Events in Sport
- 1839 1st Grand National steeplechase race held at Aintree Racecourse, Jem Mason aboard Lottery wins in Liverpool, England (disputed)
- 1851 13th Grand National: T. Abbott aboard Abd-El-Kader IRE wins
- 1859 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins
- 1887 George Lohmann took 1st 8-wkt haul in test cricket, 8-35 at SCG
- 1918 Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse & burn, killing 604
- 1930 West Indies make 1st Test Cricket win, by 289 runs over England
Event of Interest
1967 9th Daytona 500: Mario Andretti wins (146.926 MPH)
Mario Andretti
Event of Interest
1980 Richard Hadlee scores Test Cricket century v Roberts, Garner, Holding, Croft
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
- 1989 NY Yankees announce that Tom Seaver is their new TV sportscaster
- 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)
- 1991 Bill Veeck & Tony Lazzeri elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1991 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
- 1993 Allan Border beats Gavaskar's record for most Test Cricket runs 10,123
- 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: West beats East 152-149 at Orlando
- 2017 59th Daytona 500: Kurt Busch in a Ford leads for just a single lap to win from Ryan Blaney
Birthdays in Sport
- 1887 Grover Cleveland Alexander, HOF baseball pitcher (Phillies, Cubs)
- 1908 Jean-Pierre Wimille, French race car driver (d. 1949)
- 1916 Ross Gregory, cricketer (Australian batsman 1936-37, died in WW II)
- 1918 Edwin Charles "Preacher" Roe, baseball pitcher (Bkln Dodgers)
- 1919 Rie Mastenbroek, Dutch swimmer (3 x Olympic gold 1936), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2003)
- 1920 A W [Rie] Kuiper-Mastenbroek, Neth, swimmer (Olympics 3 gold-1936)
- 1920 Danny Gardella, American baseball player (d. 2005)
- 1922 Bill Johnston, cricket pace bowler (mighty Australian lefty post-war)
- 1925 Everton Weekes, West Indian cricket player
- 1928 Everton Weekes, cricketer (one of the 3 W's)
- 1931 Ally MacLeod, Scottish footballer and manager (d. 2004)
- 1934 Ron Gaunt, cricketer (Australian fast bowler late 50s early 60s)
- 1941 Keith Thomson, cricketer (batted in 2 Tests NZ v India 1968)
- 1945 Peter Brock, Australian motorsports champion (d. 2006)
- 1945 Giannis Ioannidis, Greek basketball coach and politician
- 1946 Bobby "Bingo" Smith, NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- 1955 Rupert Keegan, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England, Formula One racing car driver
- 1957 Connie Carpenter-Phinney, 79k cyclist (Olympic gold 1984), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- 1957 Keena Rothhammer, American 800m freestyle swimmer (Olympic gold 1972)
- 1959 Rolando Blackman, American basketball player
- 1962 Dave Palone, American harness racing trainer, driver (US Pacing Triple Crown 1996, 2005), born in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
- 1962 Sheila Cornell, Encino Fla, softball infielder (Olympic gold 1996)
- 1965 Donald Narcisse, CFL receiver (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
- 1965 Matt Jackson, Canadian Tour golfer (1994 Payless), born in Birmingham, Michigan
- 1966 Wesley Walls, NFL tight end (Carolina Panthers, SF 49ers, New Orleans Saints)
- 1967 David Howard, infielder (KC Royals), born in Sarasota, Florida
- 1967 Roman Fortin, NFL center (Atlanta Falcons)
- 1967 Scott Service, American baseball pitcher (Cincinnati Reds)
- 1968 Brendan Rogers, CFL linebacker (Toronto Argonauts)
- 1968 Chris Green, NFL safety (Buffalo Bills)
- 1968 J T Snow, infielder (NY Yankees, California Angels), born in Long Beach, California
- 1968 Leif Rohlin, Vasteras Swe, NHL defenseman (Vancouver Canucks)
- 1968 René Groen, soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
- 1969 Brandon Wilson, American baseball infielder (Chicago White Sox)
- 1970 Ben Maruquin, Ventura California, field hockey sweeper (Olympics 1996)
- 1970 Radka Zrubakova, Czech, tennis star
- 1970 Sasha Danilovic, NBA guard (Miami Heat)
- 1971 Rick Lyle, defensive end/defensive tackle (NY Jets)
- 1972 Clint McDaniel, NBA guard (Sacramento Kings)
- 1972 Scott Turner, NFL cornerback/safety (Washington Redskins)
- 1973 Jenny Thompson, Danvers Mass, 400m freestyle (Olympic gold 1992, 96)
- 1973 Marshall Faulk, NFL running back (Indianapolis Colts)
- 1973 Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Norwegian retired footballer
- 1974 Ron Fox, soccer player (Willem II)
- 1974 Sébastien Loeb, French rally driver
- 1975 Cindy Werley, field hockey forward/midfielder (Olympics 1996), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania
- 1975 Mike Wilson, Brampton, NHL defenseman (Buffalo Sabres)
- 1976 Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver
- 1977 Tim Thomas, NBA forward (Philadelphia 76ers)
- 1977 Josh Towers, Major League Baseball player
- 1977 Shane Williams, Welsh Rugby Player
- 1978 Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye, Senegalese footballer
- 1978 Marc Hynes, British racing driver
- 1979 Mariano Bainotti, Argentine racing driver
- 1979 Pedro Mendes, Portuguese footballer
- 1980 Gary Majewski, Major League Baseball player
- 1981 Kertus Davis, American NASCAR driver
- 1982 Katherine Hull Kirk, Australian golfer (Canadian Open 2008), born in Brisbane, Queensland
- 1982 Li Na, Chinese tennis player (French Open 2011, Australian Open 2014), born in Wuhan, China
- 1984 Emmanuel Adebayor, Togolese footballer
- 1986 Makelele, Brazilian footballer
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
Deaths in Sport
- 1971 Edward van der Merwe, South African cricket wicket keeper (2 Tests in 30's), dies at 67
- 1990 Leslie Ames, cricketer (47 Tests, 2434 runs 8 centuries), dies
- 1992 Gerrit Schulte, Dutch 6-day cyclist known as the "Crazy Cyclist", 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 (NZ vs England 1954-55), dies at 80
- 2009 Norm Van Lier, Basketball player and broadcaster (b. 1947)
- 2009 Johnny Kerr, Basketball player and Chicago Bulls broadcaster (b. 1932)
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
February in History
Wonder of Woolworths Begins its Meteoric Rise
It was a simple idea: opening a store where nothing cost more than five cents. The idea caught on so quickly that Woolworth’s became a retail phenomenon.
February 22, 1878
The Man Who Re-wrote 'Offensive' Shakespeare
Thomas Bowdler, the man who re-wrote Shakespeare to remove the "offensive" bits, died on this day and added a new word – bowdlerise – to the language.
February 24, 1825
The 'Baronet' From Wagga Wagga
In the bizarre Tichborne case, a claim by a butcher from Wagga Wagga to be a missing baronet fell apart on this day after the longest trial in English history.
February 28, 1874
Crafty Columbus Plays a Leap Year Trick
Many people born on February 29th curse their luck but it can also bring luck and benefits as explorer Christopher Columbus demonstrated over 400 years ago.
February 29, 1504