There are multiple references to the 1954 race between England's Roger Bannister and Australian John Landy during the British Empire and Commonwealth Games, with no one remembering who won. Bannister won the race.
At one point, Lou Grant says that Art Donovan considers the nuclear power industry "the biggest bad guy since Sydney Greenstreet." Sydney Greenstreet was a notable 1940s British actor who often played villain roles, including most notably in "The Maltese Falcon."