The American Federation of Labor was a national federation of labor unions in the United States founded in Columbus, Ohio, in December 1886 by an alliance of craft unions disaffected from the Knights of Labor, a national labor union. Samuel Gompers of the Cigar Makers' International Union was elected president at its founding convention and reelected every year, except one, until his death in 1924; the A. F. of L was the largest union grouping in the United States for the first half of the 20th century after the creation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations by unions which were expelled by the AFL in 1935 over its opposition to industrial unionism. The Federation was founded and dominated by craft unions throughout its first fifty years, after which many craft union affiliates turned to organizing on an industrial union basis to meet the challenge from the Congress of Industrial Organizations in the 1940s. In 1955, the AFL merged with the CIO to create the AFL-CIO, which has comprised the longest lasting and most influential labor federation in the United States to this day.

The American Federation of Labor was organized as an association of trade unions in 1886. The organization emerged from a dispute with the Knights of Labor organization, in which the leadership of that organization solicited locals of various craft unions to withdraw from their International organizations and to affiliate with the K of L directly, an action which would have taken funds from the various unions and enriched the K of L's coffers; the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions merged into what would become the American Federation of Labor. One of the organizations embroiled in this controversy was the Cigar Makers' International Union, a group subject to competition from a dual union, a rival "Progressive Cigarmakers' Union," organized by members suspended or expelled by the CMIU; the two cigar unions competed with one another in signing contracts with various cigar manufacturers, who were at this same time combining themselves into manufacturers' associations of their own in New York City, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

In January 1886, the Cigar Manufacturers' Association of New York City attempted to flex its muscle by announcing a 20 percent wage cut in factories around the city. The Cigar Makers' International Union refused to accept the cut and 6,000 of its members in 19 factories were locked out by the owners. A strike lasting four weeks ensued. Just when it appeared that the strike might be won, the New York District Assembly of the Knights of Labor leaped into the breach, offering to settle with the 19 factories at a lower wage scale than that proposed by the CMIU, so long as only the Progressive Cigarmakers' Union was employed; the leadership of the CMIU was enraged and demanded that the New York District Assembly be investigated and punished by the national officials of the Knights of Labor. The committee of investigation was controlled by individuals friendly to the New York District Assembly and the latter was exonerated; the American Federation of Labor was thus formed as an alliance of craft unions outside the Knights of Labor as a means of defending themselves against this and similar incursions.

On April 25, 1886, a circular letter was issued by Adolph Strasser of the Cigar Makers and P. J. McGuire of the Carpenters, addressed to all national trade unions and calling for their attendance of a conference in Philadelphia on May 18; the call stated that an element of the Knights of Labor was doing "malicious work" and causing "incalculable mischief by arousing antagonisms and dissensions in the labor movement." The call was signed by Strasser and McGuire, along with representatives of the Granite Cutters, the Iron Molders, the secretary of the Federation of Trades of North America, a forerunner of the AFL founded in 1881. Forty-three invitations were mailed, which drew the attendance of 20 delegates and letters of approval from 12 other unions. At this preliminary gathering, held in Donaldson Hall on the corner of Broad and Filbert Streets, the K of L was charged with conspiring with anti-union bosses to provide labor at below going union rates and with making use of individuals who had crossed picket lines or defaulted on payment of union dues.

The body authored a "treaty" to be presented to the forthcoming May 24, 1886, convention of the Knights of Labor, which demanded that the K of L cease attempting to organize members of International Unions into its own assemblies without permission of the unions involved and that K of L organizers violating this provision should suffer immediate suspension. For its part, the Knights of Labor considered the demand for the parcelling of the labor movement into narrow craft-based fiefdoms to be anathema, a violation of the principle of solidarity of all workers across craft lines. Negotiations with the dissident craft unions were nipped in the bud by the governing General Assembly of the K of L, with the organization's Grand Master Workman, Terence V. Powderly refusing to enter into serious discussions on the matter; the actions of the New York District Assembly of the K of L were upheld. Convinced that no accommodation with the leadership of the Knights of Labor was possible, the heads of the five labor organizations which issued the call for the April 1886 conference issued a new call for a convention to be held December 8, 1886, in Columbus, Ohio, in order to construct "an American federation of alliance of all national and international trade unions."

Forty-two delegates representing 13 national unions and various other local labor organizations responded to the call, agreeing to form themselves into an American Federation of Labor. Revenue for the new organization was to be raised on the basis of a "per-capita tax" of its member organizations

The 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Jim Tressel; the Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State finished the season with an overall record of 11–2 and placed second in the Big Ten Conference with mark of 6–2; the Buckeyes concluded their season with a victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl. The 2003 season opened to disappointment. Reports surfaced during the preseason that led to star RB Maurice Clarett being suspended indefinitely, he was the center of attention as ESPN’s College Gameday came to Columbus. A top 20 battle was set to be waged between the #17/19 Washington Huskies and the #2 ranked defending National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State came in 5–0 in night games in Ohio Stadium; the Huskies featured such stars as QB "Cowboy" Cody Pickett, 1st round draft pick Reggie Williams, offensive tackle Khaliff Barnes, TE Joe Toledo. On the defensive side Greg Carothers and Roc Alexander were the big names, but they would be no match for the powerful Ohio State offense.

