1944 NCAA Basketball Championship Game, Background, Dartmouth
The Dartmouth Indians were led by Earl Brown to their second and final National Championship appearance. Dartmouth beat Catholic University, and then faced off Ohio State until they got to the championship. The Indians went 19–2 that year. Dartmouth was and is still part of the Ivy League. The Indians were led by All-American Aud Brindley and experienced significant roster turnover due to World War II. The Indians lost lettermen Larry Killick, Joe Fater, Larry Baxter, John Monahan and Paul Campbell to the draft, but added standout players Dick McGuire of St. John's and Bob Gale of Cornell, who were transferred to Dartmouth as a part of their military training program.


1944 NCAA Basketball Championship Game, Game summary
With 17,990 fans watching the game in New York, Utah hung tight with Dartmouth, who was favored by eight points prior to the game. For the first time in NCAA Championship Game history, an overtime period was required to determine a winner. Such overtime would not happen again until 1957.


1944 NCAA Basketball Tournament
The 1944 NCAA Basketball Tournament involved eight schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 24, 1944, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City. A total of nine games were played, including a third place game in each region.


1944 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Utah, coached by Vadal Peterson, won the national title with a 42–40 victory in the final game over Dartmouth, coached by Earl Brown. Arnie Ferrin of Utah was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Utah became the first team to play in both the NIT and NCAA tournament in the same season. Utah was given a second chance to play in the NCAA Tournament after a March 1944 automobile accident killed a coaching aide and seriously injured two players on the Arkansas team.


1944 NCAA Basketball Tournament
Utah's winning team featured Wataru Misaka, who later joined the New York Knicks to become the first person of color to play in modern professional basketball.


1944 NCAA Basketball Tournament, Locations
The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 1944 tournament:


1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Paul2520 (talk | contribs) at 18:34, 17 November 2019 (Adding short description: "1944 cross-country running meet of the NCAA" (Shortdesc helper)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships
The 1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships were the sixth annual cross country meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate cross country running in the United States.


1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships
Since the current multi-division format for NCAA championship did not begin until 1973, all NCAA members were eligible. In total, 9 teams and 43 individual runners contested this championship.


1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships
The meet was hosted by Michigan State College at the Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing, Michigan for the sixth consecutive time. Additionally, the distance for the race was 4 miles (6.4 kilometers). This was the first championship since 1942 after the 1943 race was cancelled due to World War II.


1944 NCAA Cross Country Championships
The team national championship was won by the Drake Bulldogs, their first. The individual championship was won by Fred Feiler, also from Drake, with a time of 21:04.2.


1944 NCAA Golf Championship
The 1944 NCAA Golf Championship was the sixth annual NCAA-sanctioned golf tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate golf in the United States. The tournament was held at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.


1944 NCAA Golf Championship
Notre Dame claimed the team title, the Fighting Irish's first national championship (at an NCAA-sponsored event). The individual title was won by Louis Lick from Minnesota.


1944 NCAA Golf Championship
Contested during the midst of World War II, only five teams contested the 1944 tournament, a decrease of two from the seven teams that participated in the previous year's event.


1944 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The consensus 1944 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Helms Athletic Foundation, Converse, The Sporting News, and Pic Magazine.


1944 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
The 1944 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships were contested in March 1944 at the Payne Whitney Gymnasium at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut at the eighth annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


1944 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
Hosts Yale topped the team standings, thus capturing the Bulldogs' second title in program history. Yale finished one point ahead of perennial power Michigan.


1944 NCAA Track and Field Championships
The 1944 NCAA Track and Field Championships were contested at the 23rd annual NCAA-hosted track meet to determine the team and individual national champions of men's collegiate track and field events in the United States. This year's events were hosted by Marquette University at Marquette Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.


1944 NCAA Track and Field Championships
Illinois captured their third team championship (and first since 1927).


1944 NCAA baseball season
The 1944 NCAA baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) began in the spring of 1944. Play largely consisted of regional matchups, some organized by conferences, and ended in June. No national championship event was held until 1947.


1944 NCAA baseball season, Conference winners
This is a partial list of conference champions from the 1944 season.


1944 NCAA football rankings
One human poll comprised the 1944 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.


1944 NCAA football rankings, AP Poll
The final AP Poll was released on December 4, at the end of the 1944 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.


1944 NFL Championship Game
The 1944 National Football League Championship Game was the 12th National Football League (NFL) title game. The game was played on December 17 at the Polo Grounds in New York City, and the attendance was 46,016. The game featured the Green Bay Packers (8–2), champions of the Western Division versus the Eastern Division champion New York Giants (8–1–1).


1944 NFL Championship Game
The Packers were led by longtime head coach Curly Lambeau and its stars were running back Ted Fritsch, end Don Hutson, and quarterback Irv Comp. The Giants were led by head coach Steve Owen. They also had running back Bill Paschal and former Packers quarterback Arnie Herber as well as a dominant defense. The Packers were slight favorites, despite the Giants' 24–0 shutout win four weeks earlier. Prior to the game, the Packers had spent over a week preparing in Charlottesville, VirginiaThe Packers completed their regular season on November 26, the Giants on December 10.


1944 NFL Championship Game
Green Bay scored two touchdowns in the second quarter then yielded one early in the fourth to win 14-7 for their sixth and final league title under Lambeau, their first since 1939.


1944 NFL Championship Game
The Packers did not return to the title game for 16 years, and won the following year in 1961, the first of five titles in seven seasons in the 1960s under head coach Vince Lombardi.


1944 NFL Championship Game, Officials
The NFL had only four game officials in 1944; the back judge was added in 1947, the line judge in 1965, and the side judge in 1978.


1944 NFL Championship Game, Players' shares
The players' shares were the highest to date: each Packer player received about $1,500 while each Giant saw about $900.


1944 NFL Draft
The 1944 National Football League Draft was held on April 19, 1944, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.


1944 NFL season
The 1944 NFL season was the 25th regular season of the United States National Football League. The Boston Yanks joined the league as an expansion team. Also, the Triangles-Dodgers franchise changed their name to the Brooklyn Tigers for this one season before merging with the aforementioned Yanks the following year. Meanwhile, both the Cleveland Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles resumed their traditional operations, while the Pittsburgh Steelers merged with the Chicago Cardinals for this one season due to player shortages as a result of World War II. The combined team, known as Card-Pitt, played three home games in Pittsburgh and two in Chicago, and set the 20th century record for lowest punting average by an NFL team with 32.7 yards per punt.


1944 NFL season
The season is notable in that it featured two winless teams, the only such case in NFL history since 1935 (when the league stabilized from its early years of revolving door membership, when winless teams were much more common) as both Brooklyn and Card-Pitt finished 0–10.


1944 NFL season
Since 1944, only five teams have had winless seasons in the NFL: the 1960 Dallas Cowboys (0–11–1), the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0–14), the 1982 Baltimore Colts (0–8–1) the 2008 Detroit Lions (0–16), and the 2017 Cleveland Browns (0–16). In the case of the Colts, the season was shortened due to a league-wide players strike, while the Cowboys and Buccaneers were both expansion teams.


1944 NFL season
The season ended when the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.


1944 NFL season, Draft
The 1944 NFL Draft was held on April 19, 1944 at Philadelphia's Warwick Hotel. With the first pick, the Boston Yanks selected quarterback Angelo Bertelli from the University of Notre Dame.


1944 NFL season, Division races
Each team played ten games over thirteen weeks. The Brooklyn Tigers lost seven of their games by a touchdown or less. On October 29, they had 14–7 lead over Boston at halftime, before losing 17–14 in Week Seven. The same week, Card-Pitt's 42–20 loss at Washington eliminated it from playoff contention. Card-Pitt had actually taken a 28–23 lead over the Rams in its first game, played September 24 at Pittsburgh, before falling 30–28; its only other lead was a 7–0 in a game at Chicago against the Packers, which it eventually lost 35–20.


1944 NFL season, Division races
The Western Division race was no contest, as the Packers won their first six games and stayed ahead of all challengers. In the Eastern Division, Washington (5–0–1) and Philadelphia (4–0–2) were both unbeaten after nine weeks. The teams met in Washington in Week Ten (November 26), and the Eagles won 37–7, putting them at 5–0–2, with the Redskins and Giants a half game back at 5–1–1. The Eagles lost, while the Giants and Redskins won, in Week Eleven, putting New York and Washington in the lead at 6–1–1.


1944 NFL season, Division races
In Week Twelve, a crowd of 47,457 turned out at New York's Polo Grounds to watch the Giants and Redksins. Washington had a 13–10 lead before falling 16–13. In Week Thirteen, the Eagles beat the Rams 26–13, giving them a 7–1–2 finish, then waited to see how the 7–1–1 Giants would fare in their rematch at Washington. The Giants beat the Skins 31–0, capturing the division and the right to host the championship.


1944 NFL season, Final standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1944 NFL season, NFL Championship Game
Green Bay 14, N.Y. Giants 7, at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 17, 1944


1944 NSWRFL season
The 1944 NSWRFL season was the thirty-seventh season of the New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership, Sydney’s top-level rugby league competition, and Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested the premiership during the season which culminated in Balmain’s victory over Newtown in the grand final.


