Events in Sport
- 1908 Wilhelmina '08 soccer team forms in Weert, Netherlands
- 1932 American speed skater Irving Jaffee wins the 10,000m at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics; clinches distance double after also taking out the 5,000m
- 1936 1936 NFL Draft (first ever): Jay Berwanger from University of Chicago first pick by Philadelphia Eagles
- 1936 1st ski jumping tournament, Red Wing, Minnesota
- 1936 1st successful Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher vs Rangers
- 1936 German alpine skier Christi Cranz wins the inaugural Olympic women’s combined gold medal at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Games ahead of team mate Käthe Grasegger
Agreement of Interest
1945 Paul Brown agrees to coach the new American football expansion team in Cleveland, which would later be named the Cleveland Browns after their coach
Paul Brown
Event of Interest
1960 Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
Bill Russell
Event of Interest
1975 Pete Maravich scores 47 points as the New Orleans Jazz end a 28 game NBA road losing streak with a 106-102 win over the Hawks in Atlanta
Pete Maravich
NHL All-Star Game
1983 35th NHL All-Star Game, Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale: Campbell Conference beats Wales Conference, 9-3; MVP: Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers, C
Wayne Gretzky
Event of Interest
1983 Baseball orders Mickey Mantle to sever ties with Claridge Casino
Mickey Mantle
- 1983 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
- 1984 XIV Winter Olympic Games open in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
- 1984 A's take Yankees pitcher Tim Belcher as Type A free agent compensation
- 1985 1st-class cricket debut of Jimmy Adams (age 17), Jamaica v Barbados
- 1985 Bruce Morris, Marshall Univ, makes a 92' 5½" basketball shot
- 1985 Michael Gross swims world record 800m freestyle (7:38.75)
- 1986 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition
- 1987 37th NBA All-Star Game, Kingdome, Seattle, WA: West beats East, 154-149 (OT); MVP: Tom Chambers, Seattle SuperSonics, C
- 1989 American jockey Chris Antley begins record 64-day consecutive winning streak; ends 1 May and includes 147 winners from 486 mounts
Contract of Interest
1991 Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract
Roger Clemens
- 1992 XVI Winter Olympic Games opens in Albertville, France
Event of Interest
1994 Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car
Jack Nicholson
NBA All-Star Game
1998 48th NBA All-Star Game, Madison Square Garden, NYC: East beats West, 135-114; MVP: Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls, F
Michael Jordan
NHL All-Star Game
2004 54th NHL All-Star Game, Xcel Energy Centre, Saint Paul, MN: East beats West, 6-4; MVP: Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche, C
Joe Sakic
- 2009 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: NFC beats AFC, 30-21; MVP: Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals, WR
- 2014 Ole Einar Bjørndalen equals the Winter Olympics medal record with 12
- 2014 Netherlands sweeps the medals in the men's 5,000m speed skating at the Sochi Winter Olympics; Sven Kramer retains title (Vancouver (2010) ahead of team mates Jan Blokhuijsen and Jorrit Bergsma
- 2014 Slopestyle snowboarding event makes Olympic debut at Sochi Winter Games; American Sage Kotsenburg is inaugural men's gold medallist
- 2014 Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe claim gold and silver medals in the moguls freestyle skiing event at the Sochi Winter Olympics; first Canadian sisters to stand together on the podium
- 2018 Noriaki Kasai of Japan becomes first athlete in history to participate in 8 Winter Olympics in the ski jumping qualification prior to the Pyeongchang Games
- 2019 Fire at Ninho de Urubu football training center for Flamengo football club, Rio de Janeiro, kills 10
Birthdays in Sport
- 1877 Helen Homans, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1906), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1949)
- 1884 Reginald "Snowy" Baker, Australian boxer (Olympic silver middleweight 1908), rugby union halfback (2 caps) and actor (The Sword of Valor), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1953)
- 1901 Janina Spychajowa-Kurkowska, Polish women's world champion archer
- 1914 Bert Haas, baseball player
- 1920 Buddy Blattner, baseball player
- 1920 Bruce Smith, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1941, U of Minnesota; NFL: Green Bay Packers), born in Faribault, Minnesota (d. 1967)
- 1921 Hoot Evers, American MLB player, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1991)
- 1922 Joeri Averbach, Russian chess grandmaster
- 1924 Joe Black, baseball player
- 1925 Raimondo d'Inzeo, It, equestrian (Olympic gold/2 silver/3 bronze-1948-76)
- 1929 Roger Byrne, English soccer fullback (33 caps; Manchester United 245 games; died Munich air disaster), born in Manchester, Lancashire (d. 1958)
