Events in Sport
- 1940 National Football League Championship, Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.: Chicago Bears beat Washington Redskins, 73-0; most one-sided victory in NFL history; first NFL title game broadcast on national radio
- 1942 8th Heisman Trophy Award: Frank Sinkwich, Georgia (HB)
- 1948 14th Heisman Trophy Award: Doak Walker, SMU (HB)
- 1953 19th Heisman Trophy Award: John Lattner, Notre Dame (HB)
- 1955 21st Heisman Trophy Award: Howard Cassady, Ohio State (HB)
Event of Interest
1955 Brooklyn catcher Roy Campanella wins his 3rd MVP Award
Roy Campanella
- 1956 XVI Summer Olympic Games close in Melbourne, Australia; start of an Olympic tradition - amidst international tensions, athletes mingle together, parade into and around MCG arena for final appearance to close the Games
Event of Interest
1959 President Eisenhower watches Pakistan v Aust Test Cricket at Karachi
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Event of Interest
1961 Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA - 78
Wilt Chamberlain
Event of Interest
1966 A terrible Yankee trade, Roger Maris for Card's Charlie Smith
Roger Maris
Event of Interest
1973 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 3rd consecutive season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6–3, 7–5, 4–6, 6–3 win over Dutchman Tom Okker in Boston, Massachusetts
Ilie Năstase
Tennis Open
1984 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Chris Evert-Lloyd beats Helena Suková 6-7, 6-1, 6-3; continues streak of winning at least 1 major per year since 1973
Chris Evert
Australian Tennis Open
1985 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stefan Edberg wins 1st career Grand Slam singles title; beats defending champion & fellow Swede Mats Wilander 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Mats Wilander
Event of Interest
1987 Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st goalie to actually score a goal
Ron Hextall
- 1988 Knick's set NBA record of 11 3-pointers & sink Bucks, 113-109
Event of Interest
1994 Darryl Strawberry indicted on tax evasion charges
Darryl Strawberry
Birthdays in Sport
- 1904 Wilmer L Allison Jr, tennis champ (US Open-1935)
- 1914 Ernie Toshack, Australian cricket fast bowler (12 Tests, 47 wickets), born in Cobar, NSW (d. 2003)
- 1918 Ian Johnson, cricketer (Australian Test captbetween Hassett & Craig)
- 1920 Emmanuel McDonald Bailey, Trinidad, 100m runner (Olympic bronze 1952)
- 1922 George Fullerton, cricketer (South African keeper-batsman 1947-51)
- 1935 Tatiana Zatulovskaya, Israeli chess player
- 1936 Peter Parfitt, cricketer (fine England batsman of the 1960's)
- 1936 W S "Buster" Farrer, cricketer (South African Test batsman 1962-64)
- 1940 Brant Alyea, American baseball player
- 1941 Geoff Hurst, cricketer (Essex 1962, better known as soccer immortal)
- 1941 Ed Brinkman, American baseball player
- 1942 Hemant Kanitkar, cricketer (batted in two Tests India v WI 1974)
- 1950 Tim Foli, American baseball player
- 1953 Roy Firestone, American sportscaster (Life's Most Embarrassing Moments), born in Miami, Florida
- 1955 Ian Greig, cricketer (brother of Tony Two Tests for England 1982)
- 1958 Wayne Dickert, slalom double canoe (Olympic 11th 1996), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- 1962 Berry van Aerle, Dutch soccer star (PSV)
Steve Elkington
1962 Steve Elkington, Australian golfer (PGA Championship 1995; 10 PGA Tour titles), born in Inverell, New South Wales
Steve Elkington
- 1964 James Martinez, Santa Fe NM, rower (Olympics 1996)
- 1965 Greg Truitt, NFL safety/linebacker (Cincinnati Bengals)
- 1965 Teresa Weatherspoon, WNBA guard (NY Liberty)
