1940 in Sport

• Jan 1 26th Rose Bowl: #3 Southern California beats #2 Tennessee, 14-0
• Jan 1 6th Sugar Bowl: #1 Texas A&M beats #5 Tulane, 14-13
• Jan 1 6th Orange Bowl: #16 Georgia Tech beats #6 Missouri, 21-7
• Jan 14 Commissioner Kenesaw Landis gives free agency to 91 Detroit Tigers
• Jan 14 NFL Pro Bowl: Green Bay beats NFL All-Stars 16-7
• Jan 29 33rd Women's Australian Championships: Nancye Wynne beats Thelma Coyne (5-7, 6-4, 6-0)
• Jan 29 33rd Men's Australian Championships: Adrian Quist beats Jack Crawford (6-3, 6-1, 6-2)

• Feb 28 1st televised basketball game (U of Pitts beats Fordham U, 50-37)
• Mar 7 Montreal Canadiens lose record tying NHL 15th straight game at home

• Mar 29 Joe Louis KOs Johnny Paycheck in 2 to retain heavyweight boxing title
• Mar 30 2nd NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Indiana U beats Kansas 60-42
• Apr 5 99th Grand National: Sgt. Mervyn A. Jones aboard Bogskar wins
• Apr 7 7th Masters Golf Tournament: Jimmy Demaret wins, shooting a 280


• Apr 12 NFL cuts clipping penalty from 25 yards to 15 yards
• Apr 13 Cornelious Warmerdam became 1st man to pole vault 15 ft
• Apr 13 Stanley Cup: NY Rangers beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 2
• Apr 19 44th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Cote of Canada in 2:28:28.6
• Apr 23 NY Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Rupert
• Apr 30 Brooklyn Dodger Tex Carleton no-hits Cincinnati Reds, 3-0
• May 1 Summer Olympics (scheduled for Helsinki) are cancelled by the Finnish OC because of WWII
• May 4 66th Kentucky Derby: Carroll Bierman aboard Gallahadion wins in 2:05
• May 11 65th Preakness: Fred A Smith aboard Bimelech wins in 1:58.6
• May 20 Soccer team HZVV forms in Hoogeveen
• May 24 1st night game at NY's Polo Grounds (Giants 8, Braves 1)
• May 24 1st night game at St Louis Sportsman Park (Indians 3, Browns 2)
• May 24 NY Giants rip Boston Bees 8-1 in 1st night game at Polo Grounds
• May 29 Adolf Kiefer swims world record 100 yards backstroke (58.8 sec)
• May 30 Indianapolis 500: Wilbur Shaw wins in 4:22:31.201 (183.911 km/h)
• Jun 4 1st NL night game at Sportsman's Park (Dodgers 10, Cardinals 1)
• Jun 4 1st night game at Forbes Field (Pirates 14, Braves 2)
• Jun 8 72nd Belmont: Fred A Smith aboard Bimelech wins in 2:29.6
• Jun 9 44th US Golf Open: Lawson Little shoots a 287 at Canterbury GC OH
• Jun 20 Joe Louis TKOs Arturo Godoy in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
• Jul 9 8th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 4-0 at Sportsman's Park, St Louis
• Jul 25 John Sigmund begins swimming for 89 hrs 46 mins in the Mississippi River
• Jul 28 Yankee Charlie Keller hits 3 HRs to beat White Sox 10-9
• Jul 29 SV. Urk Dutch soccer team forms
• Aug 5 St Louis Brown's pitcher John Whitehead no-hits Detroit Tigers, 4-0 in 6 innings (rain shortened)

• Aug 26 RKC soccer team forms in Waalwijk
• Aug 29 7th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Green Bay 45, All-Stars 28 (84,567)

• Sep 15 3rd American Football League plays 1st game (Milw 14, Columbus 2)
• Sep 15 Chicago Tribune sponsors Ted Lyons Day (White Sox pitcher)

