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
Golf Tournament
1975 Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Colgate European Ladies Golf Open
Donna Caponi
Golf Major
1981 PGA Championship, Atlanta Athletic Club: Larry Nelson wins by 4 strokes from Fuzzy Zoeller
Larry Nelson
- 1981 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA West Virginia Bank Golf Classic
- 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 heavyweight Olympic 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 Usain Bolt becomes the first person to win the 100m and 200m sprint in back to back Olympics
Usain Bolt
- 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
- 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
- 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, baseball manager (Yankees, Tigers)
- 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 (b. 1881)
- 1946 Bert Vogler, South African cricketer (South Africa, 15 Tests, 64 wkts), dies at 69
- 1969 George P Marshall, NFL president (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