Happy New Year 1947: January 6, 1947 Classic Games and Draft Lottery
JANUARY 6, 1947
DETROIT CITY COLLEGE POWERS TO EAST-WEST CLASSIC WIN
The school colours of CC Los Angeles changed from Blue and Gold to Black and Blue in the East-West Classic when a dominant Detroit City College line pushed the Coyotes all over the field in a convincing 38-21 victory for the Great Lakes Alliance champs over the best of the West Coast Athletic Association. Only 3 times in the 31-year history of the Santa Ana game has a team scored more points as the DCC offense, led by 107 yards and 3 touchdowns from junior halfback Johnny Matthews, powered its way to victory.
St Blane claimed its first National Title in football after the Fighting Saints completed a 9-0-1 season with a 42-7 drubbing of Payne State in the Oilman Classic. Cumberland, winners of the Sunshine Classic, and Cajun Classic victor Bayou State rounded out the top three with Rome State -winners of each of the last two National Titles- finishing fourth in the final TWIFB rankings.
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TWIFB AIAA FOOTBALL TOP TEN RANKINGS
# SCHOOL REC
1 St Blane 9-0-1
2 Cumberland 10-0-1
3 Bayou State 10-0-1
4 Rome State 8-1-1
5 Detroit City College 9-1
6 Noble Jones College 9-1
7 Travis College 9-2
8 Pierpont 7-0-1
9 Dickson 8-0-1
10 Payne State 10-1
NEW YEARS CLASSIC GAME RESULTS
Detroit City College (9-1) 38 CC Los Angeles (9-1-1) 21 East-West Classic
St Blane (9-0-1) 42 Payne State (10-1) 7 Oilman Classic
Cumberland (10-0-1) 24 Richmond State (9-2) 14 Sunshine Classic
Bayou State (10-0-1) 14 Travis College (9-2) 7 Cajun Classic
Oklahoma City State (9-2) 31 Kit Carson University (7-2) 13 Lone Star Classic
Noble Jones College (9-1) 13 Charleston Tech (8-2-1) 6 Bayside Classic
Cache Valley (9-0) 21 Red River State (9-1-1) 16 Desert Classic
Coastal California (7-2-2) 15 Commonwealth Catholic (8-2) 10 San Joaquin Classic
North Carolina Tech (9-2) 27 Flagstaff State (6-3-1) 10 Pacific Coast Classic
Mile High State (9-2) 31 Abilene Baptist (8-3) 28 Southwestern Classic
LUCKY DOGS! WOLVES WIN FABL DRAFT LOTTERY
The Toronto Wolves might have suffered through a terrible season on the field but there was at least some light at the end of the tunnel as the Wolves, despite long odds against them, landed the number one pick in the 1947 FABL draft lottery. The Wolves had less than an 8% chance of being the lucky winner out of the 7 Continental Association clubs (excluding the pennant winning New York Stars) to earn the number one pick. The Chicago Cougars and Philadelphia Sailors each had a 23% chance but they ended up 5th and 9th in the opening round. Continental Association clubs get the odd picks, including #1 overall, in an odd draft year while Federal Association clubs vye for the first overall in even years.
Here is the full lottery results of rounds 1 and 2. Rounds 3 thru 25 are based on order of finish and not part of the lottery.
Round 1:
1- Toronto Wolves
2- Pittsburgh Miners
3- Brooklyn Kings
4- Detroit Dynamos
5- Chicago Cougars
6- Boston Minutemen
7- Cleveland Foresters
8- New York Gothams
9- Philadelphia Sailors
10- Brooklyn Kings (trade with Chicago Chiefs)
11- Cincinnati Cannons
12- Philadelphia Keystones
13- Montreal Saints
14- St Louis Pioneers
15- New York Stars
16- Brooklyn Kings (trade with Washington Eagles)
ROUND 2:
17- Cleveland Foresters
18- Detroit Dynamos (trade with Boston Minutemen)
19- Philadelphia Sailors
20- Pittsburgh Miners
21- Chicago Cougars
22- New York Gothams
23- Toronto Wolves
24- St Louis Pioneers
25- Brooklyn Kings
26- Detroit Dynamos
27- Montreal Saints
28- Chicago Chiefs
29- Cincinnati Cannons
30- Philadelphia Keystones
31- New York Stars
32- Washington Eagles
COUGARS FINALLY MOVE RILEY
After Months Shopping Vet, Dispatched to Eagles
It finally happened. News that Chicago Cougars were trying to move veteran pitcher Bill Riley seemed like a daily occurrence almost since the final pitch of the World Championship Series and the Cougars finally found a club willing to take the 32-year-old righthander in the Washington Eagles.
