The Ice Bowl and so much more

Today is a special day in Green Bay Packers history.

Dec. 31, 1967, was Vince Lombardi’s final game at Lambeau Field … It was also the day the Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys for the NFL Championship in what is now known as The Ice Bowl.

Everyone was there, if not in body, certainly in spirit.

We all know what transpired on that day. We know about the turf that flash froze into something that resembled an ice skating rink more than a football field; we know about how the Packers took a quick lead, but lost it when Dallas’s defense came to play in the second half and then used a halfback option pass for a touchdown to take the lead; we know about the Packers final drive of the game that concluded with Bart Starr’s plunge across the end zone line behind the blocks of Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman.

It’s the stuff of legend. We love it and will never forget it.

But there was also much more happening that day.

Take the jump for events that were changing the world on Dec. 31, 1967, and don’t forget to Like Lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

People were not just watching football … they were reading “The Confessions of Nat Turner,” by William Styron, the book at the top of The New York Times bestsellers list on Dec. 31, 1967; they were watching “The Dream Girl of 1967” and “The Prisoner”; They were heading to the movie theaters to watch some of the greatest movies ever made – “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The Graduate,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “In the Heat of the Night,” and “A Man for all Seasons.”

Some were even taking an interest in the AFL Championship Game that was won by the Oakland Raiders 41-6 over the Kansas City Chiefs.

And for even more perspective, here’s a look at not only some of the coverage from the game, but some of the other things that were happening throughout the world:

Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane joined The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company in concert at the Winterland.

Clipped from: www.wolfgangsvault.com (share this clip)

There was a UFO sighting in Bithlo, Fla.

Clipped from: www.ufoevidence.org (share this clip)

Evel Knievel failed in his attempt to jump the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, resulting in concussion that kept him lying in a coma for 29 days with a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles.

Clipped from: www.thepeoplehistory.com (share this clip)

, the man who is said to have invented the instant replay.

And we can’t forget about the coverage of the big game at Lambeau Field. Here are pictures taken that day by photographers from the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Clipped from: packersnews.greenbaypressgazette.com (share this clip)

And finally, the game’s box score and statistics

Clipped from: www.pro-football-reference.com (share this clip)

 don’t forget to Like Lombardiave.com on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.