Events in Sport
- 1898 Australian cricketer Joe Darling hits the 1st six in Tests (out of the ground)
- 1919 John McGraw, Charles A Stoneham and Judge MCQuade buy NY Giants
- 1927 Toronto Maple Leafs 1st hat trick (Hap Day) vs NY Rangers
- 1932 Racing Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro wins his 1st race
- 1935 Australian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: In an all-British final Dorothy Round Little defeats Nancy Lyle 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
- 1935 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Home favourite Jack Crawford wins his 4th Australian title; beats Fred Perry of England 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
- 1940 Commissioner Kenesaw Landis gives free agency to 91 Detroit Tigers
- 1940 2nd NFL All Star Game, Gilmore Stadium, LA, CA: Green Bay Packers beat NFL All-Stars, 16-7
- 1943 Montreal Canadiens' left wing Alex Smart becomes the first NHL rookie to score a hat trick in his first NHL game, a 5-1 win at home over the Chicago Black Hawks
- 1946 1946 NFL Draft: Frank Dancewicz from University of Notre Dame first pick by Boston Yanks
NFL Pro Bowl
1951 1st NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: American Conference beats National Conference, 28-27; MVP: Otto Graham, Cleveland Browns, QB
Otto Graham
- 1961 Chic Bear Willard Dewveall becomes 1st NFLer to join AFL
NBA All-Star Game
1964 14th NBA All-Star Game, Boston Garden: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 111-107; MVP: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals, PG
Oscar Robertson
Event of Interest
1968 Super Bowl II, Miami Orange Bowl: Green Bay Packers beat Oakland Raiders, 33-14; MVP: Bart Starr, Green Bay, QB
John Madden
- 1969 Matt Busby retires from Manchester United
- 1969 19th NBA All-Star Game, Baltimore Civic Centre: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 123-112; MVP: Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati Royals, PG
- 1973 Super Bowl VII, LA Memorial Coliseum: Miami Dolphins beat Washington Redskins, 14-7; MVP: Jake Scott, Miami, S
- 1975 Anita Wold (Norway) sets women's ski jump distance record-98 m
NBA All-Star Game
1975 25th NBA All-Star Game, Phoenix, AZ: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 108-102; MVP: Walt Frazier, NY Knicks, PG
Walt Frazier
Event of Interest
1976 Ted Turner becomes CEO of Atlanta Braves
Ted Turner
Event of Interest
1979 John McEnroe wins his first of 3 season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis titles 6–7, 6–3, 7–5 against fellow American Arthur Ashe at Madison Square Garden, NYC
John McEnroe
Arthur Ashe
- 1979 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benitez beats WBC welterweight champion Carlos Palomino of Mexico in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico; becomes two-division champion at the age of 20
Event of Interest
1985 Martina Navratilova is 3rd to win 100 tennis tournaments (Connors & Evert)
Martina Navratilova
- 1987 Catfish Hunter and Billy Williams are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Event of Interest
1990 AFC Championship, Mile High Stadium, Denver: Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns 37-21
John Elway
- 1990 NFC Championship, Candlestick Park, SF: San Francisco 49ers beat Los Angeles Rams, 30-3
Event of Interest
1993 Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton blocks 2 shots in a 96-89 win over Seattle SuperSonics; becomes only 2nd player in NBA history (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to record 3,000 career blocks
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
- 1994 Inna Lassovskaya triple-jumps ladies world record (14.61m)
- 1996 Liselotte Neumann wins Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Golf Champions
- 1996 AFC Championship, Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Indianapolis Colts, 20-16
- 1996 NFC Championship, Texas Stadium: Dallas Cowboys beat Green Bay Packers, 38-27
Event of Interest
1998 Charles Barkley pleads not guilty to an assault charge
Charles Barkley
Birthdays in Sport
- 1920 Bertus de Harder, Dutch soccer star (Bordeaux), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1982)
- 1920 Donald Beard, New Zealand cricketer (NZ pace bowler in the 1950's), born in Palmerston North, New Zealand (d. 1982)
- 1921 Ken Sailors, American professional basketball player (popularized and may have invented the jump shot), born in Bushnell, Nebraska (d. 2016)
- 1927 Ivan Kalita, Soviet equestrian dressage (Olympic silver 1968), born in Tambov Governorate (d. 1996)
- 1932 Don Garlits, American racing driver (1st drag racer over 200mph for 1/4 mile), born in Tampa, Florida
- 1936 John Paul Cain, American PGA golfer (1989 Greater Grand Rapids), born in Sweetwater, Texas (d. 2017)
- 1936 Ludmila Pinayeva, Soviet 500m kayaker (Olympic gold 1964, 1968, 1972), born in Krasnoye Selo, Russia
- 1936 Reiner Klimke, German equestrian (Olympic gold 1984), born in Münster, Germany (d. 1999)
- 1937 Ken Higgs, English cricketer (effective England pace-bowler in 15 Tests 1965-68), born in Kidsgrove, United Kingdom (d. 2016)
- 1937 Erland Kops, Danish badminton player, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 2017)
- 1941 Gibby Gilbert, American PGA golfer (1976 Danny Thomas), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee
- 1942 Ian Brayshaw, Australian cricketer & footballer, born in South Perth, Australia
- 1942 Dave Campbell, American baseball player, born in Manistee, Michigan
