Events in Sport
- 1810 Tom Cribb (GB) beats Tom Molineaus (US-Negro) in 1st interracial boxing championship (40 rounds)
- 1831 "Spirit of the Times" begins publishing in New York City, the premier sports journal of the 19th century
- 1918 John Heyder becomes president of baseball's National League for the 2nd time
- 1919 NL votes to ban the spitball's use by all new pitchers
- 1922 Pete Henry makes longest known NFL drop-kicked field goal, 45 yards
- 1922 1st National Football League Championship: undefeated Canton Bulldogs (10-0-2) named inaugural champions
- 1924 Agreement reached on permanent rotation of World Series with each league, getting games 1, 2, 6, 7 in alternating years
- 1934 NFL adopts player waiver rule; applies after 6th game of season
Event of Interest
1935 As sell Jimmie Foxx to the Red Sox for $150,000
Jimmie Foxx
NFL Championship
1939 National Football League Championship, Dairy Bowl, West Allis, Wisconsin: Green Bay Packers beat New York Giants, 27-0; Packers 5th title
Mel Hein
- 1940 1941 NFL Draft: Tom Harmon from University of Michigan first pick by Chicago Bears
- 1945 Aust Services lose 3rd Victory Test Cricket to India by 6 wkts
- 1954 Philadelphia Phillies purchase Connie Mack Stadium
- 1961 Houston Oiler Billy Cannon gains record 373 yards against Titans
- 1965 Test Cricket debut of Doug Walters v England at the Gabba
Boxing Title Fight
1968 Joe Frazier beats Oscar Bonavena in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
Joe Frazier
- 1970 North American Soccer League awards NY & Toronto franchises
Event of Interest
1973 First time since 1885, tennis has 2 top male players - Americans Stan Smith and Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
Boxing Title Fight
1982 Heavyweight Michael Doakes KOs Mike Weaver in 1:03 in Las Vegas
Mike Weaver
- 1983 Last NFL game at Shea Stadium; Steelers beat NY Jets 34-7
Australian Open Women's Tennis
1983 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova wins 8th career Grand Slam singles event; beats Kathy Jordan of the US 6-2, 7-6
Martina Navratilova
- 1986 Atlanta Hawk Dominique Wilkins scores 57 points vs Chicago Bulls
Event of Interest
1986 Ivan Lendl repeats previous year's result with a 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 win over Boris Becker to claim back-to-back season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles at Madison Square Garden, NYC
Ivan Lendl
Boris Becker
- 1988 Washington Capitals 1st NHL scoreless tie, vs Montreal Canadiens
Event of Interest
1991 Howard Spira sentenced to 2½ years in prison for trying to extort money from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner
George Steinbrenner
- 1992 NHL awards franchises to Miami & Anaheim for 1994-95
- 1992 NY Yankees sign free agent pitcher Jimmy Key
- 1994 60th Heisman Trophy Award: Rashaan Salaam, Colorado (RB)
- 1995 1st meeting of NBA expansion teams, Raptors beat Grizzlies 93-81
- 1995 Ricky Ponting makes 96 on Test Cricket debut (Aust v Sri Lanka, WACA)
- 2000 89th Davis Cup: Spain beats Australia in Barcelona (3-1)
- 2001 67th Heisman Trophy Award: Eric Crouch, Nebraska (QB)
- 2005 71st Heisman Trophy Award: Reggie Bush, USC (RB); Bush later forfeits trophy
Event of Interest
2006 British Broadcasting Corporation gives Swedish tennis icon Björn Borg a Lifetime Achievement Award; presented by Boris Becker
Björn Borg
Boris Becker
Event of Interest
2012 Norwegian Magnus Carlsen breaks Garry Kasparov’s 13-year Elo rating record
Garry Kasparov
Magnus Carlsen
Birthdays in Sport
- 1870 Tom McKibbin, Australian cricketer (NSW & Aust off-spinner late 19th century), born in Bathurst, New South Wales (d. 1939)
- 1879 James E. Norris, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame team owner (Detroit Red Wings), born in Montréal, Canada (d. 1952)
- 1883 Jesse Harper, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Notre Dame 57–17–7), born in Paw Paw, Illinois (d. 1961)
- 1886 William Booth, England Test cricket batsman (WWI 2 Tests), born in Pudsey, England (d. 1916)
- 1907 Lucien Laurent, French footballer (scored the first ever FIFA World Cup goal), born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, France (d. 2005)
- 1918 Anatoly Tarasov, Russian ice hockey player and coach (considered as the father of Russian ice hockey), born in Moscow (d. 1995)
- 1920 Ragnhild Hveger, Danish swimmer (Olympic silver 400m freestyle 1936; 44 world records 1938-56), born in Nyborg, Denmark (d. 2011)
- 1933 Grenville Alabaster, New Zealand cricketer (NZ tourist to Aust 1973-74), born in Invercargill, New Zealand
- 1933 Larry Morris, NFL Linebacker (NFL 1960s All-Decade Team), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2012)
- 1935 Terry Allcock, English footballer (Norwich City), born in Leeds, England
- 1937 Don Bies, American golfer (The Tradition 1989), born in Cottonwood, Idaho
- 1938 Bill Mathis, American football halfback (AFL All Star 1961, 63; New York Titans/Jets), born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina (d. 2020)