It is not that Riley is a bad pitcher by any stretch of the imagination but he is prone to giving up longballs and served up 12 of them in his final 10 starts of last season after surrendering just 5 in his first 19 starts. That leads to speculation that perhaps Riley has lost a little movement and add that to the fact that many feel his 17-7 record last season was greatly enhanced by a strong defense behind him. Whether he can thrive on the Washington mound remains to be seen, but Riley certainly fills a hole in the Eagles rotation left by the retirement of 1945 Allen Award winner Lou Ellertson.
Had they been unable to move Riley, the Cougars would almost assuredly have been forced to move him to the bullpen, if not place him on waivers, as it was clear they needed to make room for Duke Bybee in an already crowded rotation. The Cougars did manage to get quite a haul for a player they really had no roster spot for.
Heading to the Chicago organization are defense-first 2b/3b Jim Jenkins, Washington's 4th round pick and a pair of very good prospects in Mike Bordes and Rupert Abbott. Bordes and Abbott each fall just outside of the top 100 prospects but both appear to have a lot of upside. Bordes just turned 21 years of age and did not look out of place catching at the AA level a year ago. Abbott is also 21 and gifted with speed and tremendous defense that makes the centerfielder look like a future ideal lead-off man. A fourth round pick out of Opelika State last summer, he dominated Class B pitching in his two months as a pro last season.
CHICAGO IS THE NEW CITY OF BROTHERLY LOVE
Forget Philadelphia, Brother Acts Lead Cougars, Packers
There have been some great brother acts as teammates through the years led by the 4 Barrell boys (Tom, Fred, Harry and Dan) who helped the Brooklyn Kings to dominance in the mid-thirties or the Cleaves brothers (George and Jack) who teamed in Pittsburgh for a stretch but no city in recent memory has seen brother acts as key contributors to not one, but two of its major sports teams. That is until the city of Chicago stepped up with baseball's Jones boys uniting with the Cougars now that the war is over while the Burns brothers have long since excelled for the hockey Packers.
The Fort William born duo of Tommy and Wes Burns joined the Packers in time for the 1940-41 season and have starred ever since. Tommy, a 26 year old center iceman, is four years younger than his big brother and has blossomed into one of the best players in the sport. His 113 goals since joining the Packers as a 20 year old is the second most scored by any player over that span and he was rewarded for a tremendous 57 point campaign a year ago with his first McDaniels Trophy as the North American Hockey Confederation's Most Valuable Player. This season he is off to an exceptional start with 6 goals and 14 points in just 5 games.
Big brother Wes Burns, 30, is not quite the dominant force that Tommy has become, but he pairs exceptionally well with his brother and scored 50 points a year ago -a career best for the captain of the Packers. The duo is actually a trio as they like to joke that their longtime right winger Marty Mahoney, a 25-year-old Edmonton native who debuted along with the brothers in 1940, is actually a long-lost Burns brother. The way the three anticipate each other's moves on the ice you would almost believe it was true. The Chicago Packers have never won a Challenge Cup, and not reached the Cup Finals since 1931, but the Burns brothers -both the actual brothers and honourary sibling Mahoney might just change that one day.
Much the same can be said at Cougars Park where a pair of brothers are at the forefront of a collection of dominant pitchers. Donnie and Johnnie Jones grew up in Minnesota, really not all that far away from the Thunder Bay home of the Burns family. Neither began his pro baseball career in the Windy City but both were acquired by the Cougars through trades in 1939. Each made a brief big league debut in the summer of 1941 -just months after the Burns boys began to delight ice fans at the city's Lakeside Auditorium. Unlike the Burns boys, the Jones brothers ended up putting sports on hold as each served in the US Army before both were reunited in the Cougars rotation last season and each excelled to the point where the pair was invited to participate in the mid-season All-Star Game. They have a lot of company, most notably two-time Allen Award winner Pete Papenfus, but Donnie and Johnnie Jones are part of a deep pitching staff that is being counted on to lead the Cougars to their first World Championship Series victory since 1931 -just a few months before the Packers last reached the Challenge Cup finals.
