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######## surrounding the article denotes it is a press release, it was not written by Leasing News nor has the information been verified, but from the source noted. When an article is signed by the writer, it is considered a byline. It reflects the opinion and research of the writer.

Maxim Commercial Capital Doubled Fundings in Q3 2023
Demand increased for 2nd lien mortgages to fund working capital

Maxim Commercial Capital (“Maxim”) announced robust demand across its diverse financing programs for the third quarter of 2023. The hard asset secured lender reported a 100% year-over-year increase in truck financings for the period. Furthermore, it experienced a surge in demand for second-lien mortgages to refinance Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) loans and to support working capital..

Michael Kianmahd, Maxim’s Executive Vice President, said, “The current climate of healthy residential real estate valuations, coupled with low-cost first mortgages and conservative banking practices, makes our Real Estate and Structured Finance programs highly appealing.

“Many homeowners don’t realize they have liquidity in their homes that can be tapped to grow their businesses, often at significantly less expense than MCA loans.”

Behzad Kianmahd, Maxim’s Chairman and CEO, said, “Fortunately, the used truck market has softened in light of the current economic volatility. We are committed to helping hard-working truck drivers stay on the road, earning a living.

“The current economic volatility has improved truck pricing while also causing some lenders to retract, creating an opportunity for Maxim to fill a void.”

Maxim’s credit matrix featuring lower down payments for truck owner-operators, ranging from better credit to subprime borrowers, continued to prove popular among loan brokers and truck vendors in Q3 2023.

Truck financings during the period included 75% purchase financing for an experienced owner-operator with a 607 FICO to buy a 2018 Peterbilt 579 with 399K miles for $58,695; 68% purchase financing for an owner-operator with a 593 FICO to buy a 2019 Peterbilt 579 with 547k miles for $62,250; and 71% financing for a start-up owner-operator with a 618 FICO to buy a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia with 465K miles for $51,275.

As a leading provider of transportation equipment financing, Maxim supports startup and experienced owner-operators and non-CDL small fleet owners by funding loans and leases for class 8 and class 6 trucks, trailers, and reefers.

Broker Inquiries:
Dana Freeman
213-425-3163
dana@maximcc.com

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Federal Reserve System Beige Reports
Overall economic activity relatively unchanged

Five of the Twelve Districts reported slight or modest increases in overall activity, six noted no change or slight declines, and one cited a significant decline. On balance, contacts generally expected little growth in the months ahead. Consumer spending increased slightly, with some retailers reporting more robust sales over the holidays.

Other retailers noted that high inflation continued to reduce consumers' purchasing power, particularly among low- and moderate-income households. Auto sales were flat on average, but some dealers noted that increased vehicle availability had boosted sales.

Tourism contacts reported moderate to robust activity augmented by strong holiday travel.

Manufacturers indicated that activity declined modestly on average, and, in many Districts, reported that supply chain disruptions had eased. Housing markets continued to weaken, with sales and construction declining across Districts.

Commercial real estate activity slowed slightly, on average, with more notable weakening in the office market. Nonfinancial services firms experienced stable demand on balance.

Most bankers reported that residential mortgage demand remained weak, and some said higher borrowing costs had begun to dampen commercial lending. Energy activity continued to increase moderately, and agriculture conditions were generally unchanged or improving.

Full Reports of the 12 Districts
https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/beigebook202301.htm

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Wintrust Financial Corporation Reports Record
Year-to-Date Net Income

ROSEMONT, Ill., -- Wintrust Financial Corporation (“Wintrust”, “the Company”, “we” or “our”) (Nasdaq: WTFC) announced record net income of $499.1 million or $7.71 per diluted common share for the first nine months of 2023 compared to net income of $364.9 million or $5.78 per diluted common share for the same period of 2022, an increase in diluted earnings per common share of 33%. Pre-tax, pre-provision income (non-GAAP) for the first nine months of 2023 totaled $751.3 million as compared to $536.3 million in the first nine months of 2022, an increase in pre-tax, pre-provision income of 40%.

The Company recorded quarterly net income of $164.2 million or $2.53 per diluted common share for the third quarter of 2023, an increase in diluted earnings per common share of 6% compared to the second quarter of 2023 and 14% compared to the third quarter of 2022. Pre-tax, pre-provision income (non-GAAP) totaled $244.8 million as compared to $239.9 million for the second quarter of 2023 and $206.5 million for the third quarter of 2022.

