Events in Sport
- 1913 Heavyweight Jack Johnson-Jim Johnson fight to no decision in Paris
- 1913 John K Tener becomes president of baseball's National League
- 1922 1st Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Sydney: Margaret Molesworth wins inaugural title; beats fellow Australian Esna Boyd 6-3, 10-8
- 1922 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis, Sydney: James Anderson wins 1st of 3 Australasian titles; beats fellow Australian Gerald Patterson 6-0, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
- 1926 USGA legalizes steel shaft golf clubs
- 1931 Baseball cuts squad from 25 to 23 players & NL continues to prohibit uniform numbers
- 1933 CFL Grey Cup, Athletic Park, Sarnia: Toronto Argonauts edge Sarnia Imperials, 4-3 for their 3rd Championship
- 1934 National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: New York Giants defeat Chicago Bears, 30-13
- 1935 1st Heisman Trophy Award: Jay Berwanger, Chicago (HB)
- 1936 AL OKs night baseball for St Louis
Donald Bradman
- 1938 1939 NFL Draft: Ki Aldrich from TCU first pick by Chicago Cardinals
- 1939 CFL Grey Cup, Landsdowne Park, Ottawa: Winnipeg Blue Bombers claim 2nd title; defeat Ottawa Rough Riders, 8-7
- 1939 1940 NFL Draft: George Cafego from University of Tennessee first pick by Chicago Cardinals
- 1941 7th Heisman Trophy Award: Bruce Smith, Minnesota (HB)
- 1949 NFL merges Cleveland Browns, SF '49ers & Balt Colts from AAFC
- 1953 Montreal Canadiens (106) & Toronto Maple Leafs (98) get 204 penalty mins
- 1965 Frank Robinson is traded from Cincinnati to the Orioles
- 1973 St Louis Cardinal Jim Bakken kicks 6 field goals vs Atlanta Falcons
- 1978 1st game of Women's Pro Basketball League (WBL), Chicago Hustle vs Milwaukee Does
- 1982 World Boxing Council first to reduce the length of championship fights from 15 to 12 rounds, and allows referees to order standing 8-count for fighters in trouble
- 1984 LA Ram Eric Dickerson rushes 215 yards for season record 2,105 yards
Australian Tennis Open
1984 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Sweden's Mats Wilander wins 2nd straight Australian title; beats Kevin Curren of South Africa 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2
Mats Wilander
Event of Interest
1985 Jerry Rice begins NFL streak of 100+ consecutive games with a reception
Jerry Rice
Event of Interest
1987 Larry Bird ends streak of 59 consecutive free throws
Larry Bird
- 1988 NY Yankees sign 12-year television contract with MSG for $500M
- 1990 NFL NY Giant Otis Anderson becomes 8th to rush for 10,000th yard
- 1992 Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott apologizes for racist remarks
- 1992 Sri Lanka's third-ever Test Cricket victory (v NZ by 9 wkts)
- 1992 NJ Devils organization announces that it will change its colors to black, red, & white for the 1992-93 season
- 1995 61st Heisman Trophy Award: Eddie George, Ohio State (RB)
- 2000 Tottenham defender Ledley King scores fastest goal in English Premier League history when he nets after 9.82 seconds in 3-3 draw at Bradford City
- 2006 72nd Heisman Trophy Award: Troy Smith, Ohio State (QB)
Event of Interest
2012 Juan Manuel Márquez knocks out Manny Pacquiao in round six for the WBO light welterweight title
Manny Pacquiao
Event of Interest
2013 Mike Ditka's #89 jersey is retired by the Chicago Bears
Mike Ditka
Birthdays in Sport
- 1853 Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn, American pitcher (60-12 in 1884), born in Rochester, New York (d. 1897)
- 1864 Willoughby Hamilton, Irish tennis player (Wimbledon 1890), born in Monasterevin, Kildare (d. 1943)
- 1871 Joe Kelley, American baseball player (Baltimore Orioles), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1943)
- 1889 Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish long-distance runner (Olympic gold 1912), born in Kuopio, Finland (d. 1966)
- 1912 Jim Turnesa, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1952; Ryder Cup 1953), born in NYC, NY (d. 1971)
- 1915 Colin McCool, cricketer (Australian leg-spin all rounder late 40s)
- 1928 André Milhoux, Belgian racing driver
- 1933 Milt Campbell, American decathlete (Olympic gold 1956), born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2012)
