Events in Sport
- 1860 First ever inter-club football match between Hallam F.C. and Sheffield F.C. at Sandygate Road ground in Sheffield, England
Boxing Title Fight
1908 African-American boxer Jack Johnson stops Canadian defending champion Tommy Burns in the 14th round in Sydney, Australia, to become the first black man to win world heavyweight title; Burns is favourite in 12th title defence but Johnson dominates before police stop the bout
Tommy Burns
- 1925 NY Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates set an NHL record by recording a combined 141 shots on goal in Americans' 3-1 win; Roy Worters makes incredible 70 saves for Pittsburgh and Jake Forbes has 67 for NY
- 1928 Johnny Weissmuller announces his retirement from amateur swimming
- 1934 Yomiuri Giants, Japan's 1st professional baseball team forms
- 1938 Tom Goddard takes a cricket hat-trick for England v South Africa
- 1940 1st-class cricket debut of Arthur Morris, who scores 148
- 1943 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat Washington Redskins, 41-21; Bears 6th title
- 1946 35th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Melbourne (5-0)
- 1950 Gillette & Mutual buy All Star & World Series rights ($6M for 6 yrs)
- 1954 National Football League Championship, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Cleveland Browns thrash Detroit Lions, 56-10; Browns' placekicker Lou Groza makes 8 extra points, a new title game record
- 1955 National Football League Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Cleveland Browns beat Los Angeles Rams, 38-14; Browns defend title and win their 3rd NFL Championship of the 1950s in a second straight rout
NFL Championship
1960 National Football League Championship, Franklin Field, Philadelphia: Philadelphia Eagles beat Green Bay Packers, 17-13; lone playoff defeat for Packers coach Vince Lombardi before Packers establish dynasty
Vince Lombardi
- 1964 AFL Championship, War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo: Buffalo Bills beat San Diego Chargers 20-7; defending champions can't overcome 1st quarter injury to star RB Keith Lincoln
- 1965 AFL Championship, Balboa Stadium San Diego: Buffalo Bills beat San Diego Chargers 23-0; repeat previous year's win over SD
- 1967 Ballon d'Or: Ferencváros forward Flórián Albert wins award for best European football player ahead of Manchester United midfielder Bobby Charlton and Celtic winger Jimmy Johnstone
- 1968 Bruin Ted Green sets NHL penalty record of 3 minors, 2 majors & 2 game misconducts in a game against NY Rangers in NY's Madison Square Garden
Event of Interest
1971 Muhammad Ali finishes off German Jürgen Blin with a thundering right cross for a 7th-round knockout in a non-title heavyweight boxing contest in Zurich, Switzerland
Muhammad Ali
- 1972 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich defender Franz Beckenbauer wins award for best European football player ahead of tied fellow German duo of Gerd Müller and Günter Netzer
- 1974 Washington Capitals 1st NHL sellout
- 1975 Crowd of 85,661 attend the 1st day of the Australia vs West Indies MCG cricket test
- 1975 5th Fiesta Bowl: #7 Arizona State beats #6 Nebraska, 17-14
AFC Championship
1976 AFC Championship, Oakland Coliseum: Oakland Raiders beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-7
John Madden
- 1976 NFC Championship, Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington: Minnesota Vikings beat Los Angeles Rams, 24-13
- 1980 10th Fiesta Bowl: #10 Penn State beats #11 Ohio State, 31-19
- 1981 One of the great day's Test Cricket at the MCG Australia v West Indies
- 1983 Test Cricket debut of Gregory Richard John Matthews, v Pakistan at the MCG
- 1985 Test Cricket debut of Steve Waugh, v India at the MCG