Philadelphia might be known as the City of Brotherly Love, but all of Chicago would love to see both sets of brothers bring long-awaited ice and diamond crowns to the Windy City.
CITY COLLEGE WINS EAST-WEST CLASSIC
It has been a great start to 1947 for sports fans in the Motor City. The big news happened on New Years Day when Detroit City College outscored CCLA 38-21 to win the Knights first East-West Classic. It makes it two in a row for Classic wins and a 3rd straight year finishing in the top twenty of the college grid rankings.
The best news of all is that Johnny Matthews, who ran for 107 yards and 3 majors to ring in the New Year, is just a junior and the Detroit native will be back to lead the Knights on to hopefully a return trip to Santa Ana a year from now. Fullback Bill Erdinger will be gone, lost to graduation, but the other half of the Peoria pair will be back as his younger brother Paul, who came on nicely at quarterback as the season progressed, was just a sophomore this year. And in the fact that the DCC cage crew is off to a 9-2 start and holds down the #7 spot in the collegiate basketball rankings after a win over Western State yesterday and all is very well on campus.
*** Motors Firing on all Cylinders ***
Turning to the ice, the Detroit Motors are a huge surprise with an 11-5-4 record that has Mark Moore's crew riding high atop the NAHC standings. Moore was very much on the hot seat entering the season after missing the playoffs by a single point when he was being brought in to replace the popular Jack Barrell after he was dismissed for doing the same the previous season. Lacking top level scoring punch, Morris has built his team on sound defense with the addition of Bryant Williams and Joe Todd from Toronto, who combine with veteran Shel Herron to give the Motors arguably the best trio of defenders in the loop. Having 23-year-old goaltender Henri Chasse stand on his head most nights has not hurt things at all either.
*** Dynamos Have Some Lottery Luck ***
Perhaps the best news of all this week happened in the boardroom and not on the playing surface. We are referring to the FABL draft lottery and the Detroit Dynamos have to be thrilled with the way it played out. Despite having very low odds, the Dynamos number was drawn second among Fed clubs meaning the Detroit nine will own the 4th pick in the draft. They also claimed the second pick of round two (18th overall) courtesy of the trade that sent Rip Curry and Art White to the Minutemen.
It is no secret the Dynamos covet pitching but odds are the player they -and pretty much everyone else- wants will be long gone before Detroit's turn comes up. That would be Les Ledbetter, the 18-year-old from nearby Fowlerville (about halfway between Detroit and Lansing) with the golden arm. The Fowlerville High star was named the best high school player in the nation last year and seems a lock to go number one to Toronto. The only thing that might change that is the fact the Wolves have a lot of pitching already and there are some quality bats in the mix for top selection as well. But even if Toronto passes on the Ledbetter, there is no way Pittsburgh, picking second, will let a chance to get the next Lefty Allen pass them by.
Detroit management was non-commital on who the Dynamos are targeting. "It is all very fluid right now," explained Dynamos Scouting Director Fred Barrell, "but we have half a dozen players we really like in this draft so picking four suits us perfectly."
DEFENSE LEADS DETROIT MOTORS TO TOP SPOT
After missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons the Detroit Motors have taken over top spot in the North American Hockey Conference thanks to the best defense in the league. Led by the outstanding play of 23-year-old goaltender Henri Chasse, who already has notched 4 shutouts, and veteran rearguard Shel Herron the Motors have surrendered the fewest goals against this season and at 26 points hold a 1-point lead on the defending champion Boston Bees.
The defense-first attitude for Detroit has been one born out of necessity as the Motors lack the big-time offensive performer that most other teams seem to possess at least one of. Boston, for example, has a mighty first line led by Tommy Hart, Wilbur Chandler and Jacob Gron who have combined for 56 points already this season as well as a strong season from second line winger Joe Morey, who is among the league leaders with 18 points. There is some cause for concern in Boston as Chandler has gone 5 games without a point and Gron -the 23-year-old second year star with 21 points in 19 games- hurt his back in Friday's loss in Brooklyn and there are fears he might miss significant time.
