Events in Sport
- 1876 Albert Spalding invests $800 to start sporting goods company, manufacturing first official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball and football
- 1894 1st US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched at Bath, Maine
1st Winter Olympics
1924 Canada beats United States, 6-1 to retain the Olympic ice hockey gold medal (won at 1920 Summer Games) at the Chamonix Games; Canadian LW Harry Watson top scores with 46 points
Learn More
- 1924 Switzerland claims the inaugural Olympic bobsleigh gold medal at the Chamonix Games, ahead of Great Britain and Belgium
Donald Bradman
- 1942 Baseball owners agree to permit each club up to 14 night games in 1942
- 1947 Bradman bowled by Alec Bedser for a duck in 4th Test Cricket
- 1951 Largest purse to date in horse racing, $144,323, won by Great Circle
- 1956 Toni Sailer of Austria wins the downhill at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics; becomes first athlete to sweep all 3 alpine skiing events in a single Olympics
- 1962 John Uelses pole vaults record 489 cm
- 1964 French sisters Marielle Goitschel (gold) and Christine Goitschel (silver) repeat (in reverse order) their top-2 finish in the slalom 2 days earlier, in the giant slalom at the Innsbruck Winter Olympics
- 1965 Braves offer Milwaukee $500,000 to terminate their lease a year earlier, the proposal is turned down
- 1972 XI Winter Olympic Games opens in Sapporo, Japan (1st in Asia)
- 1976 26th NBA All-Star Game, Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pa: East beats West, 123-109; MVP: Dave Bing, Washington Bullets, PG
Boxing Title Fight
1980 Larry Holmes TKOs Lorenzo Holmes in 6 for heavyweight boxing title
Larry Holmes
NBA All-Star Game
1980 30th NBA All-Star Game, Capital Centre, Landover, Md: East beats West, 144-136 (OT); MVP: George Gervin, San Antonio Spurs, SF
George Gervin
- 1981 Australia beats NZ 3-1 to win cricket's World Series Cup
- 1987 Expos trade Jeff Reardon to Twins for Neal Heaton
- 1987 SD Yacht Club celebrates return of America's Cup
- 1989 Baseball's National League announces Yanks' broadcaster Bill White will its 1st African American President
- 1989 Start 1st Test Cricket, NZ v Pak, washed out
Event of Interest
1990 Darryl Strawberry voluntarily enters Smither Center for Alcohol rehabilitation
Darryl Strawberry
- 1990 Jockey Bill Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350 horse race
- 1991 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 23-21; MVP: Jim Kelly, Buffalo Bills, QB
- 1993 Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott suspended for 1 year due to racist comments
NHL Record
1998 Florida Panther Dino Ciccarelli is 9th NHLer to score 600 career goals
Dino Ciccarelli
- 1998 NY Yankees replace general manager Bob Watson with Brian Cashman
Super Bowl
2002 Super Bowl XXXVI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: New England Patriots beat St. Louis Rams, 20-17; MVP: Tom Brady, New England, QB
Tom Brady
Super Bowl
2008 Super Bowl XLII, University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, AZ: New York Giants beat New England Patriots, 17-14; MVP: Eli Manning, New York, QB
Eli Manning
- 2013 Super Bowl XLVII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, New Orleans, LA: Baltimore Ravens beat San Francisco 49ers, 34-31; MVP: Joe Flacco, Baltimore, QB
- 2019 Super Bowl LIII, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA: New England Patriots beat Los Angeles Rams, 13-3; MVP: Julian Edelman, NE Patriots, WR; Patriots' 6th SB victory
- 2019 Wreckage from light aircraft carrying EPL team Cardiff City's record signing Emiliano Sala is discovered on seabed of the English Channel; cause of death, head and trunk injuries