- 1986 Doug Jarvis, 31, sets NHL record of 916 consecutive games
Event of Interest
1986 Mark Messier is suspended for 10 games for instigating a fight with Jamie Macoun and breaking his cheekbone
Mark Messier
Event of Interest
1989 ODI cricket debut for Australia's Mark Taylor and Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya at the MCG
Sanath Jayasuriya
Event of Interest
1990 Garry Kasparov beats Antatoly Karpov to retain chess championship
Garry Kasparov
Event of Interest
1991 Future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Joe Mullen scores 4 goals for the second straight NHL game as the Pittsburgh Penguins rout Toronto, 12-1; Mario Lemieux adds 2 goals & 5 assists and Kevin Stevens has 2 goals & 4 assists
Mario Lemieux
- 1992 The NHL's San Jose Sharks end a 13-game losing streak with a 7-2 win over the LA Kings, albeit allowing 59 shots, the most in team history; Jeff Hacket makes 57 saves
- 1995 Paul Adams becomes South Africa's youngest Test Cricket player at 18 yrs 340 days
- 2006 At 40 years, 268 days, Teddy Sheringham scores for West Ham United in a 2-1 loss to Portsmouth at Upton Park, London; becomes oldest goalscorer in EPL history
Birthdays in Sport
- 1837 Morgan Bulkeley, American politician and baseball commissioner (d. 1922)
- 1873 Thomas Wass, English cricketer (d. 1953)
- 1883 Carl Oscar Ahues, German International Chess Master (1950)
- 1904 Young Stribling, American boxer (vs Max Schmeling, Ring Magazine fight of the year 1931), born in Bainbridge, Georgia (d. 1933)
- 1908 Ralph Hill, American athlete (Olympic silver 5,000m 1932; same time as winner Lauri Lehtinen), born in Klamath Falls, Oregon (d. 1994)
- 1911 Arsenio Lacson, Filipino politician and sportswriter (d. 1962)
- 1913 Frank Swift, English soccer goalkeeper and journalist (19 caps; Manchester City 376 games; died Munich air disaster), born in Blackpool, Lancashire (d. 1958)
- 1924 Frank Broyles, American athlete, long time athletic director of the University of Arkansas.
- 1924 Glenn Davis, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1946; National C'ship 1944, 45, 46; Army; NFL: LA Rams), born in Claremont, California (d. 2005)
- 1927 Stu Miller, American baseball player
- 1932 Don Furner, Australian rugby league forward (1 Test) and coach (Australia 15 Tests; Eastern Suburbs, Canberra Raiders), born in Condobolin, Australia (d. 2020)
- 1935 Barbara J Jacket, US athletic coach (Olympics 1972)
- 1935 Rohan Kanhai, cricketer (one of West Indies' finest batsmen)
- 1940 Ray Sadecki, American MLB player (St. Louis Cardinals), born in Kansas City, KS, (d. 2014)
- 1942 Barry Wood, cricketer (England opener in early 70's)
- 1947 Carlton Fisk, Vermont, all star catcher (Red Sox, White Sox)
- 1948 Chris Chambliss, 1st baseman (NY Yankee)
- 1953 Matthew Harding, English businessman, soccer administrator (Chelsea Footfall Club), born in Haywards Heath, England
- 1954 Ozzie Smith, infielder (St Louis Cardinals), born in Mobile, Alabama
- 1954 Susan H Butcher, dog sled driver (Idatarod)
- 1954 Ullrich Diessner, German DR, 4 man cox (Olympic gold 1976)
- 1954 Walter Diessner, German DR, 4 man cox (Olympic gold 1976)
- 1958 Adrian Newey, British Formula One engineer, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom
- 1959 Lesley Tomlinson, English cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Derbyshire, England
- 1961 Storm Davis, American baseball pitcher (KC Royals), born in Dallas, Texas
- 1964 Jeff King, American baseball infielder (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Marion, Indiana
- 1965 Ben Husaby, American cross country skier (Olympics 1994), born in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
- 1966 Tim Legler, NBA guard (Washington Wizards/Bullets), born in Washington, D.C.