- 1941 Jeff Jones, Welsh cricket fast bowler (15 Tests England, 44 wickets), born in Dafen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
- 1943 Lajos Szűcs, Hungarian soccer defender (37 caps; Ferencváros, Honvéd FC; Hungarian Footballer of the Year 1976; Olympic gold 1968), born in Apatin, Hungary (d. 2020)
- 1947 Zinaida Voronina, Russian and Soviet gymnast (1968 Olympics: 4 medals including 1 gold), born in Yoshkar-Ola, Russia (d. 2001)
- 1950 Simon Owen, New Zealand golfer (British Open runner-up 1978), born in Wanganui, New Zealand
- 1959 Mark Aguirre, American NBA forward (Detroit Pistons), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1960 Paul Assenmacher, American MLB pitcher (Cleveland Indians), born in Detroit, Michigan
- 1961 Mark McKoy, Canadian track star (world record 50m indoor, Olympic gold 1992), born in Georgetown, British Guiana
- 1962 John de Wolf, Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord), born in Schiedam, Netherlands
- 1963 Doug Henry, American baseball pitcher (NY Mets), born in Sacramento, California
- 1963 Gerald Sandel, Dutch soccer player (Sparta), born in The Hague, Netherlands
- 1963 Michael Lofton, fencer-sabre (Olympics 1996), born in Montgomery, Alabama
- 1964 Luis Polonia, Dominican MLB outfielder (NY Yanks, Orioles), born in Santiago City, Dominica Republic
- 1966 Mel Rojas, MLB pitcher (Montreal Expos), born in Haina, Dominican Republic
- 1966 Norberto Martin, baseball infielder (Chicago White Sox), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
- 1968 Rob Davis, American NFL guard (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31), born in Washington, D.C.
- 1969 Darren Berry, Australian cricketer (Victorian wicket-keeper since 1989-90), born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- 1969 Nadim Khan, Pakistani cricketer (brother of Moin Pakistani lefty spinner 1993), born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- 1969 Rob Blake, Canadian NHL defenseman (Team Canada, LA Kings), born in Simcoe, Ontario
- 1969 Todd Furdyk, CFL tackle (BC Lions)
- 1970 Bryant Stith, American NBA guard (Denver Nuggets), born in Emporia, Virginia
- 1971 Amanda Hardy, Altona Australia, badminton player (Olympics 1996)
- 1971 Carla Sacramento, Portuguese 1.5k runner, born in São Sebastião da Pedreira, Lisbon
- 1971 Manjula Munasinghe, Sri Lankan-Australian cricketer (Sri Lankan ODI pace bowler), born in Colombo, Ceylon
- 1972 Marcos di Palma, Argentine racing driver, born in Arrecifes, Argentina
- 1973 Bernard Holsey, defensive tackle (NY Giants)
- 1973 Marcus Wall, CFL receiver (Montreal Alouettes)
- 1973 Rusty LaRue, NBA guard (Chicago Bulls)
- 1975 Josip Skoko, Australian footballer
- 1978 Brandon Novak, American skateboarder
- 1981 Fábio Rochemback, Brazilian footballer
- 1981 Ryan Pini, Papua New Guinea swimmer
- 1982 Matt Stutzman, American Paralympic archer and record holder for longest accurate shot in archery- despite having no arms, born in Kansas City, Kansas
- 1983 Habib Mohamed, Ghanaian footballer
- 1983 Zé Kalanga, Angolan footballer
- 1985 T. J. Hensick, American ice hockey player
- 1986 Matthew Bates, English footballer
- 1987 Gonzalo Higuaín, French-born Argentine footballer
- 1996 Joe Burrow, American football quarterback (Heisman Trophy 2019; National C'ship 2020, MVP; LSU), born in Ames, Iowa
Weddings in Sport
- 1994 Former Senate Majority Leader Mitchell (61) weds sports marketing executive Heather MacLachlan (35) at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York City
- 2005 Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated model Isabeli Fontana (22) weds actor-model Henri Castelli (27) at Fort Are Joao in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- 2005 Rugby Star Clyde Rathbone (24) weds Carrie-Ann Leeson in South Africa
Wedding of Interest
2010 Tennis player Martina Hingis (30) weds equestrian show jumper Thibault Hutin at a private civil ceremony in Paris, France
Martina Hingis
Deaths in Sport
Walter Johnson
1946 Walter Johnson, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (3 x Triple Crown of Pitching; World Series 1924; AL MVP 1913, 24; Washington Senators), dies from a brain tumour at 59
Walter Johnson
- 1957 Maurice McLoughlin, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1912-13), dies at 67
- 1959 Charles Jones, West Indian cricket batsman (4 Tests), dies at 57
- 1977 Adolph Rupp, American basketball coach (b. 1901)
- 1992 Dan Maskell, English tennis commentator (b. 1908)
- 1994 Alexander Wilson, Canadian athlete (b. 1905)
- 2010 MacKenzie Miller, American horse trainer and breeder (b. 1921)
- 2010 Jacques Swaters, Belgian racing driver, dies at 84
Dolph Schayes
2015 Dolph Schayes, American basketball Hall of Famer (Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers, 1948-63) and coach (76ers, 1963-66; Buffalo Braves, 1970-72), dies of cancer at 87
Dolph Schayes
- 2019 Jim Smith, English soccer midfielder and manager (Birmingham City, QPR, Portsmouth, Derby County), dies at 79