Events in Sport
- 1540 The first recorded race meet in England (Roodee Fields, Chester)
- 1895 Volleyball invented by W G Morgan in Massachusetts
- 1900 Dwight Davis establishes a new tennis trophy, the Davis Cup
- 1912 US Tennis Association amends rule taking bye away from defending champion
- 1916 NL votes down a proposal by Giants, Braves, & Cubs to increase club player limit from 21 to 22 (The Reds want to decrease to 20)
- 1920 Joint Rules Com bans foreign substances & alterations to baseballs
- 1932 USA enters Olympic 2-man bobsled competition for 1st time
Boxing Title Fight
- 1942 Philadelphia "Phillies" change nickname (temporarily) to "Phils"
- 1943 NL seeks buyer for Phillies as owner Gerry Nugent falls in arrears
- 1951 St Louis Browns sign pitcher Satchel Paige, 45
- 1960 AFL & NFL agree verbally to a no tampering pact
- 1964 IX Winter Olympic Games close in Innsbruck, Austria
- 1971 Satchel Paige becomes 1st negro-league player elected to baseball hall of fame
- 1976 Oscar Charleston selected to baseball's Hall of Fame
- 1979 UK Football club Nottingham Forest makes £1m transfer deal
Event of Interest
1980 Rick Barry, Houston, is 1st in NBA to score 8 3-pointers in a game
Rick Barry
- 1982 34th NHL All-Star Game, Capital Centre, Landover: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 4-2; MVP: Mike Bossy, NY Islanders, RW
- 1986 36th NBA All-Star Game, Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX: East beats West, 139-132; MVP: Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, G
- 1986 Marvin Johnson stops Leslie Stewart in 7 rounds in Indianapolis to win WBA light heavyweight boxing title; record 3rd time he regains a version of light heavyweight crown
- 1986 West German team swims world record 4x200 m freestyle (7:05.17)
- 1988 39th NHL All-Star Game, St. Louis Arena: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 6-5 (OT); MVP: Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
- 1988 NH begins a NCAA record 32-game losing streak at home (ends Feb 1991)
- 1989 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games
- 1992 42nd NBA All-Star Game, Orlando Arena, Orlando, FL: West beats East, 153-113; MVP: Magic Johnson, LA Lakers, F
- 1992 Heike Henkel high jumps female indoor world record (2.07m)
- 1992 Jani Sievinen swims world record 400m medley (4:07.10)
- 1992 Shelley Hamlin wins LPGA Phar-Mor Golf Tournament at Hamlin Inverrary
- 1997 47th NBA All-Star Game, Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH: East beats West, 132-120; MVP: Glen Rice, Charlotte Hornets, F
- 2002 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu: AFC beats NFC, 38-30; MVP: Rich Gannon, Oakland Raiders, QB
- 2003 52nd NBA All-Star Game, Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA: West beats East, 155-145 (2 OT); MVP: Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves, F
Event of Interest
2006 Al Michaels joins NBC's "Sunday Night Football" broadcast with John Madden
Al Michaels
John Madden
Birthdays in Sport
- 1876 Martin Stixrud, Norwegian figure skater (Olympic bronze 1920)
- 1882 Thomas Campbell, South African cricket wicketkeeper (5 Tests 1909-12)
- 1887 Henry Zimmerman, baseball player (1912-batted .372 with 14 HRs)
- 1907 Aubrey "Dit" Clapper, NHL hall of famer (Boston Bruins)
- 1908 Jackie Fields, American featherweight boxer (Olympic gold 1924)
- 1913 Leo van der Kar, masseur/businessman/founder (Sports funds)
- 1914 Bill Veeck, American MLB owner, promoter (Brewers, White Sox, Indians, St. Louis Browns), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1986)
- 1916 Tex Hughson, American baseball player (d. 1993)
- 1922 James C "Jim" Laker, Bradford England, cricket off spinner
- 1925 Vic Wertz, baseball player
- 1929 Lennox Butler, cricketer (1 Test WI v Aust 1955, 16 & 2-151)
- 1931 Josef Masopust, Czech footballer
- 1932 Tatsuro Hirooka, Japanese baseball player
- 1933 Jo Ann Prentice, LPGA golfer
- 1934 John A Ziegler Jr, 4th NHL president (1977-92), born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan
- 1937 Clete Boyer, American baseball player (d. 2007)
- 1942 Peder Lunde Jr, Norwegian yachtsman (Olympic gold 1960)
- 1943 James King, basketball player (Olympic gold 1968), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1943 Jonny Nilsson, Swedish 10K speed skater (Olympic gold 1964)
- 1945 Bill Bergey, American NFL player, born in South Dayton, New York
- 1946 Vince Papale, American football player
- 1949 Bernard Gallacher, British golfer
- 1950 Lloyd Weldon Keasor, Pumphrey Md, wrestler (Olympic silver 1976)
- 1952 Danny White, quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
- 1952 Mookie Wilson, American baseball player
- 1953 André Sevard, Canadian NHL player, born in Témiscaming, Quebec
- 1956 Philip Jackson Ford Jr, NC, basketball player (Olympic gold 1976)
- 1957 Gordon Strachan, soccer player
- 1958 Alexander "Sandy" Lyle, Scottish PGA golfer (1988 Phoenix Open), born in Shrewsbury, shropshire
