Pop Culture Happenings: September

Tennis had a battle of the sexes, the first Black Miss America was crowned and a Cardinal tied the Babe in homers.

__1973__

50 years ago

On Sept. 20, 1973, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in a “battle-of-the-sexes” tennis match. Riggs made headlines for taunting female tennis players by saying their game was inferior to men’s and that even at his current age of 55, he could still beat any of the top female players. King, 26 years younger than Riggs, won the match in three sets — 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 — taking home the $100,000 prize.

The match was played at the Houston Astrodome and was viewed on ABC during primetime by 90 million people worldwide. King viewed the match as more than a publicity stunt, feeling that beating Riggs was important both for women’s tennis and for the women’s liberation movement as a whole. She later said, “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem.”

__1983__

40 years ago

On Sept. 17, 1983, Miss New York Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America 1984, the 56th person to hold the “Miss America” title. She was the first winner of African American descent. Several weeks before the end of her reign, however, a scandal arose when Penthouse magazine bought and published unauthorized nude photographs of her. Williams was pressured to relinquish her title and was succeeded by the first runner-up, Miss New Jersey 1983, Suzette Charles.

Thirty-two years later in September 2015, when Williams served as head judge for the Miss America 2016 pageant, former Miss America CEO Sam Haskell made a public apology to her for the events of 1984.

__1998__

25 years ago

On Sept. 10, 1997, St. Louis Cardinals baseball player Mark McGwire joined Babe Ruth as the only players in Major League history to hit 50 home runs in two consecutive years. The next season, McGwire finished with 70 home runs, four ahead of Sammy Sosa’s 66, a record that was broken three seasons later in 2001 by Barry Bonds with 73. McGwire later admitted in a 2010 New York Times interview he had used performance-enhancing drugs during his record-breaking career, but also stated he “absolutely” could have broken the record without using steroids.

Pop Culture Happenings is presented by MRV Banks.

Pop Culture Happenings is presented by MRV Banks.