1944 NSWRFL season, Teams
10th seasonGround: Belmore Sports GroundCoach: Ron Bailey→Cec FifieldCaptain: Ron Bailey


1944 NSWRFL season, Finals
Newtown looked set for back-to-back titles after finishing as minor premiers. Both Newtown and Balmain won their respective semi-finals with the Bluebags blitzing St George by 55 points to 7, which was to remain the Dragons’ largest losing margin until 1994 and the largest margin in a finals match until 2019. However injuries and war duties then ravaged the side including the key losses of Len Smith and Herb Narvo who had starred for them all season. Balmain thus overcame Newtown 19–16 in the Final, enabling Newtown a “right of challenge”.


1944 NSWRFL season, Finals, Grand Final
Newtown exercised their “right of challenge” as minor premiers and called for a Grand Final. In a low-scoring affair Balmain's representative centre Joe Jorgenson kicked two late penalty goals to give the Tigers a 12–8 win and their eighth title.


1944 NYU Violets football team
The 1944 NYU Violets football team was an American football team that represented New York University as an independent during the 1944 college football season.


1944 NYU Violets football team
In their first season under head coach John J. Weinheimer, the Violets compiled a 2–5 record and were outscored 160–71.


1944 NYU Violets football team
The Violets took the field in October 1944 after a two-year absence from the gridiron. NYU officials said they had dropped the sport because of a dip in enrollment during World War II and because the most recent two seasons, 1940 and 1941, had lost $65,000. Students successfully petitioned to bring back the sport.


1944 NYU Violets football team
Not all aspects of the prewar program were restored: head coach Mal Stevens was no longer under contract, and was serving in the Navy Medical Corps. His replacement was John "Jacko" Weinheimer, a 1920s Violets football captain. The schedule no longer featured matchups at Yankee Stadium with big-name programs from across the United States. Instead, NYU faced only smaller colleges in New York City and the Northeast.


1944 NYU Violets football team
The team played its home games at Ohio Field on NYU's University Heights campus in The Bronx borough of New York City.


1944 National Challenge Cup
The 1944 National Challenge Cup was the 31st edition of the United States Football Association's annual open cup. Today, the tournament is known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Teams from the American Soccer League II competed in the tournament, based on qualification methods in their base region.


1944 National Challenge Cup
Normally 32 clubs, the field size was smaller due to players fighting in World War II.


1944 National Challenge Cup
The final was a rematch of last year, as Brooklyn Hispano from Brooklyn, New York won the tournament by defeating, Morgan Strasser of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the process.


1944 National Invitation Tournament
The 1944 National Invitation Tournament was the 1944 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition.


1944 National Invitation Tournament, Selected teams
Below is a list of the 8 teams selected for the tournament.


1944 Navy Midshipmen football team
The 1944 Navy Midshipmen football team represented the United States Naval Academy during the 1944 college football season. In their first season under head coach Oscar Hagberg, the Midshipmen compiled a 6–3 record, shut out three opponents and outscored all opponents by a combined score of 236 to 88. Navy was ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll.


1944 Navy Midshipmen men's soccer team
The 1944 Navy Midshipmen men's soccer team represented the United States Naval Academy during the 1944 ISFA season. It was the program's 24th season of existence.


1944 Navy Midshipmen men's soccer team
The 1944 season saw Navy win the ISFA national championship, and was voted by NSCAA as the number one team in the nation following the end of the season. It was Navy's third college soccer national championship. The program was coached by former Olympic gold medalist, Tom Taylor who had been coaching the program since its inception.


1944 Navy Midshipmen men's soccer team, Honors, All-Americans
Three players were named All-Americans by the Intercollegiate Soccer Football Association:


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
The 1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team was the representative of the University of Nebraska and member of the Big 6 Conference in the 1944 college football season. The team was coached by Adolph J. Lewandowski and played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Before the season
World War II was dragging on, with the United States now in its third year since being drawn into the conflict. College sports programs across the nation were shorthanded with so many young men enlisting into the armed forces, while all of the "service teams" that had entered the college football landscape, fielded by the branches of the armed forces, had the advantage of adding former players to their rosters.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Before the season
This gave the service teams the ability to concentrate the best former players into their programs, and at the end of 1944, service teams made up half of all of the ranked teams. It was in this environment of upheaval and disparity that a struggling Nebraska football team that had never previously suffered consecutive losing seasons was now returning from three losing campaigns in a row. Head coach Lewandowski was back for his second year, while also serving as Nebraska's athletic director, to see if he could reverse the fortunes of the Cornhusker football squad.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Roster
Berkey, Duane  CBerquist, William  GBetz, Bill #13 HBBryant, Jack #34 HBBuckley, Winton #67 HBBurroughs, Bob  QBColerick, Lyle #19 ECollopy, Frank  FBDedrick, Jack  QBDenker, Bill  PLAYERDermann, Kenneth  GDoyle, Keith  CEbers, Merle  CFish, Wayne #33 PLAYERFowler, Dave  QBGissler, Bert #10 EGradoville, Edward #26 HBGrundman, Allen  GHazard, Frank  GHollins, Kenneth  FBHoover, John  EJohnson, John  TKasdan, Bernie  GKenyon, Francis  FBKessler, Joe #12 QBKnight, Charles #15 HBKoch, Dick  HBKoenig, Robert  EKops, Lyle  TKovanda, Keith  T


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Roster
Lamberty, Dick  HBLegino, Ed  PLAYERLorenz, Fred  TLowry, Bob  TMajor, Ralph #17 EMartz, Stanley  GMauser, Murl  HBMcDowell, Ben  EMegill, Larry  PLAYERMountford, Roger #39 FBNelson, Douglas  HBOstenberg, Clyde  CPegler, Don  GPerdew, Bill  HBPeterson, Charles  TPollat, Bruce  TPrice, Bernard  GRobb, Owen  PLAYERSchleiger, Robert  EScoville, Bob  ESelzer, John #29 HBSmallfoot, Bob  PLAYERStein, Ken  PLAYERStevenson, John  GStoetzel, Pete  GStrahan, Jim #27 HBStrickland, Ed  TTyson, Ben  CWolf, Dean  PLAYERYanney, Jim  PLAYER


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Minnesota
The new season did not start off on a good note, as Nebraska was completely unable to stop the Golden Gophers, who rolled over the Cornhuskers to post 33 unanswered points in the first half. It may have been that Nebraska's halftime adjustments slowed down Minnesota's assault, or perhaps the Gophers simply backed off, but even though Minnesota's scoring slowed in the second half, the Cornhuskers never were able to put up points. For the second year in a row, Minnesota handed Nebraska an opening shutout loss, the 20th Golden Gopher victory over the Cornhuskers and improving in the series to 20–4–2, setting the tone for what looked like might be another year of heartbreak.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Indiana
Nebraska's only bright spot in this game was a single 55-yard running play in a contest that was otherwise all Indiana. The Hoosiers kept the Cornhuskers off the scoreboard even as they repeated their record-setting 54 points scored on Nebraska, which was the fourth time in two years that the 54 mark was hung on the Cornhuskers and was a repeat of Nebraska's worst-ever defeat, matching the 54–0 shutout handed down by Minnesota last year. With four wins in a row against Nebraska so far, Indiana finally took the series lead between the teams at 4–3–2.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Kansas
The 1944 loss to the Kansas Jayhawks was a particularly painful and heartbreaking loss. As the Cornhuskers were held scoreless for the third game in a row to open the season, a dubious mark that had never before fallen upon Nebraska, worse still was the end of Nebraska's 27-game undefeated streak against the Jayhawks that began with a 13–3 Nebraska victory in 1917.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Kansas
It was also the first time that Kansas had defeated the Cornhuskers in Lincoln since an 18–4 victory dating all the way back to 1896, making this one of the darkest days in the history of the program. This was the 10th win for the Jayhawks over Nebraska all time, though they still lagged in the series 10–38–3.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Missouri
The previous loss to Kansas marked one of the lowest points in program history, but Nebraska overcame any discouragement remaining and unexpectedly sprung to life against a heavily favored Missouri team in front of a small homecoming crowd in Lincoln. Playing somewhat like the Nebraska of old, several big plays went in favor of the Cornhuskers and allowed them to take their first victory of 1944, in what would be the brightest spot of the season. As Nebraska improved in the series to 24–11–3, the Missouri-Nebraska Bell should have been returned to Lincoln after its three-year stint in Columbia. However, amidst the weariness of the war overhanging the nation, the trading of the bell to the winner of this series was overlooked, and the bell passed for a short time into forgotten history.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Iowa
Nebraska was unable to score in this contest until within the final five minutes, as another loss was added to the 1944 record. Adding insult to injury was that one of the scores tallied against the Cornhuskers was put over by a former Nebraska player now on the Iowa roster. Though they avoided the shutout, the Cornhuskers gave up what would be Iowa's 10th win in the series, allowing them to chip away at Nebraska's 20–10–3 series lead.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Iowa State
The Cornhuskers were having enough trouble trying to remain competitive, but entered this game with three starters out with injuries, and then lost another in the first quarter of this game. Unsurprisingly, with the odds stacked against them, the day ended with another Nebraska loss as the Cyclones added another win to their 7–31–1 series record.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Kansas State
If fortunes for Nebraska were down, then certainly it was telling about the Kansas State program that the Wildcats could allow the Cornhuskers to hang a 35–0 shutout defeat on them. It was the most points scored by Nebraska since a 53–2 defeat of Kansas in 1940, and the win helped the struggling Cornhuskers improve to 23–4–2, to stay well ahead of Kansas State in the series.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, Game summaries, Oklahoma
Oklahoma launched into a strong 25–0 lead by the half to put the game essentially out of reach, but Nebraska made a respectable effort in the final quarter by outscoring the Sooners 12–6. Oklahoma's victory was their second in a row over Nebraska, which moved them forward slightly in the series to 5–16–3.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, After the season
Nebraska continued to fall into a tailspin, with each year seeming no better, and sometimes worse, than the last. The Cornhuskers had now strung together four straight losing seasons, a bleak picture for a program not used to having even one occasional isolated losing campaign. Coach Lewandowski repeated his 1943 overall and league records in 1944, bringing his overall Nebraska career total to just 4–12–0 (.250), with a slightly better Big 6 total of 4–6–0 (.400). Nebraska's overall program now stood at 305–122–31 (.700) with a conference record of 111–25–11 (.793).


