Events in Sport
- 1839 1st Grand National steeplechase, Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool: Jem Mason wins aboard 5/1 favourite Lottery
- 1851 13th Grand National: Terry Abbott wins aboard Irish stallion Abd-El-Kader at 7/1; first dual winner and first to win back-to-back
Event of Interest
1859 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins
Paul Morphy
- 1938 Rie Van Veen swims world record 200m free style (2:24.6)
- 1960 USA's David Jenkins wins Olympic Gold for men's figure skating
- 1960 David Jenkins wins the men's figure skating gold medal at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; US takes the singles double after Carol Heiss wins women's event
- 1961 3rd Daytona 500: Marvin Panch wins in a 1960 Pontiac owned by Smokey Yunick when race leader Fireball Roberts' car suffered a blown engine with 13 laps remaining
Daytona 500
1967 9th Daytona 500: Mario Andretti wins his first and only NASCAR Grand National event; only time driver born outside the US has ever won the Great American Race
Mario Andretti
- 1972 Ireland-Wales Five Nations Rugby match scheduled for Lansdowne Road, Dublin is cancelled because of escalating political situation; Championship not completed for first time since World War II
Event of Interest
1980 New Zealand cricket captain Geoff Howarth 147 and Richard Hadlee 103 hold off West Indies pace quartet of Roberts, Garner, Holding and Croft during famous 2nd Test draw at Christchurch
Richard Hadlee
- 1981 84 penalties (406 mins) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minn & Bost
Event of Interest
1982 Test Cricket debut of batsman Martin Crowe, playing for New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, run out for 9
Martin Crowe
Event of Interest
1987 NBA's Michael Jordan's 58 points in one game is a Chicago Bulls record
Michael Jordan
- 1987 Wash blocks 20 Indiana shots tying NBA regulation game record
Event of Interest
1989 Dallas Cowboys fire coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career
Tom Landry
Event of Interest
1989 NY Yankees announce that Tom Seaver is their new TV sportscaster
Tom Seaver
- 1989 California court throws out most of Margo Adams's $12 million breach-of- contract suit against Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs
- 1991 Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons v NZ (119 & 102)
Hall of Fame
1991 Bill Veeck & Tony Lazzeri elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Bill Veeck
- 1991 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
Event of Interest
1993 Allan Border beats Gavaskar's record for most Test Cricket runs 10,123
Allan Border
- 1994 St Louis Blues beat Ottawa Senators 11-1
- 1998 Steven M Gluckstern completes sale of NY Islanders
- 2006 XX Winter Olympic Games close in Turin, Italy
- 2012 61st NBA All-Star Game, Amway Centre, Orlando, FL: West beats East, 152-149; MVP: Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder, F
- 2017 59th Daytona 500: Kurt Busch wins after Kyle Larson runs out of gas on last lap; Jeffrey Earnhardt makes NASCAR history, 1st ever 4th generation driver to compete in Daytona 500
Birthdays in Sport
- 1887 Grover Cleveland Alexander, American baseball pitcher (Phillies, Cubs), born in Elba, Nebraska (d. 1950)
- 1900 Halina Konopacka, Polish discus thrower (Olympic gold 1928), born in Rawa Mazowiecka, Russian Empire (d. 1989)
- 1908 Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
- 1916 Ross Gregory, Australian cricketer (Australian batsman 1936-37, died in WW II)
- 1918 Edwin Charles "Preacher" Roe, American baseball pitcher (Brooklyn Dodgers), born in Ash Flat, Arkansas (d. 2008)
- 1919 Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (3 x Olympic gold 1936), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2003)
- 1920 A W [Rie] Kuiper-Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (Olympics 3 gold-1936)
- 1920 Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1922 Bill Johnston, Australian cricket fast/spin bowler (40 Tests, 160 wickets @ 23.91; Victoria), born in Beeac, Australia (d. 2007)
- 1925 Everton Weekes OBE, West Indian cricket batsman (48 Tests; 4,455 runs @ 58.61, 15 x 100s), born in Saint Michael, Barbados (d. 2020)
- 1926 Efraín Sánchez, Colombian soccer goalkeeper (9 caps; San Lorenzo) and manager (Columbia), born in Barranquilla, Colombia (d. 2020)
- 1930 Vic Janowicz, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1950, Ohio State; NFL: Washington Redskins), born in Elyria, Ohio (d. 1996)
- 1931 Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1934 Ron Gaunt, cricketer (Australian fast bowler late 50s early 60s)
- 1941 Keith Thomson, New Zealand cricketer (batted in 2 Tests NZ v India 1968), born in Methven, New Zealand
- 1945 Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion, born in Richmond, Australia (d. 2006)
- 1945 Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach & politician, born in Thessaloniki, Greece
- 1946 Bobby "Bingo" Smith, American NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
- 1946 Colin Bell MBE, English soccer midfielder (48 caps; Manchester City 394 games), born in Hesleden, England (d. 2021)