Birthdays in Sport
- 1851 Lord Harris, cricketer (4 Tests for England MCC big-wig)
- 1872 Lou Criger, American baseball player (d. 1934)
- 1879 Charles Follis, 1st African American NFLer (Shelby, Ohio)
- 1883 Camille Bombois, French circus wrestler/painter
- 1890 Larry MacPhail, American Baseball Hall of Fame executive (Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees), born in Cass City, Michigan (d. 1975)
- 1895 Izak Buys, cricketer (one Test for South Africa 1922, 0 & 4*, 0-52)
- 1899 Forrest "Red" DeBernardi, basketball hall of famer (elected 1961)
- 1908 Oddbjorn Hagen, Norwegian cross country jumper (Olympic gold 1936)
- 1911 Tom Creavy, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1931), born in Tuckahoe, New York (d. 1979)
- 1913 Richard Seaman, British racing driver (d. 1939)
George Nissen
1914 George Nissen, American inventor (created the trampoline), born in Blairstown, Iowa (d. 2010)
George Nissen
- 1918 Helen Stephens, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m & 4x100m relay 1936), born in Fulton, Missouri (d. 1994)
- 1920 Stan Ockers, Belgian road cyclist (World road champion 1955; Tour de France runner-up 1950, 52), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1956)
- 1920 Tony Gaze, Australian racing driver
- 1926 Arthur Arfons, auto racer/designer (Green Monster 1964-536.71 MPH)
- 1927 Ilias Rosidis, Greek soccer defender (29 caps; Olympiacos FC), born in Neo Faliro, Piraeus, Greece (d. 2019)
- 1928 C V Gadkari, cricketer (Indian batsman in 6 Tests 1953-55)
- 1929 Ken Shipp, American football coach
- 1929 Pedro Nájera, Mexican soccer midfielder (FIFA World Cup 1954, 62; Club América), born in Mexico City, Mexico (d. 2020)
- 1932 Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African cricket all-rounder (4 Tests), born in Durban, Natal (d. 2013)
- 1936 Bob Simpson, Australian cricket batsman, captain and coach (62 Tests; Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1965), born in Sydney, New South Wales
- 1938 Emile Griffith, American boxer, (world welterweight, middleweight & junior middleweight champion), born in Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands (d. 2013)
Fran Tarkenton
1940 Fran Tarkenton, NFL quarterback (NY Giants, Minnesota Vikings), born in Richmond, Virginia
Fran Tarkenton
- 1941 Carol Mann, American golfer (1964 Western Open, 1965 US Open), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 2018)
- 1941 Gary Bartlett, cricket pace bowler (NZ in 10 Tests in the 1960's)
- 1945 Bob Griese, NFL quarterback (Miami Dolphins, 1971 Player of Year)
- 1947 Joe Coleman, baseball pitcher (Washington, Detroit)
- 1949 Hennie Kuiper, Dutch cyclist
- 1951 Felipe Munoz, Mexican 200m backstroke swimmer (Olympic gold 1968)
- 1951 Eugenijus Riabovas, Lithuanian football manager
- 1952 Fred Lynn, American baseball outfielder (Boston, California, Baltimore), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1954 Tiger Williams, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1956 John Jefferson, American football player
- 1959 Molly Killingbeck, Jamaica, 4X400m relayer (Olympic silver 1984)
- 1960 Kerry Von Erich, American wrestler (d. 1993)
- 1960 Marty Jannetty, American Wrestler
- 1961 Jay Adams, American skateboarder
- 1962 Joe Handle, American baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins)
- 1965 Dorcas Wonsavage, cross country skier (Olympics 1994), born in Madison, Wisconsin
- 1966 Jimmy Thunder, New Zealand boxer (IBO heavyweight title 1994-95), born in Apia, Samoa (d. 2020)