The Toronto Dukes have finally climbed out of the basement as it appears the trade that sent Larry Albers to New York two weeks ago has had the desired shake-up effect. Since the move the Dukes, who had the best regular season record a year ago, have gone 4-2 and overtaken New York for 6th place. The Shamrocks have struggled since the trade but it is hard to blame Albers, as the 27 year old pivot has 7 points in 5 games with the Greenshirts. As for the Dukes, the player they acquired in the deal -23 year old defenseman Philippe Dubois- was injured in his third game with the club and will likely miss the rest of the regular season.
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NAHC STANINGS
TEAM GP W L T PTS
Detroit Motors 20 11 5 4 26
Boston Bees 19 11 5 3 25
Montreal Valiants 18 9 6 3 21
Chicago Packers 20 8 7 5 21
Brooklyn Eagles 21 7 11 3 17
Toronto Dukes 21 6 12 3 15
New York Shamrocks 19 6 12 1 13
SCORING LEADERS
NAME TEAM GP G A PTS
Tommy Burns CHI 20 12 15 27
Quiton Pollack BKN 21 15 9 24
Sam Coates BKN 21 7 16 23
Orval Cabbell NY 19 13 9 22
Bobbie Sauer TOR 21 9 12 21
Jacob Gron BOS 19 5 16 21
Tommy Hart BOS 18 11 9 20
Wes Burns CHI 20 10 9 19
Glen Whitley MON 18 10 8 18
Joe Morey BOS 19 9 9 18
Mahlon Klein TOR 18 5 13 18
Larry Albers NY 20 4 14 18
GOALIE LEADERS
NAME TEAM W L T ShO GAA
Henri Chasse DET 11-5-4 4 2.45
Norm Hanson CHI 8-7-2 2 2.61
Pierre Melancon BOS 7-5-3 1 2.81
Tom Brockers BKN 7-10-3 1 2.86
Millard Touhey MON 6-5-3 0 3.09
Etienne Tremblay NY 5-10-1 1 3.51
Gordie Broadway TOR 5-12-1 0 3.63
AROUND THE LEAGUE
- Clarence Skinner had a 4-point night for Montreal recently, notching a hat trick and a helper in a 6-5 win over Chicago. He was just 2 shy of the modern (post-1940) NAHC record for points in a game accomplished by several payers.
- Chicago's Tommy Burns, winner of the McDaniels Trophy as top player a year ago, was off to a hot start this season but has slowed of late. The 26 year old has 12 goals and a league best 27 points but has not scored in the last 5 games and has just 2 assists in his last four. It is no coincidence the Packers are just 1-3-1 over that 5-game stretch.
- Detroit goaltender Henri Chasse is on a pace to tie Tom Brockers' single season shutout record. The 23 year old Motors netminder recorded his fourth goose egg a week ago in a 3-0 win over Brooklyn. His opposite number that night was Tom Brockers, who holds the record when he had 9 shutouts while with Boston in 1941-42.
COAST CONFERENCE LOOKING TO MAKE MARK
Going into the season many collegiate basketball observers expected big things from a number of teams in the West Coast Athletic Association and so far, the coast clubs have done nothing to disappoint. Led by top ranked Rainer College and fellow unbeaten Northern California the WCAA presently counts five of its member schools in the top eleven of this week's collegiate poll.
The top ranked Majestics are 10-0 and have really only had one close call so far this season in a 3 point win on the road against Gates University a little over a week ago. The Northern California Miners won 3 games last week and are now 12-0 and up to fourth in the rankings. The Majestics and Miners are two of only 3 schools in the nation -Indiana A&M is the other- that has yet to be beaten this season. CC Los Angeles, Redwood University and Lane State are ranked 9th,10th and 11th and not for behind is Coastal California, holding down the 17th spot with an 8-2 record.