• Oct 3 Cincinnati Reds' win Game 2 of the Baseball World Series, 5-2 v Detroit Tigers at Crosley Field; snap 10-game losing streak for NL going back to Game 6 in 1937; Reds win series, 4-3
• Oct 7 Reds Bucky Walters is 1st pitcher in 14 years to homer in World Series
• Oct 8 Cincinnati Reds beat Detroit Tigers, 4 games to 3, in 37th World Series
• Oct 24 Japan eliminates US terms (strike, play ball) from baseball

• Nov 10 Pittsburgh & Philadelphia play a penalty free NFL game
• Nov 17 Green Bay Packers become 1st NFL team to travel by plane
• Nov 27 6th Heisman Trophy Award: Tom Harmon, Michigan (HB)
• Nov 30 28th CFL Grey Cup (Game 1): Toronto Balmy Beach defeats Ottawa, 8-2
• Dec 7 28th CFL Grey Cup (Game 2): Toronto Balmy Beach defeats Ottawa, 12-5
• Dec 8 1st NFL championship on national radio; Bears beat Redskins 73-0
• Dec 10 1941 NFL Draft: Tom Harmon from University of Michigan first pick by Chicago Bears
• Dec 16 Joe Louis KOs Al McCoy in 6 for heavyweight boxing title in Chicago

• Dec 25 Bradman out 1st ball for South Australia v Victoria before 6213
• Dec 26 1st-class cricket debut of Arthur Morris, who scores 148
• Dec 28 Cricketer Arthur Morris scores 111 in 2nd innings of 1st game after 148
• Dec 29 NFL Pro Bowl: Chicago Bears beats NFL All-Stars 28-14

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 144

• Jan 1 Jack Kiefer, Columbia PA, PGA golfer (1994 Ralphs Senior Classic)
• Jan 10 Harry Gant, NASCAR driver
• Jan 12 Dick Motz, cricketer (1st NZer to take 100 Test wickets)
• Jan 17 Kipchoge "Kip" Keino, Kenyan athlete (Olympic gold 1,500m 1968, 3k steeplechase 1972), born in Kipsamo, Kenya
• Jan 18 Pedro Rodriguez, Mexican racing driver (d. 1971)

• Jan 20 Carol Heiss Jenkins, American figure skater (Olympic gold/silver-56, 60), born in NYC, New York

• Jan 22 George Seifert, American football coach
• Jan 29 Kunimitsu Takahashi, Japanese motorcycle racer and racing driver
• Feb 1 Herve Filion, sulky driver (1969 Canadian Sports Hall of Fame)
• Feb 2 Wayne Fontes, American football coach

• Feb 6 Jimmy Tarbuck, English comic/golfer
• Feb 10 Mary Rand-Bignal-Toomey, English long jumper (Olympic gold 1964), born in Wells, United Kingdom
• Feb 11 Calvin Fowler, Pitts, basketball player (Olympic gold 1968)
• Feb 15 John Hadl, American football player
• Feb 17 Dennis Gamsy, South African cricketer (South African bat in 2 Tests v Australia 1970), born in Glenwood, South Africa
• Feb 20 Jimmy Greaves, British broadcaster/soccer player
• Feb 21 Peter Gethin, British racing driver
• Feb 22 Chet Walker, NBA all-star forward (Chicago Bulls)
• Feb 24 Jimmy Ellis, WBA heavyweight boxing champ (1968-70), born in Louisville, Kentucky, (d. 2014)
• Feb 24 Denis Law, Scottish footballer (Manchester United, Manchester City), born in Aberdeen, Scotland
• Feb 25 Billy Packer, Wellsville NY, basketball sportscaster (CBS)
• Feb 25 Ron Santo, American MLB player and broascaster (Chicago Cubs), 1st baseball player to veto his trade), born in Seattle (d. 2010)

• Mar 1 David Broome, Show Jumper (world champ-1970)
• Mar 6 Willie Stargell, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder/1st baseman (7-time All Star), born in Earlsboro, Oklahoma (d. 2001)
• Mar 8 Theo Laseroms, [The Tank], Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord)
• Mar 12 Albert Johanneson, soccer star
• Mar 18 Kathy Hutchinson, race horse trainer
• Mar 20 Mickey Preger, horse trainer
• Mar 23 Brian Hastings, cricketer (NZ batsman in 70's)
• Mar 26 Braulio Baeza, jockey (National Horse Racing Hall of Famer)
• Mar 28 Michael Plumb, American equestrian (Olympic 2 gold/4 silver-1976,84), born in Islip, New York
• Mar 28 Kevin Loughery, American NBA star and coach (Balt, Philadelphia), born in Brooklyn, New York

