On This Day

June 1944 in Sports History

Events in Sport

  • Jun 1 Washington Senators MLB outfielder Stan Spence goes 6-for-6 in an 11-5 win over the St. Louis Browns; collects 5 singles and a home run
  • Jun 3 76th Belmont: G L Smith riding Bounding Home wins in 2:32.2

D-Day

Jun 6 World War II: All Major League Baseball games are cancelled in honor of the D-Day landings in northern France

Into the Jaws of Death by Robert F. Sargent
  • Jun 7 Achilles Veen soccer team forms in Veen
  • Jun 10 Relief pitcher Joe Nuxhall at 15 years, 316 days, debuts for Cincinnati Reds; youngest player in MLB history; becomes All Star and broadcaster
  • Jun 22 Longest shut out in Phillies history, Phils beat Braves 1-0 in 15 inn
  • Jun 26 Yanks, Dodgers & Giants play unique 6 inn game for War Bonds, each playing successive innings, final score Dodgers-5, Yanks-1 & Giants-0

Birthdays in Sport

  • Jun 2 Garo Yepremian, American NFL place kicker (Miami Dolphins), born in Larnaca, Cyprus (d. 2015)
  • Jun 2 Poul Jensen, Danish sailor (Olympic gold 1976, 80)
  • Jun 3 Edith McGuire, US 200m sprinter (Olympic gold 1964)
  • Jun 3 Eddy Ottoz, Italian athlete
  • Jun 5 Chris Finnegan, British boxer (Olympic gold middleweight 1968), born in Iver, Buckinghamshire, England (d. 2009)

Tommie Smith

Jun 6 Tommie Smith, American athlete and 200m sprinter who was the 1st to break the 20-second barrier (performed the black power salute while accepting his Olympic gold medal in 1968), born in Clarksville, Texas

Tommie Smith
Sprinter and Civil Rights Activist Tommie Smith
  • Jun 8 Mark Belanger, American baseball shortstop (MLB All Star 1976; 8 x Gold Glove winner; Baltimore Orioles), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts (d. 1998)
  • Jun 9 Christine Goitschel, French alpine skier (Olympic gold 1964), born in Sallanches, France
  • Jun 13 Joe Amato, NHRA top fuel drag racing champion (1991), born in Exeter, Pennsylvania
  • Jun 15 Inna Ryskai, Soviet volleyball player (Olympic-2 gold/2 silver-1964-76), born in Baku, Azerbaijan, Soviet Union
  • Jun 16 Gary F. Jones, American thoroughbred racehorse trainer ($52.6m in purses; 1,465 race wins; US Racing HOF), born in Long Beach, California (d. 2020)
  • Jun 17 (Jesús) "Chucho" Castillo, Mexican bantamweight boxer (WBA, WBC, 1970), born in Nuevo Valle de Moreno, Mexico (d. 2013)
  • Jun 20 Dave Nelson, baseball player
  • Jun 22 Michael Obst, German coxsman (Olympic gold 1960), born in German FR
  • Jun 24 Terry Donahue, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (head coach UCLA 1976-96, record 151–74–8; Pac-10 Coach of the Year 1985, 93), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2021)
  • Jun 26 Bengt Åberg, Swedish motocross racer (World 500cc Motocross Champion 1969, 70; Motocross des Nations gold 1970, 71, 74), born in Gävleborg County, Sweden (d. 2021)
  • Jun 27 Patrick Sercu, Belgian cyclist, 1K time trial (Olympic gold 1964), born in Roeselare, West Flanders, Belgium
  • Jun 29 Claude Humphrey, American Pro Football HOF defensive end (6 × Pro Bowl, 5 × First-team All-Pro Atlanta Falcons; Philadelphia Eagles), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2021)
  • Jun 30 Ron Swoboda, American baseball outfielder and sportscaster (NY Yankees, NY Mets), born in Baltimore, Maryland

Deaths in Sport

  • Jun 2 Vera Menchik, Russian born British chess master, 1st official women's world chess champion (1927-39), dies in a London air raid at 38
  • Jun 13 Christopher Heseltine, cricketer (2 Tests for England 1895-96), dies
  • Jun 19 Bill Bradley, cricketer (bowled for England in two Tests 1899), dies
  • Jun 26 Billy Newham, cricketer (England Test 1887), dies


Search the largest, most accurate site for today in history.