Timothy S. Crane, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “As demonstrated by our strong results, we followed our record first half of 2023 with continued momentum in the third quarter of 2023. We leveraged our position in the markets we serve to sustain growth in loans and deposits during the quarter.”

Additionally, Mr. Crane noted, “Our net interest margin for the quarter was within our expected range, down slightly due primarily to the impact of hedging activities. In the current interest rate environment, we expect to maintain our net interest margin within a narrow range around current levels for the remainder of 2023 and continuing into the beginning of 2024. We believe this growth and stability in net interest margin will drive strong financial performance in future quarters.”

Highlights of the third quarter of 2023:

Comparative information to the second quarter of 2023, unless otherwise noted

Total deposits grew by approximately $1 billion, or 9% annualized.
Total loans increased by approximately $423 million, or 4% annualized. Adjusting for the impact of a loan sale transaction within our property and casualty insurance premium finance receivables portfolio during the third quarter of 2023, total loans would have increased $767 million, or 7% annualized.

Record quarterly net interest income of $462.4 million, increasing approximately $14.8 million primarily due to strong growth in earning assets.

Full Press Release:

https://ir.wintrust.com/investor-news-events/press-releases/news-details/2023/Wintrust-Financial-Corporation-Reports-Record-Year-to-Date-Net-Income-27868e2b3/default.aspx

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National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA)
Elects Tarry Shebesta, 2024 President

Cincinnati, OH – At the annual conference of the National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA) held in Austin, TX, Tarry Shebesta, CEO of Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS), was elected NVLA President for the 2024/2025 term. Shebesta last served as NVLA president in 2007/2008, the only member ever elected to a second term.

Shebesta has been an active NVLA board member since 2002. Last year Shebesta Received the NVLA Clemens-Pender Award, the association’s highest honor being recognized for having the industry’s highest standards of professional conduct, dedication, hard work, and ethics.

He stated, “My priorities are to expand membership types to include new/used car dealers, lenders, and Lease Here Pay Here dealers, and expand our lease educational programs.

“Other areas of attention include enhancing relationships with auto manufacturers, addressing legal issues affecting the leasing industry, and expanding NVLA’s Women in Leasing networking group.”

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Watch at Home
by Fernando Croce, Leasing News Movie Reviewer

Special Halloween Edition, Part Two

In the second part of our seasonal frightfest, we continue with more choice Halloween pictures. So enjoy your own cinematic night of tricks and treats!

The Seventh Victim (1943): In such classics as "Cat People" and "The Body Snatcher," refined producer Val Lewton created a new form of horror film based on poetic suggestiveness rather than hideous spectacle. Among his masterpieces is this subtle yet unsettling combination of thriller and film noir, which centers on the discoveries of Mary (Kim Hunter, in her film debut), a young student embarking on an investigation of her own. Looking for her missing sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks), she stumbles upon a cult of devil worshippers in Greenwich Village. Helped by her sister's husband (Hugh Beaumont), a poet (Erford Gage) and psychiatrist (Tom Conway), Mary hopes to rescue her before it's too late. Directed by Mark Robson, this exceptional film exudes a mood of quotidian dread that's surely influenced later works like "Rosemary's Baby."

Village of the Damned (1960): Children take over in this chilling screen version of John Wyndham’s novel “The Midwich Cuckoos.” Something’s amiss in the quiet British village of Midwich, where one day the townsfolk all fall unconscious at the same time. The mysterious sleep has bizarre consequences, as months later the women give birth to a brood of strange children with platinum hair and glowing eyes. Led by David (Martin Stephens), these children display a cold lack of emotions and telepathic powers that thwart attempts by local adults to subdue them. Professor Gordon Zellaby (George Sanders) at first tries to study them, but when he learns about their inhuman plans, realizes that it’s up to him to put an end to this nightmare. The slow-burning results are subtle and atmospheric.

Martin (1977): Though forever associated with his such cult zombie classics, director George A. Romero (“Night of the Living Dead”) also made many underrated horror gems that blur genre lines. That’s the case with this remarkable, low-budget drama, which uses vampire tropes to explore the painful solitude of its characters. The eponymous protagonist (played by John Amplas) is a disturbed young man who, convinced that he’s a bloodsucker, attacks people with razors. After he moves to a small town with his superstitious uncle (Lincoln Maazel), Martin becomes friends with Mrs. Santini (Elyane Nadeau), a fellow lost soul. Can their bond shine a light on their dark lives? Taking a disturbing and surprisingly tender look at alienated people, old myths and new horrors, Romero’s film is a little-known masterwork.

