|Looking back

10 moments from Milwaukee's past: September

The crew aboard the Goodyear blimp America watched above the Packers-Jets 1973 contest at County Stadium in the last “Monday Night Football” game in Milwaukee. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

Sept. 06, 2015

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Schlitz's 6 millionth barrel of beer of 1952 comes down the conveyor line, and ready to catch it are (left to right): Hilary Kirsch, a brewery worker; Erwin C. Uihlein, president of Schlitz; Robert A. Uihlein Jr., vice president; and Sol E. Abrams, vice president and general manager. Schlitz shut down the plant in September 1981.Journal Sentinel files

The Beatles — (from left) George Harrison, Ringo Starr and Paul MccCartney — meet with reporters before their show at the Milwaukee Arena on Sept. 4, 1964.Journal Sentinel files

By Chris Foran of the Journal Sentinel

Sept. 06, 2015 2

Sept. 4, 1964: Beatles conquer Milwaukee

The Fab Four played a sold-out Milwaukee Arena in their only Wisconsin concert. Tickets were $3.50 and $5.50, and sold out in a week. The group played 12 songs, ending with a cover of Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally."

Sept. 7, 1976: A new lesson in education

Court-ordered desegregation began for Milwaukee Public Schools, with 54 of 158 schools taking part in an ambitious busing program designed to reduce racial disparities in the district. Unlike the experience in other cities, no violence or protests were reported, but school officials blamed significant busing mix-ups and delays for a decline in attendance on the first day.

Sept. 8, 1860: Altered course for Milwaukee

The Lady Elgin, returning from a fundraising event in Chicago, collided with a schooner and sank in Lake Michigan. About three-fourths of the ship's 400 passengers — mainly members of Milwaukee's Irish community — died. The tragedy, still ranking as the largest loss of life on open water in the Great Lakes, is cited as helping shift the city's 19th-century political power base from the Irish community to the German.

Sept. 11, 1903: State Fair Park hits the road

After serving as a private horse track for more than 25 years, the course at Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis hosted its first dirt-track automobile race; William Jones of Chicago won a five-lap speed contest, recording a 50 mph lap. (The oval was finally paved in 1954.) Some sources say the Milwaukee Mile is the world's oldest continuously operating auto racing facility.

Sept. 15, 1875: The man who put Wisconsin on the map

Surveyor, naturalist and scientist Increase Lapham died of a heart attack while fishing on Oconomowoc Lake, at age 64. Lapham came to Milwaukee as a surveyor, but he wound up laying the groundwork for the city and a big part of the state, making Wisconsin's first accurate maps, charting the state's effigy mounds, native plants and other natural wonders, and helping found many schools, including Milwaukee's public schools system.

Sept. 17, 1973: The last 'Monday Night' in Milwaukee

The Green Bay Packers stopped Joe Namath and the New York Jets in a 23-7 win at County Stadium in the first "Monday Night Football" game of the 1973 season — and, as it turned out, the last "Monday Night Football" game in Milwaukee. (The Packers played their last game in Milwaukee in 1994.) Chester Marcol kicked three field goals and star running back John Brockington scored the final touchdown for the Packers.

Sept. 20, 1912: The other Zeidler's birthday

Frank Zeidler was born in the city where he was mayor from 1948 to 1960. Milwaukee's third — and almost certainly last — socialist mayor, he oversaw one of the greatest periods of growth in the city's history. He once said he owed his election to his name: His older brother Carl, Milwaukee's first "singing mayor," occupied City Hall from 1940 to '42.

Sept. 22, 1965: Bye bye, Braves

The Milwaukee Braves lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 in 11 innings, in the Braves' last game at County Stadium before moving to Atlanta. After a year of legal battles over the team's departure, and a fan boycott in protest, just 12,577 fans came out to see the game. Longtime Braves stars Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews received extended standing ovations in their final trips to the plate.

Sept. 30, 1859: Land of Lincoln

Abe Lincoln spoke at the Wisconsin State Fair, held then at the Spring Street Hill / Brockway Grounds, between Wisconsin and Highland avenues, from 10th to 13th streets. (If you haven't seen it, check out the historical marker at 13th and Wells streets.) His speech, nominally about agriculture, was the last one he ever gave in Wisconsin.

Sept. 30, 1981: The shutdown that made Milwaukee sad

Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. shut down its plant in Milwaukee, throwing 750 striking union employees out of work and halting production of what made Milwaukee famous in the Brewers Hill neighborhood after about a century. (Stroh Brewery Co. bought Schlitz in 1982 and sold the old brewery to Brewery Works Inc., which turned most of the old site into Schlitz Park.)

ABOUT THIS FEATURE

Every month, history is made and passes through Milwaukee. On the first Monday of each month, the Green Sheet takes a look at 10 moments from our past — not an exhaustive or complete list, but a mix of incidents, happenings and events that have helped make Milwaukee Milwaukee.

About Chris Foran

Chris Foran is an assistant entertainment editor, overseeing the Tap Weekend, Tap Daily, Good Morning and TV Cue sections. He also writes about movies, books, pop culture and fun stuff to do in Milwaukee.