- 1944 Graham Vivian Marsh, Australian PGA golfer (1977 Heritage), born in Kalgoorlie, Australia
- 1947 Bill Weberniuk, Canadian snookers player, born in Winnipeg, Canada (d. 2003)
- 1947 Rubén Olivares, Mexican boxer (4-division world champion), born in Mexico City, Mexico
- 1951 Gil Pak Jong, North Korean judoka (Olympic-1976)
- 1954 Jim Duggan, American wrestler, born in Glens Falls, New York
- 1959 Paul Terry, English cricketer (in Germany Two Tests England v WI 1984), born in Osnabrück, Germany
- 1964 Sergei Nemchinov, American NHL center (NY Islanders, Olympic silver 1998), born in Moscow, Russia
- 1964 Ernest Miller, American wrestler, born in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1965 Dave Lowry, American NHL left wing (Florida Panthers), born in Greater Sudbury, Canada
- 1966 Matt Brock, NFL defensive end/tackle (NY Jets)
- 1967 Terry Wooden, American NFL linebacker (Seattle Seahawks, KC Chiefs), born in Hartford, Connecticut
- 1968 Fred[ric] Honebein, American rower (Olympic 5th 1996), born in San Francisco, California
- 1968 Ruel Fox, English footballer, born in Ipswich, United Kingdom
- 1969 David Webb, American WLAF linebacker (Frankfurt Galaxy), born in London, United Kingdom
- 1969 Martin Bicknell, American cricketer (England pace bowler 1993), born in Guildford, California
- 1969 Rico Smith, American NFL wide receiver (Cleveland Browns), born in Compton, California
- 1970 Eric Charron, Canadian NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals), born in Verdun, Quebec
- 1970 Steve Cooke, American baseball pitcher (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Lihue, Hawaii
- 1970 Tyrone Hughes, American NFL cornerback (New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1971 Antonios Nikopolidis, Greek footballer, born in Arta, Greece
- 1972 Kyle Brady, American NFL tight end (NY Jets), born in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
- 1972 Michael Davis, NFL cornerback (Cleveland Browns)
- 1972 Raimondas Rumšas, Lithuanian cyclist, born in Šilutė, Lithuania
- 1973 Ed Howard, NFL wide receiver (Atlanta Falcons)
- 1973 Lethon Flowers, American NFL defensive back (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Columbia, South Carolina
- 1973 Rod Myers, American baseball outfielder (KC Royals), born in Conroe, Texas
- 1973 Giancarlo Fisichella, Italian race car driver, born in Rome, Italy
- 1974 Hugues Legault, Canadian 50m swimmer (Olympics 1996), born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1974 Kevin Jefferson, NFL linebacker (Cin Bengals)
- 1974 Michael Dritlein, WLAF wide receiver (Rhein Fire)
- 1974 Nancy Napolski, American sports shooter (Olympics 1996), born in Hinsdale, Idaho
- 1975 Marcel Koning, Dutch football player (FC The Hague/NEC), born in The Hague, Netherlands
- 1977 Terry Ryan, American NHL left wing (Montreal Canadiens), born in St. John's, Canada
- 1978 Shawn Crawford, American sprinter, born in Van Wyck, South Carolina
- 1980 Clive Clarke, Irish footballer, born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
- 1980 Cory Gibbs, American soccer player, born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- 1980 Ossama Haidar, Lebanese soccer player
- 1980 Byron Leftwich, American football player, born in Washington, D.C.
- 1982 Léo Lima, Brazilian footballer, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 1982 Víctor Valdés, Spanish goalkeeper, born in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain
- 1983 Maxime Monfort, Belgian cyclist, born in Bastogne, Belgium
- 1984 Mike Pelfrey, American baseball player, born in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
- 1986 Cristina Aicardi, Peruvian badminton player
Weddings in Sport
Wedding of Interest
1954 NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio weds actress Marilyn Monroe (27) in her 2nd marriage at San Francisco City Hall
Joe DiMaggio
Marilyn Monroe
Wedding of Interest
1974 US Senator Bill Bradley (30) weds professor Ernestine Schlant
Bill Bradley
Wedding of Interest
1980 Actor Samuel L. Jackson (31) weds sports channel producer LaTanya Richardson (30)
Samuel L. Jackson
Deaths in Sport
Ray Kroc
1984 Ray Kroc, American fast food entrepreneur (McDonald's) and owner of baseball's San Diego Padres, dies of heart failure at 81
Ray Kroc
- 1996 Jacques-Baptiste LeBrun, French finn yachtsman (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 85
- 2006 Mark Philo, English footballer (b. 1984)
- 2013 Giorgio Alverà, Italian bobsledder, dies at 69
- 2018 Daniel "Dan" Gurney, American race-car driver, coach and team owner (All American Racers), dies from complications of pneumonia at 86
January in History
A Crackdown on Lovers in New York
New York wasn't always a free and easy city. Time was when not only adultery was a crime, but even looking at a lady in the wrong way could land a guy in trouble.
January 8, 1902
The Man Who Saved Elton John's Life
Long John Baldry was born on this day - a friend of stars from Rod Stewart to The Beatles and who, in 1969, famously took Elton John aside and saved the life.
January 12, 1941
British Museum Opens its Doors
The British Museum opened to visitors on January 15, 1759. Fearing damage to the collections by unruly hordes, nobody was admitted without a ticket.
January 15, 1759
Squaring Up for Radio Commentary
This was the day when the BBC broadcast live sports commentary for the first time and introduced a novel way of involving listeners in the action.
January 15, 1927