- 1965 Troy Sadowski, NFL tight end (Cin Bengals)
- 1966 Joe Staysniak, NFL guard (Indianapolis Colts)
- 1967 Jeff George, NFL quarterback (Atlanta Falcons, Oakland Raiders)
- 1967 Ron George, linebacker (Minnesota Vikings)
- 1967 Tony Mayberry, NFL center (Tampa Bay Bucs)
- 1967 Darren Sheridan, English footballer and manager
- 1968 Bill Johnson, defensive tackle (St Louis Rams)
- 1968 Mike Mussina, American baseball pitcher (5-time MLB All Star), Williamsport, Pennsylvania
- 1969 Antoon Kuil, soccer player (Veendam, SC Heerenveen)
- 1969 Darrin Shannon, Barrie, NHL left wing (Winnipeg Jets)
- 1969 Victor Green, NFL cornerback/safety (NY Jets)
- 1971 Garvin Alston, pitcher (Colorado Rockies), born in Mt Vernon, New York
- 1971 James Stewart, NFL running back (Minnesota Vikings), born in Vero Beach, Florida
- 1972 Marco Abreu, Angolan footballer
- 1973 Mitch Jacoby, tight end (St Louis Rams)
- 1973 Monty Montgomery, defensiveback (Indianapolis Colts)
- 1974 Paul Staight, Victoria Australia, badminton player (Olympics 1996)
- 1975 Kevin Harvick, American auto racer (NASCAR Cup Series Champion 2014), born in Bakersfield, California
- 1976 Reed Johnson, American baseball player
- 1977 Sébastien Chabal, French rugby union footballer
- 1977 Ryan Newman, American NASCAR driver
- 1978 Kate Robinson, American figure skater and ice dancer, born in Peoria, Illinois
- 1978 Anwar Siraj, Ethiopian footballer
- 1978 John Oster, Welsh footballer, born in Boston, England
- 1978 Vernon Wells, American baseball player, born in Shreveport, Louisiana
- 1979 Christian Wilhelmsson, Swedish footballer
- 1979 Daniel Fitzhenry, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1980 Brandt Snedeker, American golfer (US Masters 2008, British Open 2012 3rd), born in Nashville, Tennessee
- 1981 Jeremy Accardo, American baseball player
- 1981 Philip Rivers, American NFL quarterback (San Diego, LA Chargers), born in Decatur, Alabama
- 1982 Dee Dee Trotter, American athlete
- 1982 Hamit Altintop, German-born Turkish Football player (identical twin brother of Halil Altintop)
- 1982 Halil Altintop, Turkish Football player (identical twin brother of Hamit Altintop)
- 1983 Neel Jani, Swiss racing driver
- 1983 Liu Song, Chinese snooker player
- 1984 Greg Halford, English footballer
- 1984 Badr Hari, Dutch kickboxer, Niall Brennan, Irish Legend.
- 1985 Dwight Howard, American basketball player (Charlotte Hornets), born in Atlanta, Georigia
- 1986 Amir Khan, English boxer
- 1989 Drew Doughty, Canadian hockey player
- 1994 Raheem Sterling, British-Jamaican football player (Manchester City, English national team), born in Kingston, Jamaica
Weddings in Sport
Deaths in Sport
December in History
![Mozart, the Incomparable Musical Genius]()
Mozart, the Incomparable Musical Genius
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a musical genius who composed over 600 works in his short lifetime, died mysteriously on this day and was buried unceremoniously.
December 5, 1791![Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family]()
Real-life Tragedy for Theatrical Family
On this day a tragedy engulfed one of Britain’s noted theatrical families of the early 20th century.
December 8, 1926![Coronation Street, King of the Soaps]()
Coronation Street, King of the Soaps
Thought to have no great future when launched on this day, Coronation Street still reigns supreme
December 9, 1960![Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires]()
Marconi's Dream: Telegraphy Without Wires
Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi's career received a big boost on this day with backing from the British Post Office.
December 11, 1896