- 1958 Cyrille Regis, English former footballer, born in Maripasoula, French Guiana (d. 2018)
- 1961 John Kruk, American baseball 1st baseman (Philadelphia Phillies)
- 1962 Diego Perez, Spanish tennis star
- 1963 Bonnie Levin, WPVA volleyballer, born in Miami, Florida
- 1963 Madusa Miceli, [Debra Ann], wrestler (WCW), born in Milan, Italy
- 1963 Mike Rindel, cricketer (N Transvaal opening bat ODI ton v Pak 1995)
- 1965 David Brandon, American NFL linebacker (San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons), born in Memphis, Tennessee
- 1966 Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
- 1967 Kate Golden, LPGA golfer (1992 Ping/Welch-5th), born in Beaumont, Texas
- 1967 Stevon Moore, NFL safety (Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens)
- 1967 Todd Pratt, American baseball catcher (Philadelphia Phillies)
- 1968 Derek Strong, NBA forward (LA Lakers, Orlando Magic)
- 1968 Marcus Meloan, Agana Guam, Canadian Tour golfer (1992 US Amat Champ)
- 1968 Paul Claxton, American professional golfer, born in Vidalia, Georgia
- 1969 Jeff Pahukoa, NFL guard/tackle (Atlanta Falcons)
- 1969 Jimmy Smith, NFL wide receiver (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- 1969 Peta Edebone, Australian softball outfielder (Olympic bronze 1996)
- 1969 Thomas Brandl, Bad Tolz GER, hockey forward (Team Germany 1998)
- 1969 Todd Lyght, US football quarterback (St Louis Rams)
Glenn McGrath
1970 Glenn McGrath, Australian cricket fast bowler (124 Tests, 563 wickets @ 21.64)), born in Dubbo, New South Wales
Glenn McGrath
- 1970 Grant Moorhead, New Zealand golfer, born in New Plymouth
- 1971 Gonzalo Floyd, CFL defensive end (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
- 1971 Jason Mathews, NFL tackle (Indianapolis Colts)
- 1971 Jim Miller, NFL quarterback (Pittsburgh Steelers, Atl Falcons, Jaguars)
- 1971 Ken Felder, American baseball outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers)
- 1971 Pat O'Neill, NFL punter/place kicker (NE Patriots)
- 1971 Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer
- 1972 Norbert Rosza, Hungarian swimmer (100m freestyle record)
- 1972 Darren Ferguson, Scottish footballer
- 1973 Svetlana Boginskaya, Soviet gymnast
- 1974 Brad Maynard, punter (NY Giants)
- 1974 John Wallace, NBA forward (Toronto Raptors)
- 1974 Orlando Bobo, guard (Minnesota Vikings)
- 1975 Viktor Chistiakov, Russian-born Australian athlete
- 1976 Georgios Korakakis, Greek footballer
- 1976 Vladimir Guerrero, Dominican baseball player
- 1978 Airton Daré, Brazilian racing driver
- 1979 "Casper" David Gray, English snooker player (2003 Scottish Open Winner), born in Lower Morden, Greater London
- 1979 Akinori Iwamura, Japanese baseball pitcher
- 1980 Angelos Charisteas, Greek footballer
- 1980 Shelly Martinez, American wrestler
- 1981 Joël Camathias, Swiss racing driver
- 1983 Mikel Arruabarrena, Spanish footballer
- 1984 Dioner Navarro, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1987 Magdalena Neuner, German biathlete
- 1987 Joe O'Cearuill, Irish footballer
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
1989 NBA power forward Charles Barkley (26) weds legal aide Maureen Blumhardt in Elkton, Maryland
Charles Barkley
Wedding of Interest
1991 Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (42) weds equestrian Madeleine Gurdon (28) in Westminster, London
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Deaths in Sport
- 1875 Cecil De Vere, 1st official British chess champion (1866), dies at 28
- 1916 Jack Barrett, cricketer (2 Tests for Australia 1890), dies
- 1917 Francis Allan, cricket bowler (lefty in 1879 Aust-Eng Test), dies
- 1961 Grigory Levenfish, Russian International chess grandmaster, dies at 70
- 1969 Manuel Plaza Reyes, Chilean marathoner (Olympic gold 1928), dies at 68
- 1978 Costante Girardengo, Italian cyclist (b. 1893)
- 1979 C I J Smith, cricket all-rounder (5 Tests for England 1935-37), dies
- 1994 Bud Wilkinson, American college football coach (Oklahoma), dies at 77
- 1996 Neil Franklin, soccer star, dies at 74
- 2003 Vera Ralston [Věra Helena Hrubá], Czech figure skater and actress (Dakota, Accused of Murder), dies of cancer at 83
- 2007 Hank Bauer, American baseball player (b. 1922)
- 2015 Claude Ruel, Canadian NHL coach (Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup 1968-69), dies at 76
February in History
Soccer 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, 1961
2,000-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
Earthquakes and a Book Rock London
In the 18th Century, Englishmen went into a panic when London, of all places, was hit by earthquakes. But was there a stronger force than Mother Nature at work?
February 8, 1750
Why 'SuperMac' was Banished From Number 10
War hero, Edwardian gentleman, academic, friend of the Kennedys, former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was born on this day.
February 10, 1894