The Beyond (1981): A specialist in gruesome surrealism, controversial Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci offered some of horror cinema’s most indelible, stomach-churning visions. Arguably his masterpiece, this memorable, New Orleans-set shocker engulfs viewers with the feeling of a true waking nightmare. The setting is the Seven Doors Hotel, a Southern building that hides a portal into a demonic netherworld. Moving in after inheriting the place, Liza (Catriona MacColl) deals with an onslaught of strange characters and creatures, ranging from a mysterious blind woman (Cinzia Monreale) to an attack of ravenous tarantulas. With the help of the local doctor (David Warbeck), she races to seal the gateway before it’s too late for them—and maybe the world. Dispensing with logic in favor of uncanny imagery, Fulci’s cult classic is a grisly blast.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990): Best known for erotic gloss like “Fatal Attraction” and “Indecent Proposal,” director Adrian Lyne goes gothic in this intense tale about the blurry zones separating life and death. Jacob Singer (Tim Robbins) is a timid war veteran who, ever since coming home from combat in Vietnam, struggles to readjust to life. Working in New York as a mailman and living with his girlfriend, Jezzie (Elizabeth Pena), Jacob is plagued by horrific visions that combine flashbacks to the battlefield with demonic hallucinations. Even with help from Jezzie and his friend Louie (Danny Aiello), Jacob finds himself falling deeper and deeper into the abyss. Using his trademark visual slickness to gradually reveal traces of supernatural rot, Lyne unleashes potent shocks that build to a climactic twist.

Fernando Croce is a nationally recognized film reviewer and has been contributing to Leasing News since 2008. His reviews appear each Friday.