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, After the season
Coach Lewandowski, in his role as athletic director, decided that change was needed in the program, and swept the entire coaching staff out of the program, including himself. Brought aboard following 1944 was storied football coach George Clark, a player for two colleges and then two military teams prior to starting his coaching career in 1916. Clark had also served in both world wars, and his appointment at Nebraska followed his return home to the United States.


1944 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, After the season
To his credit, Coach Lewandowski's leadership allowed Nebraska football to continue uninterrupted through World War II even as numerous other schools suspended their programs for a time. With limited resources, sparse rosters, through rationing and travel restrictions, his guidance kept the program's continuous history intact.


1944 Nebraska gubernatorial election
The 1944 Nebraska gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944, and featured incumbent Governor Dwight Griswold, a Republican, defeating Democratic nominee, busboy George W. Olsen, to win a third and final two-year term in office.


1944 Negro World Series
In the 1944 Negro World Series, the Washington Homestead Grays, champions of the Negro National League were matched against the Birmingham Black Barons, champions of the Negro American League, for the second year in a row. The Grays won the series again, four games to one.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
In the opening game, the Grays would get three home runs from three different players - no team had hit more than one in a game since Game 3 of the 1942 Negro World Series, which was also the last time a Gray had hit a home run. They would use this along with timely hitting to beat the Barons at home. Homestead started the scoring in the first inning with a one-out double by Jerry Benjamin.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
He got to third base after Sam Bankhead and Buck Leonard were walked, and Dave Hoskins would hit into a fielder's choice that scored Hoskins and made it 1-0. Birmingham matched the score at one in the third inning. Felix McLaurin drew a one-out walk and stole second base and went to third after Artie Wilson hit a single. Ed Steele would then his a single to right field to score the run home. However, when Piper Davis hit into a fielders choice to the third baseman, Wilson would be called out at home plate, and Ted Radcliffe would also hit a ball right to the second baseman in Jelly Jackson to get the third out.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
The tie was broken on the first batter of the fourth inning as Josh Gibson hit a home run to right field to make it 2-1, and Buck Leonard hit a home run to the same porch in the next inning. With the game 3-1, the Barons made one last attempt. John Britton lined a single to start the inning and was followed soon by Artie Wilson. With two out, Steele would hit a ball that was off home plate that was thought to be foul at first.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
However, the umpires ruled that it was a fair ball, thereby making Steele out; the Barons played the rest of the game under protest, to no avail. When the Grays came to bat in the eighth, Dave Hoskins hit a leadoff home run to the same porch as the two home run hitters before him to make it 4-1. Gibson followed with a single, and Walter Cannady had a double to get him to third. Two outs later, Cool Papa Bell lined a triple to center field that would score Gibson and Cannady to make it 6-1.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Both teams scored in the ninth inning to close the game. Bankhead had a single and advanced on a wild pitch and an out to third base, and he scored on a subsequent single by Hoskins. A sacrifice hit by Walter Cannady scored Hoskins to close out the Grays end of the bat. Johnny Markham hit a leadoff single to start the bottom frame, and pinch-runner Collins Jones went to second on a wild pitch before scoring on a one-out Artie Wilson single. Piper Davis would hit a two-out single to score in Wilson before Ted Radcliffe committed the final out to end the game.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 1
Starter Roy Welmaker threw nine innings for the Grays and allowed three runs on eleven hits while striking out seven with one walk. For the Black Barons, Johnny Markham allowed eight runs on eleven hits while walking four and striking out six.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 2
The Grays started slowly but ran through a late rally to take a 2-0 lead in the Series. Cool Papa Bell started the game with a leadoff single to center field, but Jerry Benjamin's fielder choice hit meant that Benjamin was on first with one out. A single by Sam Bankhead and a walk to Buck Leonard loaded the bases for Dave Hoskins. He would hit a flyball to center field that Benjamin scored on. However, Bankhead was soon thrown out while trying to steal third base and the game was 1-0 after one inning.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 2
The Black Barons evened the score in the fourth. An error by Bankhead at shortstop meant that Piper Davis had gotten to first base with one out, and he made it to second on a passed ball by Josh Gibson. Two batters later, Lester Lockett hit a two-out double to left field that scored Davis.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 2
In the seventh, the Grays got the go-ahead run. Leonard hit a leadoff single and then got to second on a ground out and then stole third base. Josh Gibson was walked on purpose and then stole second base, and Walter Cannady would score Leonard on a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 2-1 after seven. The Barons had a serious threat in the latter half of the inning, getting the bases loaded on two singles and a walk, but Felix McLaurin would commit an out to end the inning.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 2
They would then add four runs in the ninth inning on the strength of three straight singles (Bankhead, Leonard, Hoskins), an error by the center fielder, a walk, and a two-run single by Edsall Walker with two out. The Barons had two runners on base with no out and then two out but scored zero runs to end the game. For the Grays, Walker would allow just one run on five hits while striking out two batters and walking three, and Alfred Saylor allowed six runs on eight hits with four walks and five strikeouts.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 3
A hit in the second inning by Ted Radcliffe was all that the Black Barons could muster against Ray Brown, who pitched a one-hitter shutout with three walks and five strikeouts. Earl Bumpus allowed nine runs on eleven hits with six walks and strikeouts. Homestead got the first run on the board in the second inning, starting with a leadoff single by Dave Hoskins that was followed by a single by Josh Gibson that scored Hoskins.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 3
The fifth inning proved decisive for Homestead, who scored four runs on the strength of two hits (singles by Brown and Cool Papa Bell), a sacrifice bunt, a hit by pitch, and errors by Birmingham's second and third basemen. The seventh proved no better for the Black Barons, who saw a single by Sam Bankhead eventually turn into a run after two wild pitches were thrown by the pitcher.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 3
The next inning saw them get two outs but it was followed by a single by Jerry Benjamin and a walk to Bankhead before singles by Buck Leonard and Dave Hoskins scored the runners. A single by Bell in the final frame scored Cannady (who reached on an error) to end the scoring.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 4
John Huber threw a complete game shutout while allowing just three hits with four walks and six strikeouts. Spoon Carter went five innings for the Grays and would prove to be the only Gray starter in the Series to not throw a complete game. He allowed five hits and two runs with a walk and strikeout before being taken out for Edsall Walker. Walker allowed four runs to score on six hits with four strikeouts for four innings.


1944 Negro World Series, Matchups, Game 5
Roy Welmaker closed the Series out for the Grays by allowing just two runs to score on eight hits while striking out six batters. The Barons had trouble early with pitching that cost them dearly, as starter Alfred Saylor allowed four runs to score on seven hits with three walks before being replaced by Alonzo Boone with one out in the fourth inning. Boone allowed four hits with one walk and three strikeouts.


1944 Nemzeti Bajnokság I, Overview
It was contested by 12 teams, and the championship was unfinished, no winner was announced.


1944 Nevada Wolf Pack football team
The 1944 Nevada Wolf Pack football team was an American football team that represented the University of Nevada as an independent during the 1944 college football season. In their sixth under head coach Jim Aiken, the Wolf Pack compiled a 4–4 record.


1944 Nevada Wolf Pack football team
Bill Mackrides starred for the 1944 Wolf Pack. He later played seven years of professional football in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL).


1944 New Brunswick general election
The 1944 New Brunswick general election was held on August 28, 1944, to elect 48 members to the 40th New Brunswick Legislative Assembly, the governing house of the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The incumbent Liberal government was re-elected.


1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team
The 1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team represented the University of New Hampshire in the 1944 college football season. The Wildcats were led by first-year head coach Herbert Snow and completed the season with a record of 1–3. The team played its home games at Lewis Field (also known as Lewis Stadium) in Durham, New Hampshire.


1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team, Background
New Hampshire had not fielded a team in 1943, due to World War II. In mid-September 1944, university administrators approved an "informal" team, limited to four games, with a roster consisting of 17-year-olds and returning veterans. The program's most recent head coach, Charles M. Justice, had entered the Navy in April 1944. Selected as his successor was Herbert Snow, a Springfield College graduate who had been the head coach at Wellesley High School in Massachusetts. The team began practices in early October, with only one player from their 1942 squad—Claude Henry, a reserve back who had returned to the university after serving in the Marine Corps.


