Events in Sport
- 1876 Albert Spalding with $800 starts sporting goods co, manufacturing 1st official baseball, tennis ball, basketball, golf ball, & football
- 1894 1st US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched at Bath, Maine
- 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
- 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
- 1979 Minnesota Twins trade Rod Carew to California for 4 players
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
Event of Interest
1990 Darryl Strawberry voluntarily enters Smither Center for Alcohol rehabilitation
Darryl Strawberry
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
- 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
- 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
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)
- 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)
- 1928 C V Gadkari, cricketer (Indian batsman in 6 Tests 1953-55)
- 1929 Ken Shipp, American football coach
- 1932 Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African cricket all-rounder (4 Tests), born in Durban, Natal (d. 2013)
- 1932 Maria Itkina, USSR, sprinter (9 world records)
- 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 Danny Morrison, cricket pace bowler (NZ since 1987)
- 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 Natalie Hunter, Australian canoeist (Olympics 1996), born in Melbourne, Victoria
- 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, NFL quarterback (Tampa Bay Bucs)
- 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)
- 1971 Sean Dawkins, NFL wide receiver (Indianapolis Colts)
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 1984 Anne Townsend, lacrosse/tennis/field hockey star, dies
- 1989 Glenna Collett-Vare, American golfer (6-time US Amateur champion), dies at 85
- 2006 Lou Jones, American 4X400m relay runner (Olympic gold 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
February in History
River of Dreams Delivers a Writer of Genius
Forced to find a new job when the American Civil War struck the Mississippi river, Samuel Longhorne Clemens turned to writing and Mark Twain was born.
February 2, 1863I'm Not Gay Insists 'Fruit-Flavoured, Mincing' Liberace
Entertainer Liberace died on this day, going to his grave insisting he was not gay. But his death from AIDS told a different story . . .
February 4, 1987Soccer Star Dodges TV Trap
How did a 'This Is Your Life' surprise for footballer Danny Blanchflower backfire so badly and end with the Tottenham Hotspur star storming off the set?
February 6, 19612,000-year-old Glass Treasure Shattered by a Drunk
One of the British Museum's treasured pieces of Roman antiquity was shattered on this day by a drunken visitor.
February 7, 1845
