Willie Mays was among the guests on the first ever episode of what would become the Tonight Show on September 27, 1954. It was called “Tonight With Steve Allen” in the first version of what has become the longest running entertainment program in the U.S.

It was today in 1920 that the Philadelphia American ran a story quoting a Philly gambler named Bill Maharg who said that he and former big-league pitcher Billy Burns had offered eight Chicago White Sox $100,000 to throw the 1919 World Series. That night in Chicago, 33-year old “Shoeless” Joe Jackson stroked a game winning double for the White Sox. It would be his last hit in the majors as he was banned from baseball by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Jackson finished with a .356 lifetime average.

Today in 1930 Bobby Jones won the U.S. Amateur to complete the Grand Slam of golf, which at the time, consisted of winning the U.S. and British Opens as well as the British Amateur.

A different sounding cat debuted today in 1994, when the Dave Matthews Band dropped their first album, “Under the Table and Dreaming”. Fueled by hits like, “What Would You Say,” “Ants Marching,” and “Satellite,” the album would propel the band to global fame.

Birthday wishes go out to Marvin Aday (Meatloaf), Marc Maron, Lil Wayne and Avril Lavigne. And this woman turns 40:

— Bill Hubbell