Events in Sport
Olympic Gold
1909 Jim Thorpe makes his pro baseball pitching debut for Rocky Mount (ECL) with 4-2 win, this will cause him to forfeit his Olympic gold medals
Jim Thorpe
- 1917 49th Belmont: James Butwell aboard Hourless wins in 2:17.8
- 1929 Otto E Funk, 62, ends marathon walk (NY to SF, 4165 miles in 183 days)
- 1932 Sutcliffe and Holmes make 555 opening cricket stand for Yorks v Essex
- 1938 Boston Red Sox Jimmie Foxx is walked a record 6 consecutive times by St Louis Browns
- 1945 70th Preakness: Wayne D Wright aboard Polynesian wins in 1:58.8
US Golf Open
1946 US Open Men's Golf, Canterbury GC: World War II veteran Lloyd Mangrum defeats Byron Nelson and Vic Ghezzi in 36 playoff holes to win his only major title
Byron Nelson
US Golf Open
1951 US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: Ben Hogan wins his second consecutive US Open title, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Clayton Heafner.
Ben Hogan
- 1951 83rd Belmont: David Gorman aboard Counterpoint wins in 2:29
- 1956 US Open Men's Golf, Oak Hill CC: Cary Middlecoff wins his second Open title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan
- 1956 88th Belmont: David Erb aboard Needles wins in 2:29.8
- 1957 White Sox reliever Dixie Howell hits 2 HRs to beat Washington Senators 8-6
US Golf Open
1968 US Open Golf, Oak Hill CC: Lee Trevino wins his first major title by 4 shots from Jack Nicklaus; first to play sub-70 golf in Open history
Jack Nicklaus
Tennis Open
1974 French Open Men's Tennis: Björn Borg of Sweden wins first career Grand Slam title; beats Manuel Orantes of Spain 2-6, 6-7, 6-0, 6-1, 6-1
Björn Borg
Event of Interest
1979 Carl Yastrzemski hits his 1,000th extra base hit
Carl Yastrzemski
- 1983 Charlos Vieira completes 191 hr "nonstop" cycling in Leiria, Portugal
- 1984 Edwin Moses wins his 100th consecutive 400-meter hurdles race
- 1985 US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: 1978 champion Andy North wins by 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Dave Barr, T C Chen and Denis Watson
- 1985 Willie Banks of USA sets triple jump record (58 feet 11 inches) in Indianapolis
- 1988 Boston Red Sox Barrett steals home
- 1988 In Santa Barbara, CA, a team of 32 divers begin cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
- 1989 Only 17 holes-in-one recorded since US open began, today 4 more are made all on 6th hole (Weaver, Wiebe, Pate & Price)
- 1991 Minnesota Twins win a team record 15 games in a row
- 1992 Colorado Rockies 1st minor league team's (Bend Oregon in Class A) game
- 1992 Red Sox Mark Reardon sets record of 342 saves (vs Yanks 1-0)
Event of Interest
1994 Martin Brodeur becomes 1st Devil to win Calder Trophy
Martin Brodeur
Event of Interest
1995 Marlins outfielder Andre Dawson hits his 400th NL career HR (429)
Andre Dawson
- 1995 Salt Lake City awarded the XIX Winter Olympics in 2002
- 1996 50th NBA Championship: Chicago Bulls beat Seat Supersonic, 4 games to 2
- 1996 US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills GC: Steve Jones wins his lone major title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Tom Lehman and Davis Love III
- 1998 Stanley Cup Final, MCI Center, Washington D.C.: Detroit Red Wings go back-to-back, defeating debutant finalists Washington Capitals, 4-1 for a 4-0 series sweep
US Golf Open
2002 US Open Men's Golf, Bethpage State Park: Tiger Woods wins his second Open title, 3 shots ahead of runner-up Phil Mickelson
Tiger Woods
Phil Mickelson
- 2008 US Open Men's Golf, Torrey Pines GC: Tiger Woods wins his 3rd US Open and 14th major title, beating Rocco Mediate on the 1st hole of sudden-death, following a Monday 18-hole playoff
US Golf Open
2013 US Open Men's Golf, Merion GC: Englishman Justin Rose wins his first major title, 2 strokes ahead of runners-up Jason Day and Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson
- 2015 69th NBA Championship: Golden State Warriors beat Cleveland Cavaliers, 4 games to 2
- 2018 World Cup: Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology is used for the first time, awarding France a penalty in 2-1 win over Australia in Kazan
- 2019 US Open Men's Golf, Pebble Beach GL: American Gary Woodland claims his first major title with a 3 stroke victory over defending champion Brooks Koepka
Birthdays in Sport
- 1821 Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (British Open 1861-62, 64, 67), born in St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland (d. 1908)
- 1906 Alan Fairfax, cricketer (Australian all-rounder late 20's early 30's)
- 1914 Stewart Cathie "Billy" Griffith, cricketer (140 for England, 1948)
- 1916 Hank Luisetti, NBA forward (1st to use a one-handed shot)
- 1923 Ron Flockhart, Scottish racing driver (d. 1962)
- 1925 Richard Jacobs, philanthropist/sports owner (Cleveland Indians)
- 1927 Tom Graveney, England cricket batsman (79 Tests), born in Riding Mill, Northumberland (d. 2015)