1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team, Schedule
The 1944 games remain the last time that the Middlebury and New Hampshire football programs have met.


1944 New Hampshire Wildcats football team, Honors
Quarterback Bill Pizzano was named to the All-New England Small College Team; he was later inducted to the university's athletic hall of fame, in 2004.


1944 New Hampshire gubernatorial election
The 1944 New Hampshire gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Republican nominee Charles M. Dale defeated Democratic nominee James J. Powers with 53.11% of the vote.


1944 New Mexico Lobos football team
The 1944 New Mexico Lobos football team represented the University of New Mexico in the Border Conference during the 1944 college football season. In their third season under head coach Willis Barnes, the Lobos compiled a 1–7 record (0–2 against conference opponents), finished last in the conference, and were outscored by opponents by a total of 261 to 87.


1944 New Mexico gubernatorial election
The 1944 New Mexico gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1944, in order to elect the Governor of New Mexico. Incumbent Democrat John J. Dempsey won reelection to a second term.


1944 New South Wales state election
The 1944  New South Wales  state election  was held on 27 May 1944. It  was conducted in single member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting and  was held on boundaries created at a 1940 redistribution. The election was for all of the 90 seats in the  Legislative Assembly.


1944 New South Wales state election, Issues
The Labor government of William McKell faced its first challenge at a general election in May 1944. The campaign was overshadowed by the course of World War II and the Sydney Morning Herald noted that in such an uncertain environment it was difficult for any party to make extensive plans for the future. This was particularly the case as many of the responsibilities of the states had been usurped by the Commonwealth Government under emergency war powers.


1944 New South Wales state election, Issues
McKell's 3 years in government had enhanced his reputation as a moderate and cautious leader. Under his leadership the extreme left wing of the party had been expelled and had contested the 1941 as the State Labor Party. Its poor showing had resulted in its dissolution shortly after the election and most members then joined the Communist Party of Australia. However, Labor unity was again threatened by Jack Lang who had been expelled from the Labor Party in 1943 and had formed another version of the Lang Labor Party. On this occasion he received no support from the rest of the caucus and spent the rest of the term as the sole member.


1944 New South Wales state election, Issues
In comparison to the Labor Party, the urban conservative political forces were in complete disarray. The very poor results of the United Australia Party (UAP) under Billy Hughes at the 1943 federal election had increased the divisions within the party. The Democratic Party, which was a merger of the Commonwealth Party and UAP in November 1943, had emerged as the main conservative party in New South Wales state politics. It was led by Reginald Weaver and had the support of most of the former UAP members of parliament.


1944 New South Wales state election, Issues
However the Liberal Democratic Party, which had been founded by the Sydney timber merchant and businessman Ernest White (later Sir Ernest), attracted significant media attention and had a large and expensive advertising campaign. White claimed that the UAP and Democratic Party had been overly concerned with infighting and were no longer able to give coherence to conservative political aspirations. His party while supporting an extension of the welfare safety-net called for an increased effort to win the war including the mandatory deregistration of unions involved in unreasonable strike action. The Sydney Morning Herald commented that the Liberal Democratic Party was "a mouse" attempting to "swallow the Democratic Party lion".


1944 New South Wales state election, Results
There was little change in the composition of parliament, with Labor retaining its large majority. It was the first time that a Labor government in New South Wales had won a second term.


1944 New South Wales state election, Results
At the election Lang's party won 2 of the 23 seats in which it stood candidates. Its total primary vote of 9.33%, which significantly reduced Labor's primary vote but made little difference to the distribution of seats. The Liberal Democratic Party did not fulfill pre-election predictions and gained less than 4% of the vote with no seats. The final result was:


1944 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
McKell remained premier until he was appointed Governor General in early 1947. Weaver became the leader of the United Democratic Party, formed from the urban conservative parties in late 1944. The Democratic Party became the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party of Australia in early 1945, with Weaver becoming its inaugural leader. However, he died in November that year and was succeeded by former Premier Alexander Mair, who was then succeeded by Vernon Treatt in March 1946. Michael Bruxner retained his leadership of the Country Party, which he had held since 1932, throughout the parliament.


1944 New South Wales state election, Aftermath
There were 9 by-elections during the parliament but the overall composition of the parties stayed intact.


1944 New South Wales state election, Seats changing party representation
This table lists changes in party representation since the 1941 election but does not include United Australia Party members who retained their seats as Democratic Party members


1944 New South Wales state election, Tabulated results
New South Wales state election, 27 May 1944 Legislative Assembly << 1941–1947 >>


1944 New Year Honours
The 1944 New Year Honours were appointments by many of the Commonwealth realms of King George VI to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1944 for the British Empire.


1944 New Year Honours
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


1944 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The 1944 New Year Honours in New Zealand were appointments by King George VI to various orders and honours in recognition of war service by New Zealanders. The awards celebrated the passing of 1943 and the beginning of 1944, and were announced on 1 January 1944. No civilian awards were made.


1944 New Year Honours (New Zealand)
The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour.


1944 New York Film Critics Circle Awards
The 10th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, announced on 27 December 1944, honored the best filmmaking of 1944.


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season
The 1944 New York Giants season was the franchise's 62nd season. The team finished in fifth place in the National League with a 67-87 record, 38 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals.


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York Giants (MLB) season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York Giants season
The 1944 New York Giants season was the franchise's 20th season in the National Football League.


1944 New York Giants season
In an April 2013 article, football analytics website Cold Hard Football Facts named the 1944 Giants the "Stingiest Defense in NFL history," as the team only surrendered 75 points in ten games. "The manpower shortage on NFL fields created a variety of statistical anomalies on both sides of the field," said the article, "and the 1944 Giants are no exception. But even then, the 1944 Giants were a truly awesome unit: the average team scored 18.0 [points per game] in 1944, well above the 7.5 PPG average surrendered by the Giants. [ ...] But even the best defenses can’t get it done alone: Giants quarterback Arnie Herber threw four interceptions in New York's 14–7 NFL title game loss to Herber's former team, the Packers. The 1944 Giants were a mere No. 5 in scoring offense in the 10-team NFL."


1944 New York Giants season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1944 New York Yankees season
The 1944 New York Yankees season was the team's 42nd season in New York, and its 44th season overall. The team finished in third place in the American League with a record of 83–71, finishing 6 games behind the St. Louis Browns. New York was managed by Joe McCarthy. The Yankees played their home games at Yankee Stadium.


1944 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Spring training
The Yankees trained in 1944 at Bader Field in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The team made the 300-room Senator Hotel their headquarters and practiced indoors at the Atlantic City Armory.


1944 New York Yankees season, Offseason, Spring training
They played their first exhibition game in Atlantic City on April 1, 1944, and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5–1, behind a home run by Johnny Lindell. The following day, 4,000 fans saw the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 4–3.


1944 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


1944 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases


1944 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York Yankees season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 New York state election
The 1944 New York state election was held on November 7, 1944, to elect a judge of the New York Court of Appeals and a U.S. senator, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.


1944 New York state election, Nominations
The Socialist Labor state convention met on April 2 at the Cornish Arms Hotel, the corner of Eighth Avenue and Twenty-eighth Street, in New York City. They nominated Eric Hass for the U.S. Senate; and Walter Steinhilber, a "commercial artist," for the Court of Appeals. At that time, the party used the name "Industrial Government Party" on the ballot, but was also referred to as the "Industrial Labor Party".


1944 New York state election, Nominations
The Liberal Party was organized by a state convention with about 1,100 delegates who met on May 19 and 20 at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. They endorsed the incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner for re-election. The party filed a petition to nominate candidates which was allowed by Secretary of State Curran on August 25.


1944 New York state election, Nominations
The Republican State Committee met on August 8 at Albany, New York. They nominated Secretary of State Thomas J. Curran for the U.S. Senate; and Supreme Court justice John Van Voorhis for the Court of Appeals.


1944 New York state election, Nominations
The Democratic State Committee met on August 8 at the National Democratic Club at 233, Madison Avenue in New York City. They re-nominated the incumbent U.S. Senator Robert F. Wagner; and nominated Court of Claims judge Marvin R. Dye for the Court of Appeals.


1944 New York state election, Nominations
The American Labor state convention met on August 10. They endorsed the Democratic nominees Wagner and Dye.


1944 New York state election, Result
The Democratic/American Labor/Liberal ticket was elected. The incumbent Wagner was re-elected.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season
The 1944 New Zealand rugby league season was the 37th season of rugby league that had been played in New Zealand.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season, International competitions
New Zealand played in no international matches due to World War II.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season, National competitions, Northern Union Cup
West Coast again held the Northern Union Cup at the end of the season.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Auckland
City won the Auckland Rugby League's Fox Memorial Trophy, Rukutai Shield and Stormont Shield. Ponsonby won the Roope Rooster.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
The competition consisted of Hornby, Linwood, Addington, Riccarton, Sydenham-Rakaia and Woolston-Hollywood.


1944 New Zealand rugby league season, Club competitions, Canterbury
Addington defeated Blackball 11-10 to win the Thacker Shield and also defeated Randwick 19-18.