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This Day in History

    1767 - Boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason Dixon line, was agreed upon, a major step in establishing “state” territories.
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0832111.html
http://www.gamber.net/gamber/mason-dx.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0410_020410_TVmasondixon.html
http://www.appalachiantales.com/masondixon.htm
    1775 - Falmouth, the original capital of Maine (later to be called Portsmouth) burned by British
http://www.mainehistory.org/facts/Falmouth_Fire.pdf
    1776 - At the Battle of Pelham, Col. John Glover and the Marblehead regiment with 750 soldiers collided with British Forces in the Bronx. Sir William Howe, Commander-in-Chief of the British army, landed 4,000 English and Hessian troops near the stables on Pelham Parkway in an action which became the first permanent invasion of the American mainland in the American Revolution. Howe's objective was to outflank the American army by marching west across today's Bronx along the Boston Post Road. This would also cut off Washington's vital supply route from New England and enable the British to surround Washington and quickly end the rebellion. However, 600 seamen considered to be the first “Marines,” from the Boston area, led by Colonel John Glover, and fighting from behind Pelham Manor's stone walls put an end to Howe's plan and saved Washington's army. The main significance of the Battle of Pelham lay in the fact that it bought time for Washington to remove the American army from an extremely perilous position and to retreat to White Plains. It is for this reason that the Battle of Pelham has been called the battle that saved the American Revolution.
http://1-14th.com/GenGlover.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/gunnyg/vignettes22.html
http://www.speakeasy.org/~docschlk/glover.htm
http://www.marblehead.com/glovers/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0883890577/avsearch-bkasin-20/
103-9138784-6331807
    1836 - Birthday of Ellen Browning Scripps (d. 1932), born London, England. Assisted her brother in numerous ways on his way to acquiring the Detroit Evening News and was a Jane-of-all-trades from proof to writing to make it a success. She then turned all of her energies and money to helping her brother Edward who was beginning a newspaper career in Cleveland. Through wise investments in newspapers as well as real estate, she became a multi-millionaire whose philanthropic works included the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla (both with Edward), then singly endowed the Scripps College for Women in Claremont, CA., and helped establish the San Diego Zoo.
http://www.sandiegohistory.org/bio/scripps/ebscripps.htm
    1842 - The first telegraph cable was laid by Samuel Morse in New York Harbor between Battery and Governors Island. The next day, the cable stopped working when a ship, in raising its anchor, had caught and wrecked 200 feet of it. Another cable was laid the following year for commercial use by Samuel Colt. It was insulated with cotton yarn, beeswax, and asphaltum encased in a lead pipe, and connected New York City with both fire Island and Coney Island.
    1859 - U.S. Marines reach Harper's Ferry, VA and assault the arsenal seized by John Brown and his followers. Colonel Robert E. Lee has Lieutenant JEB Stuart carry a note to Brown demanding his surrender. Brown refuses and closes and bars the doors of the Engine House. Stuart waves his hat up and down as a signal to begin the assault. The Marines attack the doors with sledgehammers, but to no effect. They find a heavy ladder and use that as a battering ram. In two blows, they create a small opening in the right hand door which is split, and they storm into the building. Lieutenant Israel Green, who leads the assault, attacks Brown with the dress sword he brought by mistake from Washington. The sword, which was never meant for combat, bends on Brown’s leather belt. Green grasps the sword by the ruined blade and hits Brown over the head with it, knocking him unconscious. The raid is over.
       1863 - Union General Daniel Sickles returns to visit his old command, the Third Corps of the Army of the Potomac. He was recovering from the loss of his leg at Gettysburg and the visit turned sour when the army's commander, General George Meade, informed Sickles that he would not be allowed to resume command until he completely recovered from his injury at Gettysburg. Meade posted Sickles' troops at the left end of the Union line. The Army of the Potomac was arranged in a three-mile long, fishhook-shaped line on the top of Cemetery Ridge and Culp's Hill. On the morning of July 2, Sickles noticed that just in front of his position was a section of high ground. In his estimation, this rise could be used by the Confederates to shell the Union position. Sickles expressed confusion over his orders and three times Meade explained that Sickles was to hold the end of Cemetery Ridge. Sickles was unhappy with the explanation, failing to understand that Meade was fighting a defensive battle. He moved his corps forward anyway, and the move nearly cost the Union the battle. A furious Meade ordered Sickles to withdraw his troops, but the Confederates were already attacking. After heavy losses, the Third Corps moved back to Cemetery Ridge. Despite his wound, Sickles hurried back to Washington to conduct damage control. One of his first visitors was President Lincoln. Sickles was one of the few Democrats who welcomed Lincoln to Washington in 1861 and Lincoln remembered that gesture. Sickles gave his account of the battle and justified his move. He even claimed that his action prevented Meade from retreating and therefore prevented a Union defeat. This began a war of words between Meade and Sickles that lasted the rest of their lives. When the reports on the battle were filed that fall, Sickles did not fare well. Many, such as General Governor K. Warren and General-in-Chief Henry Halleck, blasted Sickles for his actions.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/sicklesbio.htm