- 1933 Ken Johnson, MLB player - 1st pitcher to lose a complete game nine-inning no-hitter, born in West Palm Beach, Florida (d. 2015)
- 1945 Claire Alexander, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1948 Ron LeFlore, American baseball player
- 1949 Paulo César, Brazilian footballer
- 1951 Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer (4-weight world champion), born in El Chorrillo. Panama
- 1952 Aleksandr Zaitsev, USSR, pairs figure skating (Olympic gold 1976, 80)
- 1955 Tree Rollins, NBA center (Cleveland Cavaliers), born in Winter Haven, Florida
- 1957 Adri van Tiggelen, Dutch soccer star (Sparta/PSV)
- 1958 Ulrike Tauber, East German swimmer
- 1961 Robbie Kerr, cricketer (Queensland opener 2 Tests for Australia 1985)
- 1962 Wally Joyner, American baseball player
- 1963 Mohsin Kamal, cricketer (Pakistani fast bowler 1984- )
- 1965 J. J. Birden, American NFL wide receiver (Atlanta Falcons), born in Portland, Oregon
- 1966 Jan Zelezny, Czech, javelin thrower (Olympics 2 gold-92, 96)
- 1966 [Eric] Randy Barnes, shot putter (Olympic silver/gold-88, 96), born in Charleston, West Virginia
- 1968 Alton Montgomery, NFL safety (Atlanta Falcons)
- 1968 Matt Turk, NFL punter (Washington Redskins)
- 1968 Nehemiah Perry, cricketer (fine Jamaican off-spinner)
- 1969 Kevin Young, Alpena MI, infielder (KC Royals)
- 1969 L B Stephens, NFLer (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- 1969 Mark Crossley, Welsh footballer
- 1970 Michael Husted, NFL place kicker (Tampa Bay Bucs)
Phil Mickelson
1970 Phil Mickelson, American golfer (5-time PGA Tour major winner, US Masters 2004, 06, 10), born in San Diego, California
Phil Mickelson
- 1970 Cobi Jones, American soccer player
- 1971 Andre President, tight end (Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1971 Chris Gomez, American baseball infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Los Angeles, California
- 1972 Shawnelle Scott, NBA center (Cleveland Cavaliers)
- 1973 Shannon Myers, CFL receiver (Edmonton Eskimos)
- 1973 Nikos Machlas, Greek footballer
- 1975 Asa Carlsson, Vasteras Sweden, tennis star (1995 Futures-Stockholm)
- 1976 Frank van Twillert, soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
- 1977 Kerry Wood, American baseball player
- 1977 Petros Papadakis, American sportscaster, former USC football player
- 1978 Dainius Zubrus, Lithuanian ice hockey player
- 1980 Daré Nibombé, Togolese footballer
- 1980 Martin Stranzl, Austrian footballer
- 1981 Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer
- 1981 Benjamin Becker, German tennis player
- 1981 Kevin Bieksa, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1982 Chris Wingert, American soccer player
- 1983 Armend Dallku, Albanian footballer
- 1984 Steven Whittaker, Scottish Footballer
- 1984 Rick Nash, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1986 Urby Emanuelson, Dutch footballer
- 1986 Farhad Reza, Bangladeshi Cricketer
- 1986 Rodrigo Defendi, Brazilian footballer
- 1986 Robert Rothbart, Bosnian-Israeli Basketball Player
- 1986 Fernando Muslera, Uruguayan footballer
- 1987 Per Ciljan Skjelbred, Norwegian footballer
Deaths in Sport
- 1880 James Southerton, cricketer (appeared in England's 1st 2 Tests), dies
- 1961 O C Scott, cricketer (WI leg-spinner in 8 Tests), dies
- 1970 Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
- 1984 Lew Andreas, American basketball coach (b. 1895)
- 1987 John Mikaelsson, Swedish race walker (Olympic gold 10k 1948, 52), dies at 73
- 1993 Lindsay Hassett, Australian cricketer (3073 runs in Tests), dies at 79
- 1996 Mel Allen, American sportscaster (NY Yankees), dies at 83
- 2008 Tom Compernolle, Belgian athlete (b. 1975)
- 2013 Hans Hass, Austrian diving pioneer, dies at 94
- 2014 Tony Gwynn, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (8-time NL batting champion), dies of salivary gland cancer at 54
- 2018 Donald Ritchie, Scottish ultrarunner who set a world record, running 100 miles in 11:51:11 in 1979, dies of health complications at 73
June in History
![A Beautiful Day in Moscow]()
A Beautiful Day in Moscow
Often depicted as grey and formal, the comrades of Soviet Russia let their hair down and held their first beauty pageant, changing the life of one schoolgirl.
June 12, 1988![Cricket's T20 is Born. Howzat!?]()
Cricket's T20 is Born. Howzat!?
Cricketing enthusiasts are fearful for the future of Test matches. The seeds of doubt were sewn on this day when the furiously fast T20 format was introduced.
June 13, 2003![Lomu – The Unstoppable Gentle Giant]()
Lomu – The Unstoppable Gentle Giant
Jonah Lomu was a phenomenon in Rugby Union – a man-mountain who inspired fear and respect in equal measure among his opponents.
June 18, 1995!['Ship in Distress' Sails Into History Books]()
'Ship in Distress' Sails Into History Books
What was claimed to be the first trans-Atlantic crossing by a steam ship – even if sails helped – was completed on this day and is still celebrated
June 19, 1819