1944 Norman Naval Air Station Zoomers football team
The 1944 Norman Naval Air Station Zoomers football team represented the Naval Air Station Norman during the 1944 college football season. The station was located in Norman, Oklahoma. The team compiled a 6–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 144 to 40, and was ranked No. 13 in the final AP Poll. The team won games against major college teams, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Oklahoma A&M. Lt. Commander John Gregg was the team's coach.


1944 Norman Naval Air Station Zoomers football team, Rankings
The AP released their first rankings on October 9. The Zoomers entered the rankings on November 6.


1944 North Carolina Secretary of State election
The North Carolina secretary of state election of 1944 took place on November 7, 1944. The incumbent Secretary of State, Thad A. Eure, chose to run for reelection and defeated Watt Gragg with 69.99% of the vote. Eure won his third of thirteen terms.


1944 North Carolina Tar Heels football team
The 1944 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1944 college football season. The Tar Heels were led by first-year head coach Gene McEver and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. They competed as a member of the Southern Conference.


1944 North Carolina gubernatorial election
The 1944 North Carolina gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Democratic nominee R. Gregg Cherry defeated Republican nominee Frank C. Patton with 69.61% of the vote.


1944 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election
The 1944 North Carolina lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Democratic nominee Lynton Y. Ballentine defeated Republican nominee George L. Greene with 69.61% of the vote.


1944 North Dakota gubernatorial election
The 1944 North Dakota gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Republican nominee Fred G. Aandahl defeated Democratic nominee William T. DePuy with 52.02% of the vote.


1944 Northern Illinois State Huskies football team
The 1944 Northern Illinois State Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois State Teachers College during the 1944 college football season. There were no divisions of college football during this time period, and the Huskies competed in the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. They were led by 16th-year head coach Chick Evans and played their home games at the 5,500 seat Glidden Field, located on the east end of campus.


1944 Northern Rhodesian general election
General elections were held in Northern Rhodesia on 29 September 1944.


1944 Northern Rhodesian general election, Electoral system
The eight elected members of the Legislative Council were elected from eight single-member constituencies. There were a total of 6,527 registered voters.


1944 Northern Rhodesian general election, Campaign
All constituencies were contested by more than one candidate with the exception of Broken Hill, where Labour Party leader Roy Welensky was returned unopposed.


1944 Northern Rhodesian general election, Campaign
The incumbent members for Livingstone and Western (Francis Sinclair), Luanshya (Michael McGann) and Nkana (Martin Visagie) did not run for re-election.


1944 Northern Rhodesian general election, Aftermath
Following the elections, a petition was sent to the Governor requesting the annulment of the result in Ndola. An enquiry by the Acting Chief Justice found that seven ballots had been improperly rejected, meaning that the result would have been a tie. A by-election was held on 4 December, in which the original winner Godfrey Pelletier opted not to run. Harold Williams was elected in his place.


1944 Northwestern Wildcats football team
The 1944 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. In their tenth year under head coach Pappy Waldorf, the Wildcats compiled a 1–7–1 record (0–5–1 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference.


1944 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team
The 1944 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1944 college football season.


1944 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1944 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–0 record. The Buckeyes also outscored opponents 287–79 during the season. The team was named a national champion by the National Championship Foundation and the Sagarin Ratings, but this championship is not claimed by Ohio State.


1944 Ohio gubernatorial election
The 1944 Ohio gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Democratic nominee Frank Lausche defeated Republican nominee James Garfield Stewart with 51.82% of the vote.


1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team
The 1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team represented Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (later renamed Oklahoma State University–Stillwater) in the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1944 college football season. In their sixth year under head coach Jim Lookabaugh, the Cowboys compiled an 8–1 record (1–0 against conference opponents), won the Missouri Valley championship, defeated TCU in the 1945 Cotton Bowl Classic, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 228 to 103. They played their home games at Lewis Field in Stillwater, Oklahoma.


1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team
On offense, the 1944 team averaged 25.3 points, 196.9 rushing yards, and 126.3 passing yards per game. On defense, the team allowed an average of 11.4 points, 182.9 rushing yards and 66.0 passing yards per game.


1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team
The team's statistical leaders included halfback Bob Fenimore with 897 rushing yards, 861 passing yards, and 53 points scored, and Cecil Hankins with 474 receiving yards. Fenimore was selected by several selectors (Associated Press, Collier's Weekly, Football News, Football Writers Association of America, and Newspaper Enterprise Association) as a first-team halfback on the 1944 College Football All-America Team. He was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.


1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team, Rankings
The AP released their first rankings on October 9. The Cowboys entered the rankings on October 30.


1944 Oklahoma A&M Cowboys football team, After the season
The 1945 NFL Draft was held on April 8, 1945. The following Cowboys were selected.


1944 Oklahoma Sooners football team
The 1944 Oklahoma Sooners football team represented the University of Oklahoma in the 1944 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Dewey Luster, the Sooners compiled a 6–3–1 record (4–0–1 against conference opponents), won the Big Six Conference championship, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 227 to 149.


1944 Oklahoma Sooners football team
No Sooners received All-America honors in 1944, but four Sooners received all-conference honors: Merle Dinkins (end), John Harley (tackle), Bob Mayfield (center), and W.G. Wooten (end).


1944 Oklahoma Sooners football team, Postseason, NFL draft
The following players were drafted into the National Football League following the season.


1944 Ole Miss Rebels football team
The 1944 Ole Miss Rebels football team represented the University of Mississippi during the 1944 college football season.


1944 Orange Bowl
The 1944 Orange Bowl was a postseason college football bowl game between the LSU Tigers and Texas A&M Aggies. It was the 10th edition of the Orange Bowl. The teams had met in the regular season, with Texas A&M winning at LSU 28–13. LSU however defeated Texas A&M 19–14 in the bowl rematch. Despite A&M coach Homer Norton devising a game-plan specifically to stop him, halfback Steve Van Buren was responsible for all points scored by the Tigers, as he ran for two touchdowns, threw for one more, and kicked LSU's only successful extra point attempt.


1944 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo)
1944 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo) was the 38th water polo championship in Hungary. There were eleven teams who played one-round match for the title.


1944 Országos Bajnokság I (men's water polo), Final list
* M: Matches W: Win D: Drawn L: Lost G+: Goals earned G-: Goals got P: Point


1944 Ottawa municipal election
The city of Ottawa, Canada held municipal elections on December 4, 1944.


1944 PGA Championship
The 1944 PGA Championship was the 26th PGA Championship, held August 14–20 at Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane, Washington. Then a match play championship, Bob Hamilton won his only major title, 1 up in the 36-hole final over heavily favored Byron Nelson; the winner's share was $3,500 and the runner-up's was $1,500. Hamilton defeated Jug McSpaden 2 & 1 in the quarterfinals and George Schneiter 1 up in the semifinals.


1944 PGA Championship
It was Nelson's third runner-up finish (1939, 1941, 1944); he won the title in 1940 and 1945. Nelson was the medalist in the stroke play qualifier with a 6-under 138.


1944 PGA Championship
This was the first PGA Championship in two years, it was not contested in 1943. Sam Snead won in 1942, but did not defend his title; he was at the naval hospital in San Diego for treatment for his ailing back, and received a medical discharge from the U.S. Navy a month later.


1944 PGA Championship
The event was sponsored by the Athletic Round Table, Spokane's notable fun and benevolence organization headed by attorney Joe Albi. Following this event, the ART sponsored the Esmeralda Open, a PGA Tour event in 1945 and 1947, and the first U.S. Women's Open in 1946, all held in Spokane.


1944 PGA Championship
The PGA Championship was the sole major played in 1944 (and 1945); the three others returned in 1946.


1944 PGA Championship
This was the first major championship played in the Pacific Northwest. The PGA Championship was played in Portland in 1946, and at Sahalee, east of Seattle, in 1998. The first U.S. Open in the region was played in 2015 at Chambers Bay, southwest of Tacoma.


1944 PGA Championship, Format
The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1944 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days:


1944 Pacific Tigers football team
The 1944 Pacific Tigers football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Pacific (COP) during the 1944 college football season. In the 12th season under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Tigers compiled a record of 3–8.


1944 Pacific typhoon season
The 1944 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1944, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1944 Pacific hurricane season.


1944 Pacific typhoon season
There were 23 tropical cyclones in 1944 in the western Pacific, including Typhoon Cobra.


1944 Pacific typhoon season, Systems, Tropical Storm One
A long lived slow-moving and erratic tropical storm. The storm formed southwest of Micronesia, turned to the north and the west of Palau and made landfall in Mindanao.


1944 Pacific typhoon season, Systems, Tropical Storm Two
Short-lived storm moving quickly to the northeast. There are many indications that this system was not tropical, such as attached fronts throughout its entire noted life.


1944 Pacific typhoon season, Systems, Tropical Storm Three
The storm formed near Guam. The storm moved in a northern direction in the Pacific Ocean before dissipating on May 16.


1944 Pacific typhoon season, Systems, Typhoon Four
This typhoon formed in the northwest of Micronesia, tracked to the northwest direction and recurved to the northeast of Philippines before dissipating.