    1867 - The American flag flew for the first time in Alaska, marking the formal transfer of this massive northern territory from Russia to the United States. Separated from the far eastern edge of the Russian empire by only the narrow Bering Strait, the Russians had been the first Europeans to significantly explore and develop Alaska. During the early 19th century, the state-sponsored Russian-American Company established the settlement of Sitka and began a lucrative fur trade with the Native Americans. However, Russian settlement in Alaska remained small, never exceeding more than a few hundred people. Seeing the giant Alaska territory as a chance to cheaply expand the size of the nation, William H. Seward, President Andrew Johnson's secretary of state, moved to arrange the purchase. Agreeing to pay a mere $7 million for some 591,000 square miles of land, a territory twice the size of Texas and equal to nearly a fifth of the continental United States, Seward secured the purchase of Alaska at the ridiculously low rate of less than 2¢ an acre. He was seriously criticized for the purchase and it took Congress over a year to approve as people called the land “nothing but an ice box.” The museum in Juneau, Alaska has a full collection of historic events.
    1870 - Chew Tilghman of Philadelphia, PA., received a patent for his invention of a sandblasting process for cleaning, engraving, cutting and boring glass, stone, metal and other hard substances.
    1873 - Football rules were formulated at a meeting held in New York City and attended by delegates from Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers, and Yale universities.
    1898 - The United States flag was raised in Puerto Rico.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct18.html
    1890 – John R. Owen, Jr. is first man to run 100 yard dash in under 10 seconds.
http://www.michtrack.org/HOF/hofowens.htm
    1900 - Birthday of Lotte Lenya, born Karoline Wilhelmine Blamauer (d. 1981), Vienna, Austria. Actress-singer, a star of the musical stage in pre- Hitler Berlin before fleeing to the United States, she popularized much of the music of her first husband's music, composer Kurt Weill. She starred in the stage version (1928) and then film (1931) of “The Threepenny Opera.” Following Weill's death and the increase of Hitler's anti-Jewish campaign, she immigrated to the U.S. and led a revival of Weill's works including the Three Penny for which she won the 1956 Tony award. She appeared in Broadway production of “Cabaret” (1966), in such films as “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone” (1961), but perhaps best known to American audiences as the Russian nurse Rosa Klebb with a knife in her shoes in "From Russia with Love" (1964).
http://www.tvtome.com/images/people/271/8/53-32178.jpg
http://www.kwf.org/pages/ll/llbio.html
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/PersonDetail/personid-271853
    1904 - Birthday of A.J. Liebling (d. 1963), New York, NY. American journalist and author who said, “Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.”
    1906 - A hurricane struck South Florida drowning 124 persons stranded in the Florida Keys.
    1906 - Birthday of James David Brooks (d. 1992), at St. Louis, MO. During the Depression, Brooks worked as a muralist in the Federal Art Project of the works Progress Administration. His best-known work of that period was “Flight,” a mural on the rotunda of the Marine Air Terminal at La Guardia National Airport in New York. It was painted over during the 1950s but restored in 1980. Brooks served with the US Army from 1942 to 1945. When he returned to New York, his interest shifted to abstract expressionism. His paintings were exhibited in the historical “Ninth Street Exhibition” as part of the Museum of Modern Arts exhibits “Twelve Americans” and “New American Painting,” among others.
    1908 - Birthday of author/writer Marshall Winslow Stearns (d. 1966), Cambridge , MA
http://www.keough.net/category/us/0195012690.html
    1918 – Birthday of pianist/songwriter Bobby Troup (d. 1999), Harrisburg, PA. Actor, jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter, he wrote the song “Route 66" and acted in the role of Dr. Joe Early with his wife Julie London in the television program “Emergency” in the 1970s.
http://www.emergencyfans.com/basement/articles/bio-troup.htm
http://www.emergencyfans.com/people/bobby_troup.htm
    1919 - Singer Anita O'Day, born Anita Belle Colton (d. 2006), Chicago , IL .
http://www.anitaoday.com/
http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/3898/anitabio.html
    1922 – “Robin Hood,”starring Douglas Fairbanks, opened at Grauman's Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Searchlights crossed the sky for the first time at a Hollywood premiere. As a publicity stunt two weeks before the premiere, Fairbanks had posed atop a New York hotel in costume, with bow and arrow, for photographers. He and several others shot arrows from the building and accidentally injured a man through an open window (the man agreed not to press charges). Fairbanks was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1883 and began appearing onstage in 1901. He married in 1907 and had one son, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., but the marriage ended in divorce. By 1915, he had switched to the fledgling film industry, where he was regularly cast as a swashbuckling hero. By 1918, he had appeared in more than 24 films. In 1919, Fairbanks teamed up with fellow stars Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford and director D.W. Griffith to launch the United Artists Corporation.