• Mar 30 Norman Gifford, cricketer (respected England slow left-armer 1964-73)
• Mar 31 Jim Criner, WLAF head coach (Scottish Claymores)
• Apr 4 Richard Attwood, British racing driver, born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
• Apr 8 John Havlicek, Martin's Ferry Ohio, NBA hall-of-famer (Boston Celtics)
• Apr 9 Jimmy [James] Roberts, NHL defenceman (1st Blues draft pick), born in Toronto (d. 2015)
• Apr 13 Mike Beuttler, British racing driver (d. 1988)
• Apr 13 Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
• Apr 15 Edy Hubacher, Swiss 4-man bobsled (Olympic gold 1972)
• Apr 15 Woodie Fryman, American baseball player
• Apr 16 David Holford, West Indian cricket all-rounder (24 Tests), born in Upper Collymore Rock, Saint Michael, Barbados
• Apr 18 Ed Garvey, American labor leader (NFL Players Association), born in Burlington, Wisconsin (d. 2017)
• Apr 20 George Andrie, American NFL defensive end (5-time Pro Bowl), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan (d. 2018)
• Apr 24 David Larter, Scottish cricketer (two-metre tall England pace bowler), born in Inverness, Scotland
• Apr 26 Cliff Watson, English rugby league front rower (St Helens, Cronulla-Sutherland, GB 30 Tests), born in London, England (d. 2018)
• Apr 29 Brian Taber, cricket wicket-keeper (Australian between Grout & Marsh)
• May 2 Bryan Davis, West Indian cricketer (bro of Charlie WI batsman v Australia 1965), born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad
• May 3 Clemens Westerhof, Dutch football manager, born in Beek, Netherlands
• May 14 Tommy Lawrence, Scottish football player and goalkeeper (Liverpool, Tranmere Rovers), born in Dailly, Scotland (d. 2018)
• May 15 Beth Stone, LPGA golfer
• May 18 Pat Trimborn, cricket pace bowler (South African in 4 Tests 1966-70)
• May 19 Jan Janssen, Dutch cyclist
• May 20 Stan Mikita, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (4 time NHL scoring leader), born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic (d. 2018)
• May 22 Erapalli Prasanna, cricketer (one of India's big four spinners)
• Jun 2 Horace Clarke, baseball 2nd baseman (NY Yankees)
• Jun 2 Jim Maloney, baseball pitcher
• Jun 3 Richard Edwards, cricketer (WI pace bowler 1968-69 Aust/NZ tour)
• Jun 5 H R "Tiger" Lance, cricketer (South African batting all-rounder 1961-67)
• Jun 6 Willie-John McBride, British rugby player, born in Toomebridge, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
• Jun 9 Dick Vitale, American sportscaster (ESPN, ABC "Oh Baby!")
• Jun 17 Bobby Bell, NFL linebacker (KC Chiefs)
• Jun 18 Jim Albus, PGA golfer (1991 Mazda Senior Players), born in Staten Island, New York
• Jun 19 Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney, American drag racer (1st woman Top Fuel champ), born in Burlington, Vermont
• Jun 23 Mike Shrimpton, cricketer (occasional NZ Test batsman 1963-74)
• Jun 23 Simon Hobday, South African golfer (1994 US Senior Open), born in Mafikeng, South Africa (d. 2017)
• Jun 23 Wilma Rudolph, American athlete (3 Olympic gold 100/200/4x100m 1960), born in Saint Bethlehem, Tennessee (d. 1994)
• Jul 1 Craig Brown, Scottish soccer player/manager/administrator (Scotland manager 1993-2001), born in Glasgow, Scotland
• Jul 3 Cesar Tovar, baseball player
• Jul 3 Lance Larson, American 100m freestyle swimmer (Olympic silver 1960)
• Jul 4 Walter Greenman, horse trainer
• Jul 6 Viktor Kuzkin, USSR, ice hockey player (Olympic gold 1964, 68, 72)
• Jul 7 James Toner, horse trainer
• Jul 10 Keith Stackpole, Australian cricketer (aggressive Australian opener 1966-74), born in Collingwood, Australia
• Jul 11 Rafael Martinez, horse trainer
• Jul 18 Joe Torre, American baseball outfield and manager (Braves, Mets, 1971 NL MVP), born in Brooklyn, New York
• Jul 22 Yuriy Klimov, USSR, team handball (Olympic gold 1976)
• Jul 25 John Pennel, American pole vaulter (James E Sullivan Award-1963), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 1993)
• Jul 26 Michael Slive, American college sports executive (Commissioner SEC), born in Utica, New York (d. 2018)
• Aug 1 Mervyn Kitchen, English cricketer and umpire, born in Nailsea, Somerset
• Aug 3 Lance Alworth, American NFL hall of famer (Charger, Cowboys), born in Houston, Texas
• Aug 8 Dilip Sardesai, cricketer (high scoring Indian batsman of 60's)
• Aug 10 Sid Waddell, Darts Commentator for the PDC
• Aug 12 Eddie Barlow, cricketer (Great South African all-rounder)
• Aug 13 Tony Cloninger, American MLB pitcher and coach (2 Grand Slams in one game), born in Cherryville, North Carolina (d. 2018)
• Aug 14 Galen Hall, WLAF Head Coach (Orlando Thunder, Rhein Fire)
• Aug 17 Thomas Williams, American ice hockey player (Olympic gold 1960)
• Aug 18 Joan Joyce, American softball pitcher (Hall of Fame 1983), born in Waterbury, Connecticut
• Aug 20 Rex Sellers, Aust cricketer leg-spinner (bowled 5 overs in Tests)
• Aug 21 Robert Camac, American horse trainer, born in Wilmington, Delaware
• Aug 22 David R. Vance, American horse trainer, born in Logansport, Indiana
• Aug 24 Don Cormier Sr, horse trainer
• Aug 28 Roger Pingeon, French cylist (Tour de France 1967 champion), born in Hauteville-Lompnes, France (d. 2017)
• Aug 29 Wim Ruska, Dutch judoka champion (Olympic gold 1972), born in Amsterdam
• Aug 29 Earl Gros, American NFL running back (Green Bay), born in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana (d. 2013)

