Rose Bowl

From the glitter of Hollywood to the bohemian madness of Venice Beach to the industrial starkness of Long Beach, the Los Angeles region is one of the most urbanized, dynamic, and ethnically and culturally diverse regions of the world, let alone the United States. In the closing decades of the 1800s, the region was still very much a part of the Old West, but signs of future growth were beginning to be evident.

After California was annexed by the United States in 1848, Manuel Garfias began dividing and selling portions of his Rancho del Rincon to white settlers moving into the region. When Dr. Daniel Berry of Indiana came to visit his friend Benjamin Wilson (namesake of Mount Wilson). Dr. Berry decided that the region's mild climate would be ideal for his patients seeking relief from respiratory ailments and founded the Indiana Colony, which would become the city of Pasadena.

The town became a stop on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad and soon became a popular winter retreat for wealthy Easterners. Several decided to stay in California and a real estate boom began, along with a growing popularity of American Craftsman style home architecture. The Valley Hunt Club became a chic gathering place for these transplanted Easterners, and in 1889 the members decided to hold a festival to promote their new Western Paradise (and to celebrate the fact that they were not buried in snow like their former neighbors).

The first Tournament of Roses Parade was held along Colorado Blvd, with members riding in flower-bedecked carriages on New Years' morning, 1890. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association was formed in 1895 as the event grew too large for the Valley Hunt Club to manage. The lot where the festivities took place was renamed Tournament Park and soon more events were added such as foot races polo matches, and a community tug-of-war match.

The Rose Bowl football tradition traces back to 1902 with the Tournament East-West Game. The Stanford University squad represented the West and faced the undefeated Michigan Wolverines. The Eastern squad had earned the nickname "Point-a-Minute" during their regular season. With eight minutes left to play, the Stanford team captain approached game officials to concede defeat with his team down 49-0.

Football would not return to the Tournament for thirteen years when the East-West Game was revived with Washington State University defeating Rhode Island's Brown University Bears, 0-14. The game soon eclipsed even the annual parade in popularity and it became obvious that the temporary bleachers erected at Tournament Park were insufficient for the crowd of fans.

A stadium design inspired by Connecticut's Yale Dome was drawn in 1921 and construction began in February 1922. The Rose Bowl Stadium was dedicated in October of the same year. 

One of the most recognizable sporting venues in the world, the Rose Bowl has undergone several renovations and is the 16th largest stadium in the world. 

• The Alan Young Show, December 27, 1946. Alan has exchanged a Christmas present for a book on criminology. With this new knowledge in hand, he is convinced that he is the one to be trusted to protect the secret plans for Van Nuys Rose Bowl Parade Float.
• The Green Hornet, December 30, 1947, "Tickets to the Rose Bowl". Britt Reid is flying out to California to visit his father and asks him to try and get tickets for the Rose Bowl Game. The Old Man sends his secretary (and Britt's old flame) Linda to visit a scalper ticket agent. Not only are the tickets overpriced ($100 a pop!) they are counterfeits! The Green Hornet's old nemesis, Oliver Perry seems to be involved in the fake Rose Bowl ticket racket.
• The Lucky Strike Program Starring Jack Benny, January 4, 1948, After a fun New Year's Eve party at Don's house, Jack and Mary decide to go to the Big Game, although Jack hasn't thought to get tickets yet. They call up Rochester to drive them out to Pasadena in the Maxwell to get in line at two in the morning.
• 1953 Rose Bowl Game Play by Play. The East sends the Wisconsin Badgers with a record of 6-1-1 to face the West's USC Trojans who were undefeated in the 1952 Pacific Coast Conference,