- 1955 Rupert Keegan, English Formula One racing car driver, born in Essex, England
- 1957 Connie Carpenter-Phinney, 79k cyclist (Olympic gold 1984), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- 1957 Keena Rothhammer, American 800m freestyle swimmer (Olympic gold 1972), born in Little Rock, Arkansas
- 1957 Joe Mullen, American Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (Stanley Cup 1989, Calgary Flames; Pittsburgh Penguins 1991, 92; NHL All Star 1988, 89), born in NYC, New York
- 1959 Rolando Blackman, American basketball player, born in Panama City, Panama
- 1962 Dave Palone, American harness racing trainer & driver (US Pacing Triple Crown 1996, 2005), born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
- 1962 Sheila Cornell, American softball infielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1965 Donald Narcisse, American CFL receiver (Saskatchewan Roughriders), born in Port Arthur, Texas
- 1967 David Howard, American baseball infielder (KC Royals), born in Sarasota, Florida
- 1967 Roman Fortin, American NFL center (Atlanta Falcons), born in Columbus, Ohio
- 1967 Scott Service, American baseball pitcher (Cincinnati Reds), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- 1968 Chris Green, American NFL safety (Buffalo Bills), born in Lawrenceburg, Indiana
- 1968 J. T. Snow, American baseball infielder (NY Yankees, California Angels), born in Long Beach, California
- 1968 Leif Rohlin, Swedish NHL defenseman (Vancouver Canucks), born in Vasteras, Sweden
- 1969 Brandon Wilson, American baseball infielder (Chicago White Sox), born in Gaborone, Botswana
- 1970 Ben Maruquin, American field hockey sweeper (Olympics 1996), born in Ventura, California
- 1970 Sasha Danilovic, Serbian NBA guard (Miami Heat), born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
- 1971 Rick Lyle, American football defensive end (NY Jets), born in Monroe, Louisiana
- 1972 Clint McDaniel, American NBA guard (Sacramento Kings), born in Tulsa, Oklahoma
- 1972 Scott Turner, American politician & NFL cornerback (Washington Redskins), born in Richardson, Texas
- 1973 Jenny Thompson, American 400m freestyle swimmer (Olympic gold 1992, 96), born in Danvers, Massachusetts
- 1973 Marshall Faulk, American NFL running back (Indianapolis Colts), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1973 Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian football player & manager, born in Kristiansund, Norway
- 1974 Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver, born in Haguenau, France
- 1975 Cindy Werley, American field hockey player (Olympics 1996), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania
- 1975 Mike Wilson, Canadian NHL defenseman (Buffalo Sabres), born in Brampton, Canada
- 1976 Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver, born in Athens, Greece
- 1977 Tim Thomas, American NBA forward (Philadelphia 76ers), born in Paterson, New Jersey
- 1977 Josh Towers, American baseball pitcher, born in Port Hueneme, California
- 1977 Shane Williams MBE, Welsh rugby scrum half (87 caps Wales, 4 British & Irish Lions; Neath, Ospreys), born in Morriston, Swansea, Wales
- 1978 Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer, born in Dakar, Senegal
- 1978 Marc Hynes, British racing driver, born in Guildford, United Kingdom
- 1979 Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver, born in San Basilio, Argentina
- 1979 Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer, born in Guimarães, Portugal
- 1980 Gary Majewski, Major League Baseball player, born in Houston, Texas
- 1981 Kertus Davis, American auto racer (competition director NASCAR team JD Motorsports), born in Gaffney, South Carolina
- 1982 Katherine Hull Kirk, Australian golfer (British Open 2010 runner-up; 3 LPGA Tour titles), born in Brisbane, Queensland
Li Na
1982 Li Na, Chinese tennis player (French Open 2011, Australian Open 2014), born in Wuhan, China
Li Na
Weddings in Sport
Deaths in Sport
- 1891 Ted Barratt, English cricket spin bowler (10-43 vs Australia 1878), dies from consumption at 46
- 1971 Edward van der Merwe, South African cricket wicket-keeper (2 Tests in 30's), dies at 67
- 1973 Doc Hayes, American basketball coach (Southern Methodist University 1947-67), dies in an auto accident at 67
- 1992 Gerrit Schulte, Dutch road and track cyclist (World Champion Track Pursuit 1948), dies at 76
- 1992 Jean R Yawkey, owner (Boston Red Sox), dies of a stroke at 83
- 2003 Christian Goethals, Belgian racing driver, dies at 74
- 2005 Ian Colquhoun, New Zealand cricket wicket-keeper (2 Tests, 4 dismissals), dies at 80
- 2009 Norm Van Lier, American basketball point guard (NBA All Star 1974, 76, 77; Chicago Bulls) and broadcaster (Comcast SportsNet), dies at 61
- 2009 Johnny Kerr, American basketball forward (NBA All Star 1956, 59, 63; Syracuse Nats/Philadelphia 76ers), coach (Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns) and broadcaster (Chicago Bulls), dies of prostate cancer at 76
Earl Lloyd
2015 Earl Lloyd, 1st African American basketball player in the NBA, dies at 86
Earl Lloyd
- 2016 Andy Bathgate, professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP), dies at 83
