Roller Derby research/Chronology

Chronology
This began as an aborted Aug 2006 effort to distill the Wikipedia article's history section down to a simple list of cited claims.

1920s

 * 1922 - First mention of roller derby in Chicago Tribune (April and December)

1930s

 * 1935 - Seltzer's first derby
 * 57,000 laps (source: Batz)
 * 1936 - attempted NY debut (source: Village Voice)
 * 1938 - Damon Runyon attends Miami match, suggests developing game (source: Andrews, paraphrasing sports encyclopedist Ralph Hickok)

1940s

 * 1941-1945 - League reduced to one team skating for entertainment of U.S. soldiers (source:
 * 1945 - Growth resumes
 * 1946 - NY Polo Grounds 12-day rainout
 * 1947 - ABC TV debut
 * 1947 - Leo changes his residence to Los Angeles
 * late 1948 - Transcontinental Roller Derby came to New York City (source: Andrews)
 * 1948-1951 - New York Times devotes serious coverage to the sport, including lineups and box scores (source: Andrews)
 * 1949 - National Roller Derby League formed (source: ?)
 * Brooklyn Red Devils featured Marjorie (Midge) "Toughie" Brasuhn Monte (source: Andrews)
 * Toughie was captain from 1949-1953 (source: Andrews, quoting Toughie's obit in Sports Illustrated 23 Aug 1971)
 * New York Chiefs featured Geraldine “Gerry” Murray (source: Andrews)
 * 1949 - Televised matches move to ABC (source: Village Voice)
 * 1949 - NRDL playoffs sell out Madison Square Garden (source: ?)
 * 1949 - Business Week article “Roller Derby—An Industry Made by Television” reports that three armories in New York City had attracted 311,000 people to the Roller Derby (source: Andrews)

1950s

 * 1950 - Leo moves operations to New York
 * 1950 - CBS televises matches from 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan or the 14th Street armory in Brooklyn (source: Andrews)
 * 1950 - Jerry moves operations to Los Angeles (source: Rollersport)
 * 195? - Brooklyn Red Devils became the Jersey Jolters (source: Andrews)
 * 1954 - SF Bay Bombers established
 * as an 'expansion' team (source: KTVU)
 * as Roller Derby's 'move to San Francisco' (source: Village Voice)
 * by Leo Seltzer, who was in the Bay Area (source: Calvello)
 * 1958 - Operations moved to Northern California to secure larger venues (source: Rollersport)
 * 19?? - Roller Derby was very popular on TV
 * at one point it was on all three networks, several times a week (source: Batz)
 * at one point in the 1950s all three networks were vying to televise it live (source: Andrews, paraphrasing Deford in Sports Illustrated)

1960s

 * 19?? - Roller Games formed
 * by skaters who chose not to move to Northern California (source: Rollersport)
 * promoted primarily as 'public exhibition form of entertainment' (source: Rollersport)

1970s

 * 1970 - Nearly 20,000 watch Roller Derby at Madison Square Garden (source: Village Voice)
 * 1971 - Roller Derby at commercial peak in SF Bay Area (source: Andrews)
 * 1972 - Jerry Seltzer sells Bay Bombers to settle alimony suit (source: Andrews)
 * 1973 - Jerry Seltzer lost television syndication rights (source: Andrews)
 * 1973 - After skaters try to unionize, Jerry Seltzer sells remaining teams to an LA promoter, who incorporates them into Roller Games (source: Andrews)
 * 1973 - Roller Derby operations shut down (source: Village Voice)
 * expensive travel costs due to gasoline shortage was one reason (source: Calvello)
 * 1975 - Roller Games operations shut down (source: Batz)
 * 1976 - Roller Derby reappears in syndication on cable TV (source: Andrews)
 * 1977 - International Roller Skating League formed (source: Batz)

1980s

 * 1983 - Newsweek article “Can Roller Derby Get Back on the Track?” reports on IRSL (source: Andrews)
 * mid-1980s - IRSL traveling teams sell out the Pittsburgh Civic Arena (source: Batz)
 * 1985 - ESPN broadcasts "Slams & Jams" Tuesday night pro wrestling / roller derby doubleheader (source: Batz)