Maurice Hall scored at the 8:31 mark in the first Quarter to take a 7–0 lead. They built on that lead with a magnificent 28-yard scramble by Craig Krenzel with 2:51 left in the 1st. Ohio state would take a 21–0 lead into halftime, when Craig Krenzel again scrambled 11 yards for a score with 22 seconds remaining. Washington came out with some renewed vigor to start the 3rd, but only came away with a field goal by Evan Knudson, making it 21–3, with 13:22 left to go in the 3rd. Ohio State wouldn’t slow down however, junior tailback Lydell Ross scored off a bruising 15-yard run to make it 28–3. Cody Pickett closed out the scoring by rolling out for a 2-yard run; the final score was 28–9, Ohio State was 1–0, on a fifteen-game winning streak. Week 2 brought the Aztecs to Columbus; the two teams had met in Head Coach Jim Tressel's first season at Ohio State in 2001, a 27–12 victory. This time however, San Diego State's QB Matt Dlugolecki was determined to change the outcome, got the Aztecs rolling with an 11-yard touchdown pass to start the attack.

The #2 ranked Buckeyes managed to add a field goal to make it 7–3 at the 9:54 mark. The Aztecs were again marching until OSU cornerback Chris Gamble tipped a pass to safety Will Allen, who went 100 yards coast-to-coast in doing so, set the Ohio Stadium record for an interception return, gave OSU a 10–7 lead. Another Mike Nugent field goal made it 13–7, it would stay that way on to half time. Once again, Ohio State's opponent came out with new life after half time, the Aztecs added a field goal early in the 3rd to make it 13–10 Buckeyes, but on a day when the OSU offense couldn't do much of anything, not registering an offensive touchdown, they were able to tack on another Mike Nugent field goal in the 4th, to take a 16–10 advantage. San Diego State kept up the good fight, making it 16–13, but on the wheels of junior RB Maurice Hall, OSU chewed up the clock, held on for an ugly, 16th straight win. For the second time in 2003, the 2nd ranked Buckeyes welcomed in a Top 25 team, this time it was the high powered offense of #22/24 ranked North Carolina State.

Questions floating around Columbus during the week had presided over the ineptitude of the Ohio State offense. Senior QB Craig Krenzel had completed just 5 of 20 pass attempts the week prior, OSU had only managed 196 yards. NC State had a loaded team featuring QB Philip Rivers, RB T. A. McLendon, WR Jerricho Cotchery, offensive lineman Sean Locklear. On defense, though young, DE Mario Williams and DT John McCargo would both go on to be 1st round draft picks, with Williams going #1 overall; this Ohio State squad was loaded with future NFL stars however, they were ready to prove they were up to task. NC State started off struggling for every yard, Ohio State drew first blood. Michael Jenkins got off to a great start, with a 44-yard touchdown reception off of a shallow drag at the 4:13 mark of the first quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the NC State returners collided with each other, the ball bounced off a helmet of the returner. Will Allen recovered the ball on the 4-yard line, Lydell Ross punched it in three plays from two yards out, making it 14–0 with 2:47 left in the first quarter.

Though the first quarter, NC State had managed just five yards off 15 plays. N. C. State got their offense untracked thanks to some tough running from the injured McLendon, questionable at the start of the game; the drive ended when Jericho Cotchery was wide open on an 11-yard scoring strike from Rivers just before halftime. OSU’s lead shrunk to 14–7. NC State just couldn’t quite get keep it together, much of the reasoning was thanks to Will Smith and the Buckeye’s defense harassing Rivers. A Wolfpack turnover led to a 22-yard field goal for OSU in the third quarter. Ohio State appeared to be in complete control after Craig Krenzel scrambled 6 yards for OSU's third touchdown of the day. With 11:26 left, the Wolfpack's time seemed to be running out. "The Chest" Chuck. The first came on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Rivers to Cotchery. After A. J. Davis picked off a Krenzel pass, NC St. added a FG to cut it to 24-17 with 5:51 left. The Wolfpack would

Kaoru Betto was a Nippon Professional Baseball player. After playing for the Ōsaka Tigers for two years, Betto played for the Mainichi Orions from 1950 to 1957. In his first season with the Orions, Betto won the NPB's first Pacific League MVP Award and helped lead the team to victory in the first Japan Series. A T-shirt featuring a cartoon image of Kaoru Betto was worn by Jeff Bridges' characters in at least three films, including The Fisher King, Cold Feet, The Big Lebowski. 2. The Big Lebowski / Jeff Bridges wearing Kaoru Bet­to Base­ball Raglan T-shirt Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference BR Bullpen