- 1930 Catherine Hardy, Carollton Ga, 4x100m runner (Olympic gold 1952)
- 1936 Cletis Boyer, 3rd baseman (NY Yankees)
- 1936 Manohar Hardikar, cricketer (batted in 2 Tests India v WI 1958-59)
- 1937 Manfred Krug, German actor (Boxer), born in Duisburg, Germany (d. 2016)
- 1942 Fritz Peterson, baseball pitcher (NY Yankees)
- 1943 Bob Oliver, baseball player
- 1947 Sam Gannon, cricketer (Austr lefty quick, 3 Tests v India 1977-78)
- 1949 Scott Allen, USA, skater (Olympic bronze 1964)
- 1951 Camille LaPierre, NHLer
- 1959 Heinz Gunthardt, Swiss tennis star
- 1959 Irina Kalinina, USSR, springboard diver (Olympic gold 1980)
Dino Ciccarelli
1960 Dino Ciccarelli, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (most goals for NHL undrafted player, 608), born in Sarnia, Ontario
Dino Ciccarelli
- 1960 Linda Fratianne, figure skater (Olympic silver 1980), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1963 Mohammad Azharuddin, cricketer (elegant Indian batsman 1984-)
- 1963 Raleigh MCkenzie, NFL center/guard (Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers)
- 1964 Dennis Gibson, NFL inside linebacker (San Diego Chargers)
- 1965 Lee Knight, CFL full back (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
- 1965 Rod Bernstine, NFL running back (Denver Broncos)
- 1965 Terry McDaniel, NFL cornerback (Oakland Raiders, LA Raiders)
- 1966 Alex Antonitsch, Austrian tennis player, born in Villach, Austria
- 1966 Kirk Muller, Kingston, NHL center (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- 1966 Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
- 1967 Yvon Corriveau, Ontario, NHL left wing (Wash Caps)
- 1968 Joy Fawcett, soccer defender (Olympics 1996), born in Inglewood, California
- 1968 Ron Goetz, CFL linebacker (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
- 1970 Alonzo Mourning, NBA center (Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets)
- 1970 Cameron Cuffy, cricketer (St Vincent & WI fast bowler 1994-)
- 1970 John Filan, Australian footballer
- 1972 Adrian Rollins, cricketer (Derbyshire batsman, bro of Robert of Essex)
- 1972 Marcus Pollard, NFL tight end (Indianapolis Colts)
- 1973 Andreas Gliatis, soccer player (NEC)
- 1973 Dave Dopek, Bolingbrook Illinois, 200m runner
- 1973 Eric Kresser, quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals)
- 1973 Michelle Brogan, Australian basketball forward (Olympic bronze 1996)
- 1973 Tom King, Australian 470 class sailor (Olympics 1996)
- 1974 Ulises de la Cruz, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1975 Damon Denson, guard (New England Patriots)
- 1976 Holly Manthei, soccer midfielder/forward (Olympics 1996), born in Edina, Minnesota
- 1976 Jim Parque, baseball pitcher (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Norwalk, California
- 1976 Khaled Mashud, Bangladeshi cricketer
- 1976 Adam Piatt, American baseball player
- 1978 Christa Williams, softball pitcher (Olympic gold 1996), born in Houston, Texas
- 1979 Aaron Cook, American baseball player, born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky
- 1980 Stephen Wright, English footballer
- 1982 Eric Alexander, American football player
- 1984 Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Greek basketball player
- 1987 Carolina Kostner, Italian European champion figure skater
- 1988 Keegan Meth, Zimbabwean cricketer
Bethany Hamilton
1990 Bethany Hamilton, Pro-surfer (Soul Surfer), born in Lihue Hawaii
Bethany Hamilton
- 1990 Klay Thompson, American basketball guard (3-time NBA champion GS Warriors 2015, 17, 18, Olympic gold 2016), born in Los Angeles, California
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
2001 MLB outfielder David Justice (34) weds model Rebecca Villalobos
David Justice
Deaths in Sport
- 1944 Clem Wilson, cricketer (bro of Rockley, 2 Tests for England 1896), dies
Connie Mack
1956 Connie Mack, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher, manager and owner (World Series 1910, 11, 13, 29, 30; most managerial wins, losses & games managed in MLB history; Philadelphia A's), dies at 93
Connie Mack
- 1973 Herbie Taylor, South African cricketer (2936 runs in 42 Tests for South Africa), dies at 83
- 1979 Jim Smith, English cricket all-rounder (5 Tests), dies at 72
- 1984 Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (Olympic bronze 1928), dies at 80
- 1991 Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricketer (2 Tests for Pakistan 1954-55), dies at 47
- 2000 Sid Abel, Canadian ice hockey player (Detroit Red Wings), dies at 81
- 2000 Derrick Thomas, American Pro and College Football Hall of Fame linebacker / end (Pro Bowl 1989–97; First-team All-Pro 1990–92; KC Chiefs), dies of a pulmonary embolism at 33
- 2011 Tony Malinosky, American baseball player (b. 1909)
- 2016 John Disley, Welsh athlete (co-founded London Marathon), dies at 87