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• Feb 7 Francis Ford, cricketer (5 Tests for England v Australia 1894-95), dies
• Feb 11 Gunnar Höckert, Finnish athlete (Olympic gold 5,000m 1936), dies of war wounds at 29
• Mar 15 Alfred Marr, cricketer (Test for Australia 1885, scored 0 & 5), dies
• Mar 26 Spiridon Louis, Greek runner, winner of the first modern Olympics marathon, dies at 67
• Mar 29 Alexander Obolensky, Russian prince and famed Rugby Union footballer who played for England.(b. 1916)
• May 20 Amar Singh, cricketer (of pneumonia Indian pace bowler 1932-36), dies
• Jun 22 M A Noble, cricketer (giant of NSW/Australian cricket), dies
• Jul 3 George Shepstone, cricketer (2 Tests for South Africa 1896-99), dies
• Jul 14 Bill Howell, cricketer (18 Tests for Aust 1898-1905), dies
• Aug 3 Willard Hershberger, catcher (Cincinnati Reds), commits suicide
• Aug 16 Henri Desgrange, French cyclist, journalist and founder of the Tour de France, dies at 75
• Aug 21 Ernest Thayer, American poet who wrote the famous baseball poem "Casey", dies at 77
• Nov 21 Geoffrey Legge, cricketer (WWII 196 Eng v NZ Auckland 1930), dies
• Dec 6 Charlie Hime, cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1895), dies
• Dec 13 Dusty Tapscott, cricket (bro of Doodles, 4&1 in only S Af Test), dies
• Dec 13 George Macaulay, cricketer (took 24 wkts in 8 Tests, Eng 22-33), dies
• Dec 16 Billy Hamilton, American baseball player (b. 1866)

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