FLASHBACKS: BING CROSBY'S WEDDING, RAT PACK REUNION, AND DENNY McLAIN'S STINT AT THE RIVIERA
Bing Crosby -Wikimedia Commons
October 23, 2003: Mayor Oscar Goodman tells a news conference that legal brothels might be a good “redevelopment tool” for downtown Las Vegas. They’re legal in Nevada, but only in counties with small populations. The mayor’s proposal doesn’t change that.
October 24, 1954: Bing Crosby, who was widowed two years earlier, marries Kathryn Crosby at St. Anne’s Church in Las Vegas. They have three children – including Mary, who shoots J.R. Ewing on Dallas – and stay together until the crooner dies of a heart attack after a round of golf in 1977.
October 25, 1990: In a third-round knockout at the Mirage, Evander Holyfield defeats Buster Douglas to become the undisputed heavyweight champion. It was Douglas’ first and only title defense after his stunning victory over Mike Tyson. Holyfield would hold various titles off and on for the next decade.
October 26, 2010: On the second day of a General Services Administration conference at the M Resort near Las Vegas, 300 federal employees enjoy a $44 breakfast at taxpayer expense. A stinging report about the $822,000 cost of the five-day meeting forces GSA Administrator Martha Johnson to resign in 2012.
October 27, 2003: Rap star Nelly returns to his room at the Aladdin after the Radio Music Awards to find he’s been robbed of $1 million worth of jewelry. At the ceremony, Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee win the Best Driving Song award for Shake Ya Tailfeather.
October 28, 1968: Reviewers demand a relief pitcher after 31-game winner DennyMcLain opens a 10-day stint at the Riviera just a few weeks after his Detroit Tigers win the World Series. Undaunted, the organ-playing McLain and his combo record an album, Denny McLain in Las Vegas.
Denny McLain
October 29, 1987: The three main Rat Packers – Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. – appear together on stage for the last time when Dean and Sammy surprise Frank during his show at Bally’s.
October 30, 1991: Los Angeles attorney William Kane commits suicide in a penthouse suite at The Mirage, setting off a furious court battle over the frozen sperm he willed to his girlfriend. Kane’s ex-wife and children object to the posthumous paternity, but the girlfriend wins custody after a six-year legal fight.
October 31, 2002: John Entwistle, a member of The Who and one of rock and roll’s great bass players, dies at the Hard Rock Hotel the day before the group is to start a U.S. tour. The cause is a massive heart attack by cocaine. He was 57.