- 1933 Orville Moody, American golfer (US Open 1969), born in Chickasha Oklahoma (d. 2008)
- 1938 [David] Deacon Jones, American NFL defensive end (LA, SD, Washington), born in Eatonville, Florida (d. 2013)
- 1942 Dick Butkus, NFL hall of fame linebacker (Bears)/sportscaster, born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1942 Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (d. 1997)
- 1949 Tom Kite Jr, American golfer (US Open 1992; 19 PGA Tour titles, The Tradition 2000), born in McKinney, Texas
- 1953 World B Free, NBA guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors)
- 1960 Juan Samuel, Dominican-American baseball infielder (NY Yankees, Blue Jays), manager and coach, born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
- 1961 Christiane Jolissaint, Swiss tennis star
- 1961 Ian Andrew Wright, New Zealand rower (Olympics 1996), born in Hamilton, New Zealand
- 1963 Barry Wilburn, NFL full safety (Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1963 Dave Hilton, Jr., Canadian boxer
- 1964 Petr Briza, hockey goalie (Team Czech Rep), born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
- 1965 Joe Ausanio, American baseball player
- 1966 Dana Murzyn, NHL defenseman (Vancouver Canucks), born in Calgary, Alberta
- 1967 Caryn Kadavy, Erie Pa, figure skater
- 1967 Ray Agnew, NFL nose tackle (Carolina Panthers, NY Giants)
- 1967 Jason Dozzell, English footballer
- 1968 Bill Johnson, NFL defensive linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- 1968 Brent Price, NBA guard (Houston Rockets, Washington Bullets)
- 1968 Kurt Angle, 220 lbs freestyle wrestler (Olympic gold 1996), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1969 Greg[ory] Klingsporn, rower (Olympics 1996), born in Morristown, New Jersey
- 1969 Ramon Garcia, Guanare Venezuela, pitcher (Milwaukee Brewers)
- 1969 Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer
- 1970 Marlin Cannon, 200m/400m runner, born in Dallas, Texas
- 1971 Chris Boniol, NFL kicker (Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1971 Clifton Abraham, NFL cornerback (Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Bucs)
- 1971 Petr Nedved, Libercec CZE, NHL center (Team Czech, Pitts Penguins)
- 1971 Todd Van Poppel, Hinsdale IL, pitcher (Oakland A's)
- 1972 Fabrice Santoro, Tahiti, tennis star
- 1972 Paul Greene, Australian 100m/200m/400m (Olympics 1996)
- 1973 Tony Batista, infielder (Oakland A's), born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic
- 1974 Wendy Dillinger, American female soccer player and coach
- 1975 Stuart McRae, Australian rower (Olympics 1996)
- 1976 Chris Booker, American baseball player
- 1977 Shayne Graham, American football player
- 1979 Stephen McPhail, Irish footballer
- 1980 Ryder Hesjedal, Canadian cyclist
- 1981 Mardy Fish, American tennis player
- 1982 Tamilla Abassova, Russian cyclist
- 1982 Nathalie De Vos, Belgian athlete
- 1983 Dariusz Dudka, Polish footballer
- 1983 Jermaine Beckford, English footballer
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
1956 NBA player Bill Russell (22) weds college sweetheart Rose Swisher
Bill Russell
Deaths in Sport
- 1929 Willis Cuttell, cricketer (two Tests England v South Africa 1899), dies
- 1930 Jim Slight, cricketer (represented Australia at Oval 1880), dies
- 1933 Morice Bird, cricketer (scored 280 runs in 10 Tests for England), dies
- 1948 Sir Timothy O'Brien, cricketer (Bart 5 Tests England 1884-96), dies
- 1957 Carswell Adams, sportscaster (Your Sports Special), dies
- 1965 Branch Rickey, American baseball executive (b. 1884)
- 1974 George Carew, cricketer (4 Tests for WI between 1935 & 1949), dies
- 1992 Carl Barger, baseball pres (Pittsburgh Pirates, Fla Marlins), dies at 62
- 1993 Danny Blanchflower, North Ireland soccer/union coach, dies at 67
Archie Moore
1998 Archie Moore, American light-heavyweight boxing champion (1952-60), dies at 84
Archie Moore
December in History
![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![A King Salutes Remarkable Woman Soldier]()
A King Salutes Remarkable Woman Soldier
Whether she went to war out of love or duty, Phoebe Hessel, who died on this day, led a remarkable life on and off the battlefield.
December 12, 1821