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[b] AIAA COLLEGIATE BASKETBALL TOP TWENTY-FIVE
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference
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1. Rainier College (72) 10-0 1800 1 West Coast Athletic Association
2. Carolina Poly 12-1 1726 3 South Atlantic Conference
3. Liberty College 14-3 1620 2 Indy
4. Northern California 12-0 1514 6 West Coast Athletic Association
5. Indiana A&M 9-0 1491 4 Great Lakes Alliance
6. Noble Jones College 11-2 1363 13 Deep South Conference
7. Detroit City College 9-2 1348 15 Great Lakes Alliance
8. Central Ohio 8-2 1300 8 Great Lakes Alliance
9. CC Los Angeles 9-2 1209 12 West Coast Athletic Association
10. Redwood 9-1 1115 14 West Coast Athletic Association
11. Lane State 8-2 1107 10 West Coast Athletic Association
12. Lexington State 11-1 1096 5 South Atlantic Conference
13. St. Blane 12-3 901 23 Indy
14. St. Ignatius 9-1 792 19 Great Lakes Alliance
15. Chesapeake State 8-2 778 22 South Atlantic Conference
16. Bronx Tech 9-1 650 17 Liberty Conference
17. Coastal California 8-2 620 25 West Coast Athletic Association
18. Columbia Military Academy 7-1 589 21 South Atlantic Conference
19. Miami State 13-3 525 NR Indy
20. North Carolina Tech 9-3 444 7 South Atlantic Conference
21. Mobile Maritime 7-2 401 24 South Atlantic Conference
22. Western Iowa 9-2 383 9 Great Lakes Alliance
23. Payne State 10-2 246 NR Midwestern Association
24. Maryland State 8-2 119 16 South Atlantic Conference
25. Central Kentucky 9-2 89 NR Deep South Conference
RESULTS INVOLVING TOP 25 SCHOOLS LAST WEEK
MONDAY DECEMBER 30
at #9 CC Los Angeles 41, Topeka State 29
at #6 Noble Jones College 65, #20 North Carolina Tech 55
at #12 Lexington State 53, College of San Diego 39
at #3 Liberty College 50, Brunswick 39
at #19 Miami State 43, American Atlantic 26
at #22 Western Iowa 47, Lubbock State 39
at #1 Rainier College 49, Dickson 23
#23 Payne State 46, at Baton Rouge State 34
#25 Central Kentucky 46, at Central Carolina 34
TUESDAY DECEMBER 31
at #11 Lane State 57, Commonwealth Catholic 26
at #4 Northern California 39, Freemont State 32
at #17 Coastal California 41, Sunnyvale 39
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 1
at #18 Columbia Military Academy 47, Needham 43
at #15 Chesapeake State 44, Western Montana 28
at #8 Central Ohio 63, Grant (IN) 31
Kansas Agricultural 56, at #22 Western Iowa 46
at #13 St. Blane 48, #24 Maryland State 35
at #7 Detroit City College 46, Harper College 45
at #5 Indiana A&M 40, Harrisburg State 28
Cumberland 50, at #12 Lexington State 41
THURSDAY JANUARY 2
#16 Bronx Tech 57, at Bardney 46
Ellery 45, at #3 Liberty College 36
at #17 Coastal California 48, College of San Diego 38
#10 Redwood 68, at California Catholic 62
FRIDAY JANUARY 3
at #14 St. Ignatius 45, North Central (NE) 30
#18 Columbia Military Academy 43, at Alabama Baptist 39
at #19 Miami State 54, Western Florida 34
#21 Mobile Maritime 45, at St Andrews College 34
at #4 Northern California 39, Provo Tech 36
at #2 Carolina Poly 42, Henry Hudson 13
SATURDAY JANUARY 4
at #13 St. Blane 51, NW New York State 49
at #22 Western Iowa 57, Topeka State 34
#6 Noble Jones College 62, at Brunswick 35
SUNDAY JANUARY 5
at #14 St. Ignatius 42, Harper College 40
at #19 Miami State 32, Coastal State 30
#4 Northern California 38, at Commonwealth Catholic 30
at #10 Redwood 40, Kit Carson University 36
at #7 Detroit City College 57, Western State 46
at #12 Lexington State 49, Three Rivers State 32
at #24 Maryland State 40, Huntington State 35
TOP FIGHTERS IN EACH WEIGHT CLASS
Here is the latest list of the top six fighters in each of the three weight division sanctioned by the American Boxing Federation as will as the ABF World Champion title history for each class.
