Events in Sport
World Record
1936 Jesse Owens is part of the American 4 x 100m relay team that wins gold in world record (39.8) at the Berlin Olympics; his 4th gold medal of the Games
Jesse Owens
- 1936 Korean nationals representing Japan earn medals in the marathon at the Berlin Olympics; Sohn Kee-chung won gold and Nam Sung-yong bronze
- 1936 Helen Stephens claims the women's sprint double at the Berlin Olympics having won the 100m and as part of the victorious American 4 x 100m relay team
- 1936 Hungarian swimmer Ferenc Csik wins 100m freestyle gold medal in 57.6 at the Berlin Olympics, beating Japanese pair Masanori Yusa & Shigeo Arai
- 1937 Ranger (US) easily beats Endeavour II (England) in race 4 to wrap up the 17th America's Cup yachting series, 4-0; it's the final competition for 21 years
- 1946 1st time all major-league baseball games (8) are played at night
- 1948 Italian rider Mario Ghella beats Reg Harris of Great Britain for the gold medal in the cycling sprint final at the London Olympics
- 1948 The US crew blitzes the field to win the rowing eights gold medal at the London Olympics; beat silver medallists Great Britain by 10.2 seconds
- 1957 24th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: NY Giants 22, All-Stars 12 (75,000)
- 1963 NY Met Roger Craig's NL record-tying 18-game losing streak ends
- 1964 Bunning continues pitching perfectly to NY Mets until 2 outs in 5th, when Joe Christopher beats out a bunt. He totals 15 innings
- 1971 Satchel Paige inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame
- 1975 1st NFL game in Louisiana Superdome, Houston beats Saints 13-7
- 1976 Pitt Pirate John Candelaria no-hits LA Dodgers, 2-0
- 1977 NHL refuses merger of 6 WHA clubs
- 1978 Yanks score 5 in bottom of 9th beat Brewers 8-7
- 1981 52nd All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-4 at Municipal Stadium, Cleve
Golf Major
1981 PGA Championship, Atlanta Athletic Club: Larry Nelson wins by 4 strokes from Fuzzy Zoeller
Larry Nelson
- 1984 Daley Thompson of Great Britain scores 8,797 points to win the Olympic decathlon in Los Angeles; later recognised as a world record
- 1984 Valerie Briscoe-Hooks beats fellow American Florence Griffith to win the 200m gold at the LA Olympics; completes the 200-400m double
- 1987 PGA Championship, PGA National Palm Beach: Larry Nelson wins 2nd PGA C'ship in a playoff with fellow American Lanny Wadkins
- 1987 LA Rams beat Dallas Cowboys 28-27 in London, England (NFL expo)
- 1988 Cubs beat Mets 6-4 in their 1st official night game at Wrigley Field
Event of Interest
1988 Edmonton Oilers trade Wayne Gretzky to LA Kings for $15-$20 millions
Wayne Gretzky
- 1992 Florence Descampe wins McCall's LPGA Golf Classic at Stratton Mt
- 1992 Last day of Test Cricket for David Gower
- 1992 Future 6-weight boxing world champion Oscar De La Hoya of the US beats German Marco Rudolph on points to win the lightweight gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics
- 1992 Cuban boxer Félix Savón wins the first of 3 consecutive Olympic heavyweight gold medals when he dominates Nigerian David Izonritei on points at the Barcelona Games
- 1997 Yanks break Minnesota Twins Brad Radke's string of 12 straight wins
Baseball Record
2002 SF Giants outfielder Barry Bonds hits his 600th career home run
Barry Bonds
- 2008 United States takes all 3 medals in women's fencing sabre event at the Beijing Olympics; first US podium sweep of a fencing event since 1904; Mariel Zagunis takes gold ahead of Sada Jacobson & Rebecca Ward
Event of Interest
2012 Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt wins the 200m at the London Olympics in 19.32 to become first to win 100/200m double in back-to-back Olympics
Usain Bolt
Event of Interest
2016 American swimmer Michael Phelps swims 1:53.36 to win the men's 200m butterfly gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; beats Japan's Masato Sakai by 0.04 for his 20th Olympic gold medal
Michael Phelps
Event of Interest
2016 American swimmer Katie Ledecky wins her second gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 1:53.73 in the women's 200m freestyle ahead of Sarah Sjöström of Sweden and Australian Emma McKeon
Katie Ledecky
- 2016 Hungary's Katinka Hosszú records an Olympic record of 2:06.58 in the women's 200m individual medley, her 3rd gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
- 2016 Chinese weightlifter Deng Wei sets a world record of 147kg in the clean & jerk, and another for a total score of 262kg, to win the women's 63kg gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
- 2018 EPL club Tottenham Hotspur fails to bring in one player during the transfer window; first time since FIFA made system compulsory in 2002-03
Birthdays in Sport
- 1883 George Hoyt, NBA hall of fame referee (elected 1961)
- 1895 Fred Badcock, cricketer (swing bowler in NZ's 1st Test matches)
- 1895 Nathaniel "Nat" Pendleton, American wrestler (Olympics 1920, Silver) and actor (The Thin Man, Reckless), born in Davenport, Iowa (d. 1967)
- 1911 Khurshed Meher-Homji, cricketer (Indian wicket-keeper 1936)