The following year, Fairbanks and Pickford married. As a wedding present for Pickford, Fairbanks bought an estate with 22 rooms on 18 acres, and Beverly Hills' first swimming pool. The couple dubbed the property "Pickfair."
Meanwhile, Fairbanks continued to star in the United Artists' films, including “The Three Musketeers” (1921), “Robin Hood” (1922), and “The Thief of Baghdad” (1924). Unlike many other early stars, Fairbanks successfully made the transition to sound, but his career faded as he aged. In 1933, he and Pickford divorced and, in 1936, he married the former Lady Sylvia Ashley, a chorus girl who had married an English lord. He died in 1939.
    1926 - Singer/guitarist/song writer Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry (d. 2017) born St. Louis, MO. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, with songs such as “Maybelline" (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), “Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and Johnny B. Goode" (1958), Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive. Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
http://home.swipnet.se/~w-20401/chuck/berry.htm
http://www.chuckberry.com/
http://www.history-of-rock.com/berry.htm
http://www.crlf.de/ChuckBerry/bibliography.html
http://www.rocksite.info/r-berry-chuck.htm
    1929 - The Judicial Committee of England's Privy Council ruled that women were to be considered as persons in Canada. Previously, under English common law, women were persons in matters of pains and penalties, but were not persons in matters of rights and privileges.
    1930 - A big, early season lake effect snowstorm on the lee shores of Lake Erie and Ontario dumped 48 inches of snow just south of Buffalo , NY and 47 inches at Gouverneur, NY.
    1935 - Tommy Dorsey cuts “ I'm Getting Sentimental Over You.”
    1941 - Humphrey Bogart movie "The Maltese Falcon" is released, from the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett.
http://www.filmsite.org/malt.html
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0033870/
http://www.awerty.com/maltese2.html
    1942 - Vice. Adm. William F. Halsey replaces Vice Adm. Robert L. Ghormley as commander, South Pacific. The man nicknamed "Bull" by the press began his military career as a destroyer commander during World War I. Halsey was made a captain at the age of 53, earned his naval aviator's wings, and was promoted to vice admiral in 1940. But it was the bombing of Pearl Harbor that would mark out his future for him. Halsey's task force was one of the few functioning battle groups left after the destruction of so much of the American fleet, placing him in the position of making the unpredictable and aggressive strategic decisions for which he would become renowned.
    1945 - Paul Robeson, African-American actor, singer, athlete and activist, receives NACCP Spingarn Medal
    1945 - THOMPSON, MAX, Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Haaren, Germany, 18 October 1944. Entered service at: Prescott, Ariz. Birth: Bethel, N.C. G.O. No.: 47, 18 June 1945. Citation: On 18 October 1944, Company K, 18th Infantry, occupying a position on a hill near Haaren, Germany, was attacked by an enemy infantry battalion supported by tanks. The assault was preceded by an artillery concentration, lasting an hour, which inflicted heavy casualties on the company. While engaged in moving wounded men to cover, Sgt. Thompson observed that the enemy had overrun the positions of the 3d Platoon. He immediately attempted to stem the enemy's advance single-handedly. He manned an abandoned machinegun and fired on the enemy until a direct hit from a hostile tank destroyed the gun. Shaken and dazed, Sgt. Thompson picked up an automatic rifle and although alone against the enemy force which was pouring into the gap in our lines. He fired burst after burst, halting the leading elements of the attack and dispersing those following. Throwing aside his automatic rifle, which had jammed, he took up a rocket gun, fired on a light tank, setting it on fire. By evening the enemy had been driven from the greater part of the captured position but still held 3 pillboxes. Sgt. Thompson's squad was assigned the task of dislodging the enemy from these emplacements. Darkness having fallen and finding that fire of his squad was ineffective from a distance, Sgt. Thompson crawled forward alone to within 20 yards of 1 of the pillboxes and fired grenades into it. The Germans holding the emplacement concentrated their fire upon him. Though wounded, he held his position fearlessly, continued his grenade fire, and finally forced the enemy to abandon the blockhouse. Sgt. Thompson's courageous leadership inspired his men and materially contributed to the clearing of the enemy from his last remaining hold on this important hill position.
    1950 - Top Hits
“Goodnight Irene” - The Weavers
“All My Love” - Patti Page
“Harbor Lights” - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Tony Alamo)
“I'm Moving On” - Hank Snow
    1953 - Willie Thrower becomes the first black NFL quarterback in modern times. (Blacks played football with whites during the reconstruction period, following the Civil War).
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/columnists/20020224finder0224p1.asp