- 1967 Tony Covington, NFL safety (Seattle Seahawks), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- 1967 Ken Tanigawa, American golfer (Senior PGA C'ship 2019), born in Kobe, Japan
- 1968 Darren Barber, Canadian rower (Olympics 1996), born in Victoria, British Columbia
- 1970 Radka Zrubakova, Slovakian tennis star, born in Bratislava, Slovakia
- 1970 Radka Zrubakova, Slovakian tennis star (1994 Futures-GER), born in Bratislava, Slovakia
- 1970 Willie Williams, NFL cornerback (Pittsburgh Steelers, Seahawks), born in England, United Kingdom
- 1971 Mark Lathwell, English cricketer (England opening batsman v Australia 1993), born in Bletchley, United Kingdom
- 1972 Burnell Roques, American NFL wide receiver (Atlanta Falcons), born in Claremont, California
- 1972 Derrick Cullors, American football running back (New England Patriots), born in Dallas, Texas
- 1972 Esteban Fuertes, Argentine footballer, born in Coronel Dorrego Partido, Argentina
- 1973 Ryan Berube, American 800m freestyle relay (Olympic gold 1996), born in Tequesta, Florida
- 1974 Tony Brackens, American football defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars), born in Fairfield, Texas
- 1975 Marcelo Rios, Chilean tennis star (1995 Amsterdam), born in Santiago, Chile
- 1978 Kaoru Sugayama, Japanese volleyball player, born in Iwanuma, Japan
- 1979 Fabián Carini, Uruguayan footballer, born in Montevideo, Uruguay
- 1979 Dimitry Vassiliev, Russian ski jumper, born in Ufa, Russia
- 1984 Alex Schwazer, Italian race walker, born in Sterzing, Italy
- 1990 Aaron Ramsey, Welsh footballer, born in Caerphilly, United Kingdom
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
1948 MLB player Gil Hodges (24) weds Joan Lombardi
Gil Hodges
Wedding of Interest
1959 NFL coach John Madden (23) weds Virginia Fields
John Madden
Wedding of Interest
2002 Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal (30) weds Shaunie Nelson at The Beverly Hills Hotel's Crystal Garden
Shaquille O'Neal
Deaths in Sport
- 1916 Frank Penn, cricketer (one Test for England v Australia 1880), dies
- 1916 Willie Smith, Scottish golfer (US Open 1899), dies of pneumonia at 40
- 1942 Chris 'Red' Cagle, College Football Hall of Fame halfback (All American 1927, 28, 29; Army; NFL: New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers), dies of a fractured skull from a fall at 37
- 1961 Charlie Frank, cricketer (S Af Test centurion v Aust 1921-22), dies
- 1963 "Gorgeous George" Wagner, wrestler, dies
- 1967 Sydney Barnes, English cricketer (27 Tests for England, 189 wickets) and probably England's greatest bowler, dies at 94
- 1970 Lillian Board, British 400m athlete (Olympic silver 1968), dies at 22
- 1984 Tebbs Lloyd Johnson, English race walker (Olympic bronze 50k 1952; oldest Olympic medal-winning athlete; 48 years and 115 days), dies at 84
Doug Harvey
1989 Doug Harvey, Canadian ice hockey defence player ('100 Greatest NHL Players), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 65
Doug Harvey
Reggie White
2004 Reggie White, American football player, dies at 43
Reggie White
- 2007 Stu Nahan, American Sportscaster (b. 1926)
- 2013 Paul Blair, American baseball outfielder (MLB All-Star 1969, 73; World Series 1966, 70, 77-78; Gold Glove Award 1967, 69–75; Baltimore Orioles), dies from a heart attack at 69
- 2019 Elbert Dubenion, American football wide receiver and running back (AFL All Star 1964; Buffalo Bills), dies from complications related to Parkinson's disease at 86
- 2019 Eigil Nielsen, Danish soccer midfielder (10 caps; Basel), dies at 71