1944 Pacific typhoon season, Systems, Typhoon Cobra
Typhoon Cobra was first spotted on December 17, in the Philippine Sea. It sank three US destroyers, killing at least 790 sailors, before dissipating the next day.


1944 Palestine Cup
The 1944 Palestine Wartime Cup (Hebrew: הגביע המלחמתי, HaGavia HaMilhamti) was a special edition of the Palestine Cup, intended to be a standalone cup competition and not an Israel State Cup edition. However, the IFA recognize the title as part of the main competition.


1944 Palestine Cup
Draw for the competition was held on 5 February 1944, without the participation of Beitar teams, which withdrew from the competition in protest over the EIFA treatment of Beitar Tel Aviv after the team's match against NSC Cairo in the previous summer.


1944 Palestine Cup
Cup matches began on 20 February 1944, but delays caused the final to be played almost a year later, on 13 January 1945. In the final, Hapoel Tel Aviv had beaten Hapoel Petah Tikva 1–0.


1944 Paraguayan Primera División season
The 1944 season of the Paraguayan Primera División, the top category of Paraguayan football, was played by 10 teams. The national champions were Cerro Porteño.


1944 Paris–Roubaix
The 1944 Paris–Roubaix was the 42nd edition of the Paris–Roubaix, a classic one-day cycle race in France. The single day event was held on 9 April 1944 and stretched 246 km (153 mi) from Paris to the finish at Roubaix Velodrome. The winner was Maurice Desimpelaere from Belgium.


1944 Paris–Tours
The 1944 Paris–Tours was the 38th edition of the Paris–Tours cycle race and was held on 7 May 1944. The race started in Paris and finished in Tours. The race was won by Lucien Teisseire.


1944 Penn Quakers football team
The 1944 Penn Quakers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Pennsylvania as an independent during the 1944 college football season. In its seventh season under head coach George Munger, the team compiled a 5–3 record and outscored opponents by a total of 165 to 149. The team played its home games at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.


1944 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
The 1944 Penn State Nittany Lions football team represented the Pennsylvania State University in the 1944 college football season. The team was coached by Bob Higgins and played its home games in New Beaver Field in State College, Pennsylvania.


1944 Peruvian Primera División
The 1944 season of the Primera División Peruana, the top category of Peruvian football, was played by 8 teams. The national champions were Sucre. No team was promoted or relegated.


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season
The 1944 Philadelphia Athletics season involved the A's finishing fifth in the American League with a record of 72 wins and 82 losses.


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Offseason, Spring training
The Athletics considered using the Bader Field ballpark in Atlantic City for their 1944 spring training site. On November 17, 1943, Connie Mack examined Bader Field and the National Guard Armory as one possibility. But he knew the New York Yankees were already considering it. The A's went to McCurdy Field in Frederick, Maryland when the Yankees chose Atlantic City.


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Philadelphia Athletics season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season
The 1944 Philadelphia Eagles season was their 12th in the league. The team improved on their previous output of 5–4–1, winning seven games. The team failed to qualify for the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season.


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season
Rookie Mel Bleeker broke was the NFL’s top receiver, as he played 9 games for the Eagles, starting three of them. He was second in the NFL in long reception (75), third in touchdowns (8; still the team's all-time rookie record) and yards/rushing attempt (5.3), fourth in yards from scrimmage (614), and sixth in points scored (48). He led the Eagles in touchdowns and scoring, despite having been primarily a blocking back in college.


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season, Off Season, NFL Draft
The 1944 NFL Draft was held on April 19, 1944. The draft would be for 32 rounds. Again in round 2 and 4 only the 5 lowest wins teams from the 1943 season would pick. The Eagles would alternate with the Pittsburgh Steelers in picking either 4th or 9th in each round.


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season, Off Season, Player selections
The table shows the Eagles selections and what picks they had that were traded away and the team that ended up with that pick. It is possible the Eagles' pick ended up with this team via another team that the Eagles made a trade with. Not shown are acquired picks that the Eagles traded away.


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season, Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.


1944 Philadelphia Eagles season, Roster
(All time List of Philadelphia Eagles players in franchise history)


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Offseason
Bill Veeck attempted to purchase the Phillies in late 1943. Veeck's plan was to sign players from the Negro leagues to make the Phillies competitive.


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Offseason
The organization held a fan contest prior to the 1944 season to solicit a second nickname for the Phillies. Fans voted on Blue Jays and Elizabeth Crooks designed a logo of a blue jay perched on the Phillies word mark.


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Regular season
The Phillies got off to a 12–6 start, and on May 13 were 1.5 games out of first place. However, it was all downhill from there, as they finished with yet another losing season.


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Philadelphia Phillies season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Pittsburgh Panthers football team
The 1944 Pittsburgh Panthers football team represented the University of Pittsburgh in the 1944 college football season. The team compiled a 4–5 record under head coach Clark Shaughnessy.


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season
The 1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 63rd season of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise; the 58th in the National League. The Pirates finished second in the league standings with a record of 90–63.


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Regular season, All-Star Game
The Pirates hosted the 1944 Major League Baseball All-Star Game on July 11, 1944, at Forbes Field. Pitcher Rip Sewell, infielder Bob Elliott, and outfielder Vince DiMaggio were selected for the National League squad. Pirates pitchers Max Butcher and Cookie Cuccurullo were named the NL's batting practice pitchers and Pirates catcher Spud Davis was the NL's batting practice catcher. Honus Wagner was named an honorary coach, the first time this honor was bestowed in Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Pittsburgh Pirates season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts


1944 Prime Minister's Cup
The 1944 Prime Minister's Cup was the first Prime Minister's Cup match between Beşiktaş, 1943-44 national cluster season, and Fenerbahçe, the turkish football championship champions of the 1943-44 season. On June 3, 1944, Beşiktaş won the match 4-1 at the Ankara 19 Mayıs Stadium, becoming the winner of the cup for the first time.


1944 Primera División de Chile
The 1944 Campeonato Nacional de Fútbol Profesional was Chilean first tier’s 12th season. Colo-Colo was the tournament’s champion, winning its fourth title.


1944 Princeton Tigers football team
The 1944 Princeton Tigers football team was an American football team that represented Princeton University as an independent during the 1944 college football season. In its second and final season under head coach Harry Mahnken, the team compiled a 1–2 record and was outscored by a total of 40 to 22. Princeton played its 1944 home games at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.


1944 Puerto Rican general election
General elections were held in Puerto Rico in 1944. Since they were held under the colonial rule of the United States, only municipalities were able to democratically elect their representation.


1944 Purdue Boilermakers football team
The 1944 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first season under head coach Cecil Isbell, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–5 record, finished in third place in the Big Ten Conference with a 4–2 record against conference opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 207 to 166.


1944 Purdue Boilermakers football team
Notable players from the 1944 Purdue team included fullback Babe Dimancheff, end Frank Bauman, and tackle Pat O'Brien.


1944 Quebec general election
The 1944 Quebec general election was held on August 8, 1944 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. The Union Nationale, led by former premier Maurice Duplessis, defeated the incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Adélard Godbout. This was the first Quebec provincial election in which women were allowed to vote, having been granted suffrage at the provincial level in 1940 and at the federal level in 1919.


1944 Quebec general election
This election marked Duplessis's comeback after having defeated Godbout in the 1936 election and having lost to him in the 1939 election. Unlike in the 1939 election, when the alcoholic Duplessis was clearly drunk at numerous campaign rallies, le chef had benefited from the time he had spent in an American sanatorium in 1942-43, where he had sobered up, and in the 1944 election, Duplessis refrained from drinking.


1944 Quebec general election
The biggest issue during this election was provincial autonomy. In order to appeal to nationalist voters, Duplessis attacked the incumbent premier, claiming that he was not taking a strong enough stand against Ottawa. He mainly criticized Godbout for agreeing to transfer unemployment insurance from the province to the federal government. He also criticized the Rowell-Sirois Commission for its stance on unemployment insurance and equalization payments.


1944 Quebec general election
Another reason Duplessis won the election was by appealing to anti-Semitic prejudices in Quebec by making the false claim in a violently anti-Semitic speech that the Dominion government together with the Godbout government had made a secret deal with the "International Zionist Brotherhood" to settle 100,000 Jewish refugees left homeless by the Holocaust in Quebec after the war in exchange for Jewish campaign contributions to both the federal and provincial Liberal parties.


1944 Quebec general election
By contrast, Duplessis claimed that he was not taking any money from the Jews, and if he were elected Premier, he would stop this plan to bring Jewish refugees to Quebec. To further push on the message, the Union Nationale handed out campaign pamphlets warning about the alleged plan to bring 100,000 Jewish refugees to Quebec, which featured a cartoon of the standard stereotype of an evil-looking, hook-nosed Jew handing bags of money to Godbout while in the background a vast horde of dirty, disreputable-looking, hook-nosed Jewish refugees were ready to descend on la belle province.


1944 Quebec general election
Through Duplessis's story about the plan to settle 100,000 Jewish refugees in Quebec was entirely false, his story was widely believed in Quebec, and ensured he won the election. Duplessis's biographer Conrad Black argued that Duplessis was in no way personally anti-Semitic, but because the majority of Quebecois were at the time, Duplessis had merely used antisemitism to win the 1944 election. Duplessis won another three elections in a row, for a total of five terms of office (four consecutive), before dying in office in 1959.


