was reportedly the first African American to play on 103 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 1: the field. He was the star of Drake's football team, 104 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: and he was pegged as a contender for the Heisman Trophy, 105 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: an award given annually to the most outstanding college football player. 106 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: Going into their game against Oklahoma and M in the 107 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: Missouri Valley Conference, the Drake Bulldogs were undefeated with five wins. 108 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: Bright led the nation in total offense and was skilled 109 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: in rushing and passing, largely contributing to the team's success. 110 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: If Drake won the game against Oklahoma, they would get 111 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,800 Speaker 1: the conference title. But word went around before the game 112 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,320 Speaker 1: at Oklahoma A and M's coach Jennings Brian Whitworth was 113 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 1: telling his team to target Bright and get him out 114 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: of the game. In the first quarter, Oklahoma and M's 115 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: defensive lineman Will Banks Smith hit Bright several times. One 116 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:17,320 Speaker 1: of those times, Smith forearmed Bright in the face, breaking 117 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: Bright's jaw. Bright was not wearing a face mask, which 118 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: was not mandatory at the time. Bright stayed in the 119 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: game for several more plays after the blow, but he 120 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: was eventually in too much pain to continue playing. Drake 121 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: lost the game to fourteen. The day after the game, 122 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,800 Speaker 1: the Des Moines Sunday Register published a six photographs sequence 123 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: of the incident. The photographs showed that Smith through the 124 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,760 Speaker 1: blow after Bright had handed the ball to fullback J mccomber. 125 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:51,679 Speaker 1: Photographers John Robinson and Don Altang won the nineteen fifty 126 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: two Pull Surprise for Photography for their captures of the incident. 127 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: Smith got hate mail for assaulting Bright, but he also 128 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,160 Speaker 1: got letters of support from white supremacists. The incident led 129 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:06,760 Speaker 1: to a rule change that required players to leave the 130 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:10,400 Speaker 1: game if they were caught striking an opponent with a forearm, elbow, 131 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 1: or locked hand. Flagrantly. Rough play and unsportsmanlike conduct was 132 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:20,200 Speaker 1: also penalized with the mandatory suspension. The n c double 133 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: A rules committee also made it mandatory for players to 134 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:26,120 Speaker 1: wear helmets with face masks made up non breakable molded 135 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: plastic with round edges. After the nineteen sixty one season, 136 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: the rules committee recommended that players wear mouth protectors Bright 137 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,880 Speaker 1: was playing football again in two weeks after having a 138 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,440 Speaker 1: tooth removed and his jaws wired together. Bright didn't win 139 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,280 Speaker 1: the Heisman. He finished fifth in the balloting for the trophy, 140 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: and though he was the number one pick for the 141 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,840 Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles in nineteen fifty two, he decided to play 142 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 1: in the Canadian Football League instead. Drake University withdrew from 143 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:00,640 Speaker 1: the Missouri Valley Conference because Oklahoma and m refused to 144 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: discipline Smith. The conference did not acknowledge the incident. Oklahoma 145 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: returned to the conference for football in nineteen seventy one. 146 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,920 Speaker 1: Decades after the incident, Smith maintained that the assault was 147 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: not racially motivated and that people were making those kinds 148 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: of plays against star athletes in mini games. In the 149 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty interview, Bright stated his belief that the incident 150 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,880 Speaker 1: was racially motivated. Bright died of a heart attack in 151 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three. In two thousand five, Oklahoma State University 152 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: president David Schmidley wrote a letter to Drake University apologizing 153 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: for the incident. I'm Eve Jeff Code, and hopefully you 154 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,280 Speaker 1: know a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 155 00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:48,079 Speaker 1: If you've seen any good history memes lately. You can 156 00:09:48,120 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: send them to us on social media at t D 157 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:56,199 Speaker 1: I h C Podcast, or you can go the old 158 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: fashioned route and send us an email at this Day 159 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: at i heart media dot com. Thanks for tuning in, 160 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: and we'll see you again tomorrow. For more podcasts from 161 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 162 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.