http://sport.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4395488,00.html
http://www.pittsburghpa.net/sports/columnists/20020829finder4.asp
    1954 - "The Week in Religion" aired for the last time over Dumont television. First broadcast in March 1952, this ecumenical Sunday evening panel show divided the hour into 20-minute segments each for Protestant, Catholic and Jewish news.
    1956 - Football commissioner Bert Bell turned thumbs down on the use of radio-equipped helmets by NFL quarterbacks.
    1956 - Martina Navratilova was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. In 2005, Tennis magazine selected her as the greatest female tennis player for the years 1975 through 2005 and she is considered one of the best female tennis players of all time.
http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/sidjames/126/martina.html
http://www.wtatour.com/players/playerprofiles/playerbio.asp?PlayerID=140007
    1956 - Top Hits
“Rock-in Robin” - Bobby Day
“Tears on My Pillow” - Little Anthony and The Imperials
“Bird Dog” - The Everly Brothers
    1956 - A 21-year-old Elvis Presley pulls into a Memphis gas station where he starts to attract a crowd of autograph seekers. After repeatedly asking Elvis to move on so he can resume normal business, station manager Ed Hopper slaps Presley on the head and finds himself on the receiving end of a punch in the eye from Elvis. Station employee Aubrey Brown tries to help his boss but is no match for Presley. After police are called, Hopper and Brown are charged with assault and are eventually fined $25 and $15 respectively.
    1957 - “Colt 45,” Wade Preston starred in this ABC western as Christopher Colt, son of the inventor of the Colt revolver, and a government agent. Character actor Donald May replaced Preston and played the role of Sam Colt, Jr., Christopher's cousin, until early 1960 when Preston returned to the show. My father, Lawrence Menkin, wrote several of these episodes. He basically said the actor Wade Preston never caught on and theme was pretty lame and needed to be “wild,” but the producer would hear none of it.
    1958 - Top Hits
It's All in the Game - Tommy Edwards
Rock-in Robin - Bobby Day
Tears on My Pillow - Little Anthony and The Imperials
Bird Dog - The Everly Brothers
    1961 - The movie version of the Broadway musical “West Side Story” opens at New York 's Rivoli Theater. The musical, featuring music and lyrics by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, retold the story of Romeo and Juliet but set the action in contemporary New York. In the story, star-crossed lovers Maria and Tony are torn between their feuding cultures: Maria's brother leads a Puerto Rican gang that is at odds with Tony's Anglo gang. The movie won 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor and Actress.
    1961 - Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis born New Orleans, LA.
    1961 - "Le Bateau," by French painter Henri Matisse, went on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The painting attracted large numbers (over 100,000) of viewers. For 47 days, nobody realized that "Le Bateau" was hanging upside down.
    1966 - Top Hits
“Reach Out I'll Be There” - Four Tops
“Last Train to Clarksville” - The Monkees
“Psychotic Reaction” - Count Five
“Blue Side of Lonesome” - Jim Reeves
    1967 – American League votes to allow Athletics to move from Kansas City to Oakland and expand the league to 12 teams in 1971 with the addition of the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots. The Pilots relocated to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.
    1967 - Tamla-Motown releases Smokey Robinson & the Miracles "I Second That Emotion." The record climbs to #4 on the pop chart and Number One of the R&B, making it their biggest hit since "Shop Around" in 1960.
    1968 - Circus Circus Casino opened in Las Vegas “to attract all members of the family.” The football-field-sized casino and big top was a giant pink and white oval shaped circus tent across from the Riviera Hotel. To separate the gamblers from their kids, as required by law, a second level contained midway games and attractions for the tykes, but still in view of the circus acts. Circus Circus in Reno, Nevada is very popular with families, also due to the low prices of the rooms.
    1969 - The Temptations' "I Can't Get Next To You" hits #1
   1969 - At a Rock 'n' Roll revival concert at New York's Madison Square Garden, Bill Haley is given an eight minute standing ovation.
    1969 - The Jackson 5 make their US network TV debut on “Hollywood Palace.” The group includes Jackie (18), Tito (15), Jermaine (14), Marlon (12) and Michael (10).
    1971 - The final issue of "Look" magazine was published. It had been a must-see publication
    1972 - Overriding President Nixon's veto, Congress passed a $25 billion Water Pollution Control Act.
    1974 - Top Hits
“I Honestly Love You” - Olivia Newton-John
“Nothing from Nothing” - Billy Preston
“Then Came You” - Dionne Warwicke and Spinners
“Please Don't Stop Loving Me” - Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton
    1974 - Chicago Bull Nate Thurmond becomes the first in NBA to complete a quadruple double: 22 pts, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks.
    1975 - Simon and Garfunkel reunite on "Saturday Night Live."
    1975 - John Denver's LP Windsong hits #1
    1976 - No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: "If You Leave Me Now," Chicago . The song is the group's 11th top 10 hit and the first to go to No. 1.
    1977 - One of the more popular black rock and roll acts this year is the Brothers Johnson (George and Louis). Their "Strawberry Letter 23" is certified gold on this date, having recently hit Number One on the R&B chart and #5 on the pop chart.