1944 Quebec general election
In this wartime election, Godbout's support for Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in the Conscription Crisis of 1944 may have contributed to his defeat.


1944 Quebec general election
The Bloc Populaire won four seats on an anti-conscription platform. The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (predecessor of the New Democratic Party) won one seat. Party member David Côté was elected to the legislature, but in July 1945, he decided to sit as an independent.


1944 Quebec general election, Results
* Information on party's actions in previous election not available.


1944 Queensland state election
Elections were held in the Australian state of Queensland on 15 April 1944 to elect the 62 members of the state's Legislative Assembly.


1944 Queensland state election
The election was the first that Labor had contested under Premier Frank Cooper, who had been in office for 19 months by the time of the poll.


1944 Queensland state election
From this election, the voting method was changed from contingency voting to First past the post voting. Queensland retained this method for state elections until Preferential Voting was restored by the Country/Liberal Coalition at the 1963 state election.


1944 Queensland state election
The election resulted in Labor receiving a fifth term in office, albeit with a reduced majority.


1944 Queensland state election, Parties and independents
Some ructions had developed between some sections of the Labor Party and the party's AWU-dominated executive, resulting in tiny splinter movements which were, however, locally effective. The Hermit Park branch in Townsville, which had dominated the Townsville City Council since 1939, was expelled from the ALP for alleged disloyalty in 1942, possibly due to association with Communists. Tom Aikens won the seat of Mundingburra at the election.


1944 Queensland state election, Parties and independents
Similar forces saw sitting left-wing members George Taylor (Enoggera) and George Marriott (Bulimba) expelled from the party; the former lost his seat to a QPP candidate, while the latter retained his at the 1944 and 1947 elections. Frank Barnes, a colourful identity who supported social credit theories popular since the Great Depression and declared himself opposed to the Labor government, retained his seat of Bundaberg.


1944 Queensland state election, Parties and independents
Various changes were taking place in conservative politics as well, with the dissolution of the United Australia Party and the formation of the Queensland People's Party (QPP), led by the mayor of Brisbane and member for Hamilton, John Beals Chandler. The two independent conservatives elected in 1941 were both out of parliament by the election — Bruce Pie had resigned to contest the 1943 federal election, whilst William Deacon had died. One of the former United Australia Party members, Louis Luckins (Maree), did not join the QPP originally and retained his seat in 1944 as an independent.


1944 Queensland state election, Parties and independents
Apart from the above, numerous independent candidates contested with a range of banners, including Democrat, Christian Socialist, Servicemen's Association, People's Party and Independent Country Party, none of them achieving more than a few hundred votes.


1944 Queensland state election, Parties and independents
Fred Paterson was elected in Bowen, the only member of the Communist Party of Australia to be elected to an Australian parliament.


1944 Queensland state election, Results
The election saw a swing away from Labor based on the 1941 election, as indicated in the table below. In net terms, Labor lost four seats, although it still had a healthy working majority.


1944 Queensland state election, Results
Queensland state election, 15 April 1944Legislative Assembly << 1941–1947 >>


1944 Queensland state election, Seats changing party representation
This table lists changes in party representation at the 1944 election.


1944 Railway Cup Hurling Championship
The 1944 Railway Cup Hurling Championship was the 18th series of the Railway Cup, an annual hurling tournament and organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The tournament took place between 13 February and 17 March 1944.


1944 Railway Cup Hurling Championship
Four teams participated in the championship. These included all of the four historic provinces of Ireland, Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster.


1944 Randolph Field Ramblers football team
The 1944 Randolph Field Ramblers football team represented the Army Air Forces' Randolph Field during the 1944 college football season. Randoph Field was located about 15 miles east-northeast of San Antonio, Texas. In its second season under head coach Frank Tritico, the team compiled a perfect 12–0 record, shut out nine opponents, outscored all opponents by a total of 508 to 19, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll.


1944 Randolph Field Ramblers football team
Players (with the positions and prior teams in parentheses) included Glenn Dobbs (back, Tulsa), Bill Dudley (back, Pittsburgh Steelers), Pete Layden (fullback, Texas), F.O. "Dippy" Evans (back, Notre Dame), Bob Cifers (back, Tennessee), Jake Leicht (back, Oregon), Don Looney (end, Pittsburgh Steelers), Jack Russell (end, Baylor), Harold Newman (end, Alabama), Martin Ruby (tackle, Texas A&M), Walter Merrill (tackle, Alabama), Bill Bagwell (guard, Rice), Jack Freeman (guard, Texas), and Ken Holley (center, Holy Cross).


1944 Republican National Convention
The 1944 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from June 26 to 28, 1944. It nominated Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York for president and Governor John Bricker of Ohio for vice president.


1944 Republican National Convention
When the convention opened, Governor Dewey was the front-runner for the nomination. 1940 presidential nominee, Wendell Willkie again vied for the nomination, but when he lost the Wisconsin primary, the lack of support from the Republican Party became evident. (Before the election, Willkie would die of a heart attack.) Dewey was nominated on the first ballot. He became the second Republican candidate to accept his party's nomination in-person at the convention. All subsequent Republican nominees have accepted their nominations in person with the exception of Donald Trump who in 2020 delivered his re-nomination acceptance speech from The White House because of the COVID-19 pandemic.


1944 Republican National Convention
During the convention, Chicago's Billy Goat Tavern gained notoriety for posting a notice saying "No Republicans Allowed". This caused Republican conventioneers to pack the place, demanding to be served, and led to increased publicity for the tavern.


1944 Republican National Convention
The 1944 Republican platform included a call for a Constitutional amendment establishing equal rights for women. This line was included in all subsequent platforms until 1980, when the debate over the Equal Rights Amendment was occurring.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries
From March 14 to May 19, 1944, voters of the Republican Party chose its nominee for president in the 1944 United States presidential election. The nominee was selected through a series of primary elections and caucuses culminating in the 1944 Republican National Convention held from June 26 to June 28, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries
At the 1944 Republican National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Thomas E. Dewey easily overcame John W. Bricker, and was nominated on the first ballot. In a bid to maintain party unity, Dewey, a moderate, chose the conservative Bricker as his running mate; Bricker was nominated by acclamation.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates
As 1944 began the frontrunners for the Republican nomination appeared to be Wendell Willkie, the party's 1940 candidate, Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio, the leader of the party's conservatives, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the leader of the party's powerful, moderate eastern establishment, General Douglas MacArthur, then serving as an Allied commander in the Pacific theater of the war, and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen, then serving as a U.S. naval officer in the Pacific.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates
However, Taft surprised many by announcing that he was not a candidate; instead he voiced his support for a fellow conservative, Governor John W. Bricker of Ohio. With Taft out of the race some GOP conservatives favored General MacArthur. However, MacArthur's chances were limited by the fact that he was leading Allied forces against Japan, and thus could not campaign for the nomination.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Major candidates
These candidates participated in multiple state primaries or were included in multiple major national polls.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Major candidates, Bypassing primaries
The following candidates did not actively campaign for any state's presidential primary (other than their own), but may have had their name placed on the ballot by supporters or may have sought to influence to selection of un-elected delegates or sought the support of uncommitted delegates.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Candidates, Favorite sons
The following candidates ran only in their home state's primary or caucus for the purpose of controlling its delegate slate at the convention and did not appear to be considered national candidates by the media.


1944 Republican Party presidential primaries, Statewide contest by winner
The Wisconsin primary proved to be the key contest, as Dewey won by a surprisingly wide margin; he took 14 delegates to four for Harold Stassen, while MacArthur won the three remaining delegates. Willkie was shut out in the Wisconsin primary; he did not win a single delegate. His unexpectedly poor showing in Wisconsin forced him to withdraw as a candidate for the nomination.


1944 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
This article lists those who were potential candidates for the Republican nomination for Vice President of the United States in the 1944 election. At the start of the 1944 Republican National Convention, New York Governor Thomas Dewey seemed like the likely presidential nominee, but his nomination was not assured due to strong support for Ohio Governor John W. Bricker and former Minnesota Governor Harold Stassen. Though Dewey wanted California Governor Earl Warren as his running mate, Warren was convinced that Franklin D. Roosevelt would win re-election, and refused to be anyone's running mate.


1944 Republican Party vice presidential candidate selection
Some Republicans wanted to ask Democratic Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia to be the Republican running mate in order to pursue the Southern vote, but this possibility was not seriously pursued. Dewey and his advisers instead worked out a deal in which Bricker's delegates voted for Dewey in the presidential ballot, and Dewey in return chose Bricker as his running mate. The Dewey-Bricker ticket, which balanced the moderate Northeastern and conservative Midwestern wings of the party, was ratified by the Republican convention. The ticket lost the 1944 presidential election to the Roosevelt-Truman ticket.


1944 Rhode Island gubernatorial election
The 1944 Rhode Island gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1944. Incumbent Democrat J. Howard McGrath defeated Republican nominee Norman D. MacLeod with 60.65% of the vote.


1944 Rice Owls football team
The 1944 Rice Owls football team was an American football team that represented Rice University as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1944 college football season. In its fifth season under head coach Jess Neely, the team compiled a 5–6 record (2–3 against SWC opponents) and was outscored by a total of 163 to 143.


