Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/9/2012

1/9/1942:
Joe Louis knocks out Buddy Baer after 2 minutes and 45 seconds in the first round for the heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden. The fight takes place 33 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of U.S. military involvement in World War II. Most of the proceeds from the bout go to the New York Auxiliary of the Navy Relief Society, which receives $47,000 for its fund. Louis receives no purse, and fights for training expenses only. He enlists in the army as a private the next day. The win over Baer is Louis's 20th defense of the title he won from James J. Braddock in 1937. His 21st defense will come with a victory over Abe Simon on March 27, 1942, but the 22nd defense won't take place until June 19, 1946, with an eighth-round knockout of Billy Conn, after Louis serves 45 months in the military. Louis will hold the title until he retires on March 1, 1949.

Birthdays:
Bart Starr b. 1934
Robert Newhouse b. 1950
M.L. Carr b. 1951
Muggsy Bogues b. 1965
Sergio Garcia b. 1980

WHODUNIT

Poor Joe Sandilands. The dashing inspector from Scotland Yard takes a holiday in India and promptly gets pulled into a murder investigation. Raj-era India comes vividly to life as Sandilands uncovers decades-old mischief, vice, and blackmail in the Himalayan resort town of Simla. The book is expertly plotted and filled with colorful characters, among them the heiress, the opera singer, the war hero inspector. If you want a literary mystery that’ll sweep you away, Barbara Cleverly has your ticket.

RAGTIME IN SIMLA, by Barbara Cleverly (Delta, 2006)