- 1966 Danny Morrison, New Zealand cricket fast bowler (48 Tests, 160 wickets; 96 ODIs, 126 wickets) and broadcaster (TVNZ, Sky Sports, Radio Sport), born in Auckland, New Zealand
- 1966 Sean Patrick Wade, NZ marathoner (Olympics 1996), born in Houston, Texas
- 1967 Aurelio Vidmar, soccer player (Standard Luik, Feyenoord)
- 1967 Jason Morris, Scotia NY, half-middleweight judoka (Olympic silver 1992, 96)
- 1967 Bob Taylor, English footballer
- 1968 Frantisek Kucera, NHL defenseman (Vanc Canucks, Olympic gold 1998), born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
- 1968 Leroy Thompson, NFL running back (KC Chiefs)
- 1968 Vlade Divac, Yugoslavia, NBA center (Charlotte Hornets, LA Lakers)
- 1969 Casey Weldon, American NFL quarterback (Tampa Bay Bucs), born in Americus, Georgia
- 1969 Jeff Christy, NFL center (Minnesota Vikings)
- 1969 Robert Pack, NBA guard (Washington Bullets, Dallas Mavericks)
- 1969 Terry Bradshaw, American baseball outfielder (St Louis Cardinals)
- 1969 Retief Goosen, South African golfer (US Open 2001, 04), born in Pietersburg, Limpopo Province
- 1970 Jason Muzzatti, NHL goalie (Hartford Whalers), born in Toronto, Ontario
- 1970 Keith Carney, NHL defenseman (Chicago Blackhawks, Team US), born in Providence, Rhode Island
- 1970 Oscar Cordoba, Colombian footballer
- 1971 Eric Owens, Danville VA, outfielder (Cincinnati Reds)
- 1971 Marcus Buckley, NFL linebacker (NY Giants)
- 1971 Roman Cechmanek, NHL goaltender (Team Czech Olympic gold 1998)
- 1972 Jermaine Smith, NFL defensive tackle (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31)
- 1972 Keith Elias, NFL running back (NY Giants)
- 1972 Tyrone Poole, NFL cornerback (Carolina Panthers)
- 1972 Mart Poom, Estonian football player
- 1973 Jim Campbell, American hockey forward (Olympics 1994), born in Worcester, Massachusetts
- 1974 Konrad Gałka, Polish swimmer, born in Kraków, Poland
- 1976 Dwayne Rudd, linebacker (Minnesota Vikings)
- 1981 Maurice Ross, Scottish footballer
- 1982 Alan Gurr, Australian V8 Supercar driver
- 1983 Richard Bartel, National Football League quarterback
- 1986 David Edwards, Welsh soccer midfielder (43 caps; Wolverhampton Wanderers 284 games), born in Pontesbury, England
- 1989 Slobodan Rajković, Serbian footballer
Deaths in Sport
- 1956 Johnny Claes, Belgian racing driver (b. 1916)
- 1976 Neville Lindsay, cricketer (South African batsman in Test v Aust 1921), dies
- 1983 Tullio Campagnolo, Italian racing cyclist and inventor (quick release skewer patent; founder bicycle component company Campagnolo), dies at 81
- 1989 Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (6-time US Amateur champion), dies at 85
- 2006 Lou Jones, American athlete (Olympic gold 4x400m relay 1956), dies at 74
- 2011 Ron Piché, Quebec baseball player (Milwaukee Braves), dies at 75
- 2014 Louise Brough, American tennis player (Wimbledon 1948-50, 55), dies at 90
Charlie Sifford
2015 Charlie Sifford, American golfer (first African-American to join PGA Tour, 2 titles), dies of a stroke at 92
Charlie Sifford
- 2019 Matti Nykänen, Finnish ski jumper (4 Olympic gold 1984, 88), dies of diabetes complications at 55
- 2019 Bob Friend, American baseball pitcher (4-time MLB All Star), dies from cardiac arrest at 88
- 2020 Willie Wood, American Pro Football Hall of Fame safety (Pro Bowl 1962, 64–70; Super Bowl 1967, 68; Green Bay Packers), dies of dementia at 83
- 2020 Robert Alner, British racehorse trainer (Cheltenham Gold Cup, Cool Dawn 1998), dies at 76
- 2021 Tony Trabert, American tennis player (Wimbledon 1955; US Open 1953, 55; French Open 1954, 55), dies at 90
- 2021 Jean-Pierre Bastiat, French rugby union lock (32 Tests; US Dax), dies from a stroke at 71