- 1911 Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer (d. 2001)
- 1914 Joe Mercer, English footballer (d. 1990)
- 1919 Ralph Houk, MLB catcher, coach, manager (6-time World Series champion), born in Lawrence, Kansas (d. 2010)
- 1926 Denis Atkinson, cricketer (WI all-rounder, 219 v Australia 1955)
Rod Laver
1938 Rod Laver, Australian tennis player (1962, 1969 Grand Slam), born in Rockhampton, Queensland
Rod Laver
- 1938 Otto Rehhagel, German football manager
- 1939 Claude Osteen, baseball pitcher (Cincinnati Reds)
- 1939 Brito, Brazilian footballer
- 1942 Tommie Agee, American baseball player (d. 2001)
- 1943 Ken Norton, American heavyweight boxer, born in Jacksonville, Illinois (d. 2013)
- 1944 Terry Jenner, cricketer (Australian leg-spinner 1971-75)
- 1946 Jim Kiick, American football player
- 1948 Bill Campbell, American baseball player
- 1955 Doug Williams, Louisiana, NFL quarterback (Tampa Bay Bucaneers, Wash Redskins)
- 1955 Peter Schmuck, American sportswriter
- 1961 Brad Gilbert, tennis star, born in Oakland, California
- 1962 Jim Johnson, New Hope, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals)
- 1962 John "Hot Rod" Williams, NBA center/forward (Phoenix Suns), born in Sorrento, Louisiana (d. 2015)
Brett Hull
1964 Brett Hull, Canadian-American NHL right wing (St Louis Blues, Dallas Stars), born in Belleville, Ontario
Brett Hull
- 1964 Yuri Khmylev, NHL left wing (Buffalo Sabres), born in Moscow, Russia
- 1965 Ezra Polley, Georgetown Kentucky, pitcher (NY Yankees)
- 1965 John Smith, US amateur wrestler and coach (4-time World Champion, 2-time Olympic Games champion), born in Del City, Oklahoma
- 1966 Vinny Del Negro, NBA guard (San Antonio Spurs)
- 1967 Debbie Spence, tennis star, born in San Jose, California
- 1967 Deborah Lee, LPGA golfer (1989 National Amat France), born in Hamilton, Ontario
Deion Sanders
1967 Deion Sanders, American NFL corner-back/wide receiver and MLB player (Dallas Cowboys and NY Yankees), born in Fort Myers, Florida
Deion Sanders
- 1967 Elexa Wills/Orrange, Orange Texas, long jumper/triple jumper
- 1968 Jay Stacy, Aust field hockey midfielder (Olympic 4th/silver-88, 92, 96)
- 1969 Troy Percival, pitcher (California Angels), born in Fontana, California
- 1970 Chris Gedney, NFL tight end (Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals)
- 1970 Rod Brind'amour, NHL center (Philadelphia Flyers, Team Canada 98), born in Ottawa, Ontario
- 1971 Alan Allen, NFL/WLAF wide receiver (NY Jets, London Monarchs)
- 1971 David Merritt, WLAF linebacker (Rhein Fire)
- 1971 Mary Joe Fernandez, Dom Rep, tennis player (US National 16s)
- 1971 Scott Karl, pitcher (Milwaukee Brewers), born in Fontana, California
- 1971 Davide Rebellin, Italian cyclist
- 1972 Eric Zomalt, NFL strong safety (Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1972 Robert Peal, American dance skater (with Margot Contois), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1972 Silvia Ramon-Cortes, tennis star (1994 Futures-Vigo), born in Barcelona, Spain
- 1973 Jay Hagood, tackle (NY Jets)
- 1973 Jimmy King, NBA guard (Toronto Raptors)
- 1973 Jochen Molling, hockey defenseman (Team Germany 1998)
- 1973 Larry Stallworth, WLAF wide receiver (London Monarchs)
- 1973 Filippo Inzaghi, Italian footballer
- 1974 Derek Fisher, NBA guard (LA Lakers)
- 1974 Tremayne Allen, tight end (Chicago Bears)
- 1975 Mathew James Coad, 100m/200m runner (Olympics 1996), born in Wellington, New Zealand
- 1975 Mike Lamb, American baseball player
- 1977 Mikael Silvestre, French footballer
- 1977 Jason Frasor, American baseball player
- 1977 Chamique Holdsclaw, American basketball player
- 1977 Adewale Ogunleye, American football player
- 1979 Alizah Allen, figure skater (1997 North Atlantic Sr champ), born in NYC, New York
- 1981 Li Jiawei, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
- 1982 Tyson Gay, American sprinter
- 1982 Danieal Manning, American football player
- 1983 Shane O'Brien, Canadian hockey player
- 1984 Paul Gallagher, Scottish footballer
- 1985 Luca Filippi, Italian racing driver
- 1985 Hayley Peirsol, American swimmer
- 1985 JaMarcus Russell, American football player
- 1989 Stefano Okaka Chuka, Italian footballer
Deaths in Sport
- 1945 Harry Hillman, American athlete (3 Gold Olympic 1904), dies at 63
- 1946 Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (South Africa, 15 Tests, 64 wkts), dies at 69
- 1969 George Preston Marshall, American businessman and NFL team owner (Washington Redskins), dies at 72
- 1973 Charlie Daniels, US swimmer (4 Olympic golds 1904, 08), dies at 88
- 1979 Walter O'Malley, American baseball team owner (Dodgers), dies at 75
- 1980 P K "Perker" Lee, cricketer (Australian bowler 1931-33, 2 Tests), dies
- 1985 Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1927)
- 1986 Joseph "Poeske" Scherens, Belgian cyclist, dies at 77
- 1990 Joe Mercer, English footballer (b. 1914)
- 2003 Ray Harford, English footballer and manager (b. 1945)
- 2013 John Logan, American MLB player, dies at 86
- 2013 Glen Hobbie, American MLB pitcher (Chicago Cubs), dies at 77
- 2015 Frank Gifford, American NFL player and broadcaster, dies at 84