    1977 - Reggie Jackson made history and earned the nickname, Mr. October. Regg-a-roo (as Howard Cosell called him) hit three home runs on three successive pitches. He led the New York Yankees to an 8-4 thrashing of the Los Angeles Dodgers and rookie manager Tommy Lasorda in Game 6 of the World Series. Three different pitchers served up the gopher balls to Jackson. The New York Yankees won the series, 4 games to 2; their first Series title in 15 years.
    1981 - Though it yielded only one minor hit single in "Backfired," "Koo Koo," the solo album by Blondie's Deborah Harry, goes gold today
    1982 - Top Hits
“Jack and Diane” - John Cougar
“Who Can It Be Now?” - Men at Work
“Eye in the Sky” - The Alan Parsons Project
“I Will Always Love You” - Dolly Parton
    1983 - Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton received some gold to add to their collections -- for their smash, " Islands in the Stream."
    1986 - Huey Lewis and The News had the number one album in the U.S. "Fore" was perched at the pinnacle of popdom for one week. "Fore" featured these tracks: "Jacob's Ladder," "Stuck with You," "Whole Lotta Lovin'," "Doing It All for My Baby," "Hip to Be Square," "I Know What I Like," "I Never Walk Alone," "Forest for the Trees," "Naturally" and "Simple as That."
    1987 - Thunderstorms in northeastern Texas produced golf ball size hail at Atlanta , along with wind gusts to 86 mph, and four inches of rain. Damage from the storm was estimated at more than a million dollars. Sunny and mild weather continued across much of the rest of the nation.
    1988 - “Roseanne” appears on TV. This comedy showed the blue-collar Conner family trying to make ends meet. Rosanne played wise-cracking Roseanne Conner, John Goodman played her husband Dan and Laurie Metcalf played her sister Jackie. The Conner children were played by Sara Gilbert (Darlene), Alicia Goranson and Sarah Chalke (Becky) and Michael Fishman (D.J.). The last episode aired Nov 14, 1997 but it remains popular in reruns. During the short-lived revival (March 27, 2018, to May 22, 2018), the series reached No. 3, with an average of 18 million viewers per episode within the span of its nine episodes. In 1993, the episode "A Stash from the Past" was ranked No. 21 on TV Guide’s 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time. In 2002, Roseanne was ranked No. 35 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All-Time. In 2013, it was ranked No. 32 on TV Guide’s 60 Best Series of All-Time.
    1988 - Eight cities in the southwestern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date, including Red Bluff CA with a reading of 96 degrees.
    1989 - Unseasonably cold air began to invade the central and eastern U.S. Light snow fell across northern Maine and snow was also reported in the Great Lakes Region including the Chicago area. Bismarck, ND was the cold spot in the nation with a low of 9 degrees above zero. Five cities in Florida reported record high readings for the date, as temperatures warmed above 80 degrees. Miami reported a record high of 90 degrees.
    1989 - Hurricane Jerry made landfall on the upper Texas coast, the latest ever for a storm in this region. The center of this very small storm passed closest to Galveston, TX which reported sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts to 100 mph
    1990 - Top Hits
“Praying for Time” - George Michael
“I Don't Have the Heart” - James Ingram
“Ice Ice Baby” - Vanilla Ice
“Friends in Low Places” - Garth Brooks
    1991 - 3.9 inches of snow fell at Rochester, MN, the greatest ever so early in the season
    1995 - The Houston Oilers football team gave the world a view of family values. Houston Oiler David Williams missed a game against the New England Patriots to stay with his wife Debi, the day after she gave birth to their son Scot Cooper. The offensive linesman was docked $110,000 for the missed game. "Whatever the fine, it's money well spent," said Williams. "I don't regret what I've done." In a poll, 9 out of 10 football fans backed his decision. He had tried to make the game but was not able to make the last plane out of Houston, plus there was fog in New York delaying other planes. Houston owner Bud Adams insisted Williams made the wrong decision
http://tampabayonline.net/reports/top100/no43.htm
http://www.northwaychristian.org/Sermons/2002-06-16.htm
    1996 - The American Basketball League, a new professional league for women, opened its inaugural season with three games. The New England Blizzard defeated the Richmond Rage, 100-73, the Columbus Quest beat the Seattle Reign, 82-75, and the San Jose Lazers took the measure of the Atlanta Glory, 78-70. The Colorado Xplosion and the Portland Power were idle on the league's first night.
    2004 - After 5 hours, 49 minutes and 471 pitches, the Red Sox outlasts the Yankees, 5-4, in Game 4 of the league championship. Boston's DH David Ortiz, who is the first player in baseball history to hit two walk-off home runs in during the postseason, ends the longest game in ALCS series history at 1:22 a.m. with a two-out single into center scoring Johnny Damon from second in the 14th inning at Fenway Park.
    2010 – The US government determined that China is helping Iran bypass UN sanctions and is helping them, improve their missile technology and develop nuclear weapons.
    2019 – The first all-female spacewalk occurred by NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir outside the International Space Station.

World Series Champions:
  1977 - New York Yankees

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