1944 Romanian coup d'état
The 1944 Romanian coup d'état, better known in Romanian historiography as the Act of 23 August (Romanian: Actul de la 23 August), was a coup d'état led by King Michael I of Romania during World War II on 23 August 1944. With the support of several political parties, the king removed the government of Ion Antonescu, which had aligned Romania with Nazi Germany, after the Axis front in northeastern Romania collapsed in the face of a successful Soviet offensive.


1944 Romanian coup d'état
The Romanian Army declared a unilateral ceasefire with the Soviet Red Army on the Moldavian front, an event viewed as decisive in the Allied advances against the Axis powers in the European theatre of World War II. The coup was supported by the Romanian Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the National Peasants' Party who had coalesced into the National Democratic Bloc in June 1944.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Preparations
According to Silviu Brucan, the two main conspirators from the Communist Party's side were Emil Bodnăraș and Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu, who contacted King Michael to prepare a coup d'état against Ion Antonescu. The first meeting between King Michael's representatives with the Communists was during the night of 13–14 June 1944 in a secret house of the communists, at 103 Calea Moșilor. Apart from the two communist conspirators, participants in the meeting were Gen. Gheorghe Mihail, Gen. Constantin Sănătescu and Col. Dumitru Dămăceanu, while King Michael was represented by Baron Ioan Mocsony-Stârcea (marshal of the palace), Mircea Ionnițiu (private secretary) and Grigore Niculescu-Buzești (diplomatic adviser).


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Preparations
The King's representatives presented the Gigurtu plan, through which the King would meet Baron Manfred von Killinger, the German ambassador in Bucharest, to discuss the replacement of Antonescu with a cabinet led by Ion Gigurtu. The Communist Party thought that this plan was "naïve and dangerous", as it would have alerted the Gestapo and that it would have meant even more German espionage.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Preparations
The Communist Party presented an alternative plan, through which King Michael, who was the commander-in-chief, would order the weapons to be turned against Nazi Germany and Antonescu would be summoned to the palace, ordered to sign an armistice with the Allies and, if he refused, be arrested on the spot. After this, a coalition government of the National Democratic Bloc (the National Peasants' Party, the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Romanian Communist Party) would take power.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Preparations
This proposal was accepted by both the military representatives and the King's advisers, who then convinced King Michael that it was the best solution.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, The coup
On 23 August 1944 King Michael joined with pro-Allied opposition politicians and led a successful coup with support from the army. Michael, who was initially considered to be not much more than a "figurehead", was able to successfully depose dictator Ion Antonescu. The king offered a non-confrontational retreat to German ambassador Manfred Freiherr von Killinger, but the Germans considered the coup "reversible" and tried to turn the situation around by military attacks.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, The coup
The Romanian First Army, the Romanian Second Army (under formation), the remnants of the Romanian Third Army and the Romanian Fourth Army (one corps) were under orders from the king to defend Romania against any German attacks. The king then offered to put Romania's battered armies on the side of the Allies.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
The coup sped the Red Army's advance into Romania. Romanian historians claimed that the coup shortened the war by as much as "six months."


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
Formal Allied recognition of the de facto change of orientation of Romania in the war came on 12 September 1944. Until this date, Soviet troops started moving into Romania, taking approximately 140,000 Romanian prisoners of war. About 130,000 Romanian POWs were transported to the Soviet Union, where many perished in prison camps.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
The armistice was signed on the same date, 12 September 1944, on Allied terms. Article 18 of the Armistice Agreement with Rumania stipulated that "An Allied Control Commission will be established which will undertake until the conclusion of peace the regulation of and control over the execution of the present terms under the general direction and orders of the Allied (Soviet) High Command, acting on behalf of the Allied Powers." The Annex to Article 18, specified that "The Romanian Government and their organs shall fulfill all instructions of the Allied Control Commission arising out of the Armistice Agreement." It also made clear that the Allied Control Commission would have its seat in Bucharest. In line with Article 14 of the Armistice Agreement, two Romanian People's Tribunals were set up to try suspected war criminals.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
In October 1944, Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, proposed an agreement with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on how to divide Eastern Europe into spheres of influence after the war. It was reportedly agreed that Soviet Union would have a "90% share of influence" in Romania.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
The Romanian Army, from the armistice until the end of the war, were fighting alongside the Soviets against Germany and its remaining allies. They fought in Transylvania, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. In May 1945 the Romanian First and Fourth Armies took part in the Prague Offensive. The Romanians suffered a total of 169,822 casualties (in all causes) fighting on the Allied side.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
Ion Antonescu was placed under arrest; the new Prime Minister, Lt. Gen. Constantin Sănătescu, gave custody of Antonescu to Romanian communists who would turn the former dictator over to the Soviets on 1 September. He was later returned to Romania, where he was tried and executed in 1946.


1944 Romanian coup d'état, Aftermath
For his actions, King Michael was decorated with the Soviet Order of Victory by Joseph Stalin in 1945 "for the courageous act of the radical change in Romania's politics towards a break-up from Hitler's Germany and an alliance with the United Nations, at the moment when there was no clear sign yet of Germany's defeat." He was also awarded the highest degree (Chief Commander) of the Legion of Merit by  President Harry S. Truman a year later. Nevertheless, he functioned as little more than a figurehead under the communist régime and was finally forced to abdicate and leave the country in 1947. Michael remained in exile until after the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and was only allowed to return to the country in 1992.


1944 Rose Bowl
The 1944 Rose Bowl was the thirtieth edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, January 1. This was the only Rose Bowl game with teams from the same conference (Pacific Coast), necessitated by the travel restrictions imposed by the war effort. It determined the champion of the PCC for the 1943 season; the USC Trojans shut out the Washington Huskies 29–0 in a one-sided game.


1944 Rose Bowl
USC backup quarterback Jim Hardy threw three touchdown passes to lead the Trojans to their seventh Rose Bowl victory and eighth PCC championship.


1944 Rose Bowl
For the first time, the Rose Bowl was broadcast on the radio abroad to all American servicemen, with General Eisenhower in Western Europe allowing all troops who were not on the front lines to tune in and listen.


1944 Rose Bowl, Teams, Washington Huskies
Favored Washington won all four of its games in an abbreviated season without any PCC matchups, as the other five programs in the Northern Division were on hiatus in 1943 (and 1944). They played Whitman College, Spokane Air Command (twice), and the March Field Flyers. The Rose Bowl was the Huskies' sole conference game of the season; the three teams of the Southern Division (USC, UCLA, California) played each other twice; Stanford was on hiatus until the 1946 season.


1944 Rose Bowl, Teams, Washington Huskies
Washington's most recent game was two months earlier on October 30, and they had lost a dozen players to active military duty since, including two of their best backs, Jay Stoves (a transfer from idle Washington State) and Pete Susick. Head coach Ralph Welch filled roster holes with Navy V-12 trainees and draft rejects who recently arrived on campus, leaving only 28 players available for the game. Oddsmakers made the Huskies two-touchdown favorites to beat USC, but the fielded team differed greatly from that of the regular season.


1944 Rutgers Queensmen football team
The 1944 Rutgers Queensmen football team represented Rutgers University in the 1944 college football season. In their seventh season under head coach Harry Rockafeller, the Queensmen compiled a 3–2 record and were outscored by their opponents 82 to 58.


1944 SANFL Grand Final
The 1944 SANFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football championship game. It was held during World War II and was contested between merged clubs. Norwood-North beat Port–Torrens 61 to 55.


1944 SANFL season
The 1944 South Australian National Football League season was the final of three war-interrupted seasons.


1944 SMU Mustangs football team
The 1944 SMU Mustangs football team was an American football team that represented Southern Methodist University (SMU) as a member of the Southwest Conference (SWC) during the 1944 college football season. In their third season under head coach Jimmy Stewart, the Mustangs compiled a 5–5 record (2–3 against conference opponents) and were outscored by a total of 201 to 131. The team played its home games at Ownby Stadium in the University Park suburb of Dallas.


1944 Saint Mary's Gaels football team
The 1944 Saint Mary's Gaels football team was an American football team that represented Saint Mary's College of California during the 1944 college football season. In their third season under head coach James Phelan, the Gaels compiled a 0–5 record and were outscored by opponents by a combined total of 148 to 14.


1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team
The 1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team represented the United States Navy pre-flight school at Saint Mary's College of California during the 1944 college football season. In its third season, the team compiled a 4–4 record, outscored opponents by a total of 96 to 70, and was ranked No. 19 in the final AP Poll. This would be 1 of only 3 college football programs to make the final AP poll with a .500 or lower win percentage, with the other two being Notre Dame in 1959 (5-5, #17), and Purdue in 1960 (4-4-1, #19)


1944 Saint Mary's Pre-Flight Air Devils football team
In August 1944, Lt. Jules V. Sikes was named as the team's coach. He had been an assistant coach to the 1943 team.


1944 Salvadoran Constitutional Assembly election
Constituent Assembly elections were held in El Salvador in January 1944. However, no results were posted.


1944 Salvadoran presidential election
Presidential elections were held in El Salvador in January 1944. Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was the only candidate and won the election, but no results were posted.