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ABF HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS
YEARS FIGHTER HOMETOWN Bouts as Champ
1910-1913 Lennie Greerson Chicago, IL 6
1913-1914 Wilbur Maynard Brooklyn, NY 2
1914-1917 Jack Coulston Rochester, NY 5
1917 Eddie Tucker Philadelphia, PA 1
1917-1922 Alvin Carbey Hartford, CT 11
1922-1924 Joe Pandy Binghamton, NY 3
1924-1928 Mack Moody Denver, CO 7
1929-1930 Rex Campbell New York, NY 2
1930-1932 Herm Murphy England 3
1932-1935 Roscoe McGrath Los Angeles, CA 5
1935-1936 Harley Thomas New York, NY 2
1936-1940 Jochen Schrotter Germany 4
1940-curr Hector Sawyer New Orleans,La 6
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ABF MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONS
YEARS FIGHTER HOMETOWN Bouts as Champ
1909-1910 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 1
1910-1911 Battling Billy Baker Philadelphia, PA 2
1911-1912 Ken Brekke Duluth, MN 3
1912-1913 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 2
1913 Ken Brekee Duluth, MN 1
1913-1914 Bob Brinkman London, England 2
1914 Abe Campbell Detroit, MI 1
1914-1916 Mike Burtenshaw Jeresey City, NJ 4
1916-1918 Dave Byler San Francisco, Ca 3
1918 Bob Brinkman London, England 1
1919-1920 Tony Rump Toledo, OH 2
1920-1929 Ray Pizzuto New York, NY 15
1929-1933 Elden Breeden Wichita, KA 7
1933-1940 Jorge Cuellar Spain 8
1940 vacant
1941-1945 Archie Rees Tadcaster, England 3
1945-pres Frank Melanson Pittsburgh, PA 3
Code:
YEARS FIGHTER HOMETOWN Bouts as Champ
1916-1917 Larry Growney New Bedford, MA 2
1917-1919 'Little' Lenny Werner Cleveland, OH 3
1919-1927 George Grainger Peoria, IL 16
1927-1928 Tim McCord New York, NY 1
1928-1932 Andy Clavin Brooklyn, NY 4
1932-1933 Doug 'Tornado' Thomas Oklahoma City, OK 2
1933-1940 Jimmy 'Kid' Simpson England 14
1940-1945 vacant
1945-46 Dennis O'Keefe Jacksonville, FL 1
1946 Mark Westlake Biloxi, MS -
UPCOMING MAJOR FIGHTS- Jan 18- Detroit, Mi: World Heavyweight Champ Hector Sawyer (54-3-1) faces top contender Mark Fountain (21-2-1)
- Jan 30- Union City, NJ: Rising welterweight Danny Rutledge (7-0) vs John Bolton (0-0)
- Feb 13 - New York City: Middleweight contender John Edmonds (21-2) vs Jack Rainey (22-3)
- Feb 22- St Louis, Mo: World Welterweight Champ Mark Westlake (20-2-1) vs Harold Stephens (18-3-2)
- Feb 24- Waterbury,Ct: Rising welterweight Ira Mitchell (15-1) vs Mitchell McFadden (23-6)
- Feb 25- Lakeside Arena, Chicago: Welterweight Carl Taylor (21-3-2) vs George Gibbs (16-2)
- March TBA - Middlweight champion Frank Melanson (31-0-2) vs Nick Harris (19-2-1)
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 1/05/1947
- President Truman proclaimed the end of hostilities of WWII at noon on December 31, thereby wiping out immediately 18 wartime statutes and limiting the life of 33 others. The proclamation did not terminate the state of war itself nor the states of emergency declared by President Roosevelt on September 8, 1939 and May 27, 1941.
- The President's order will cut more than $700 million from next year's tax bill including taxes on liquor, admissions to theatre and sporting events and public transportation.
- Senator Bilbo, D. Ms., at the center of two Senate investigations, was barred temporarily from taking his oath of office as the Senate convened. Members of his own party unexpectedly joining Republicans in the move.
- An official source says that Britain is prepared to give "full and serious consideration" to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
- A record 1.5 million jammed the streets of Santa Ana to witness the annual New Year's Day East-West Classic parade.