Events in Sport
Boxing Title Fight
1899 World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retains title; beats Irishman Tom Sharkey on points in 25 rounds at Coney Island Athletic Club, Brooklyn, NYC
James J. Jeffries
Appointment of Interest
Baseball Record
1934 NY Yankees 1st baseman Lou Gehrig wins American League Triple Crown after hitting .363 with 49 HRs and 165 RBI; but Philadelphia A's catcher Mickey Cochrane (.320, 2 HRs, 76 RBI) is named AL MVP
Lou Gehrig
- 1935 Korean runner Sohn Kee-chung sets new men's marathon world record, 2:26:42 in Tokyo, Japan
- 1935 Philadelphia Eagles beat Boston Redskins, 7-6 at Fenway Park; respective quarterbacks combine to throw an NFL record 11 interceptions
- 1937 Frenchman Maurice Archambaud cycles world record for distance in one hour, 45.796 km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
- 1937 Howie Morenz Memorial Game, Montreal Forum: NHL All-Stars beat Montreal All Stars, 6-5
Baseball Record
1942 Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams wins American League Triple Crown (.356 average, 36 HRs, 137 RBI); but NY Yankees pitcher Joe Gordon is AL MVP
Ted Williams
- 1945 Australian Test cricket batsman Lindsay Hassett is 124 not out as Australian Services draws with Prince's XI at Delhi; follows his 187 in 1st innings
- 1948 2nd NHL All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium: All-Stars beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1; Gordie Howe's first of 23 All-Star appearances
- 1948 Kleggie Hermsen and Bones McKinney each score 17 points as Washington Capitols beat Philadelphia Warriors, 77-70 at Washington Coliseum to win first of 15 straight games to start season; best start in NBA history
- 1953 MLB Rules Committee restores the sacrifice fly rule, eliminated in 1939; rule says a sacrifice fly is not charged as a time at bat
- 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates starter Vern Law (20-9, 18 complete games) wins MLB's Cy Young Award
Event of Interest
1962 Wilt Chamberlain of the San Francisco Warriors scores 72 points at the Los Angeles Lakers, then 4th-highest point total in NBA history; hits 29 field goals & 14 free throws; remains 6th highest game total
Wilt Chamberlain
- 1963 Joe Weatherly finishes 7th in the season ending Golden State 400 at Riverside International Raceway; retains NASCAR Sprint Cup by 2,228 points from 14-time winner Richard Petty
- 1964 Philadelphia voters narrowly approve $25 million to build a new multi-purpose stadium that would become Veterans Stadium
- 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax is named Cy Young Award winner by a unanimous vote and for a third time; posts 26-8 record, 1.73 ERA and record-shattering 382 strikeouts
- 1968 New York Jets kicker Jim Turner lands 6 field goals and an extra point to beat Buffalo Bills, 25-21 at Shea Stadium
- 1968 English Lotus driver Graham Hill wins his 2nd World Formula 1 Drivers Championship by taking out the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; wins title by 12 points from Scotsman Jackie Stewart
- 1968 David Pearson is declared NASCAR Grand National champion as Cale Yarborough wins season ending Peach State 200 at Jefferson, Georgia; Pearson finishes 126 points ahead of Bobby Isaac to secure his 2nd title
- 1970 Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson wins his second NL Cy Young Award (23-7 record, 274 strikeouts and 3.12 ERA
- 1973 BYU receiver Jay Miller sets an NCAA football single game record with 22 catches (for 263 yards) en route to a 56-21 victory over New Mexico at Cougar Stadium, Provo, Utah
- 1975 Chris Evert becomes first tennis player to achieve the No. 1 ranking as the WTA Tour rankings debut; Evert holds top-spot for first 26 weeks
- 1980 After acquiring MLB's Oakland A's for $12.7m, Walter Haas Jr. appoints himself CEO; leads team to 4 AL West Divisional titles and 1989 World Series Championship
- 1980 Walter Hass Jr becomes CEO of Oakland A's
- 1981 Milwaukee Brewers future Baseball Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers (6-3 record, 28 saves and 1.04 ERA) wins American League Cy Young Award, with 22 of 28 possible 1st-place votes
- 1982 Detroit Pistons block 20 Cleveland Cavalier shots in 128-119 win at Coliseum at Richfield; ties NBA regulation game record
- 1982 Pitcher Pete Vuckovich becomes Milwaukee Brewers' second consecutive American League Cy Young Award winner; edges Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles; Vuckovich, 18-6 with 105 strikeouts and 3.34 ERA
- 1982 San Diego guard Randy Smith plays his 845th consecutive game in Clippers' 130-111 loss in Philadelphia; passes Johnny “Red” Kerr's NBA record; goes on to play in 906 straight games
- 1985 French McLaren driver Alain Prost wins his first World Formula 1 Drivers title, finishing 4th in the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; wins title by 20 points from Italian Michele Alboreto
- 1985 Bill Elliott wins Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Raceway to become first driver to win 11 super-speedway races in 1 season; also first driver to win $2m in prize money in a single season
Baseball Record
1987 Oakland A's first baseman Mark McGwire wins American League Rookie of the Year with 49 home runs, 118 RBI; second to win AL award unanimously; first Carlton Fisk 1972
Mark McGwire
- 1987 New York center Marcel Dionne becomes just the second player in NHL history to register 1,700 career points, scoring a goal for the Rangers in a 5-3 loss at Calgary
- 1989 NBA expansion Minnesota Timberwolves make NBA debut; lose 106-94 against SuperSonics at Seattle Center Coliseum; Tyrone Corbin T-Wolves top scorer with 20 points
- 1989 Sarunas Marciulionis and Alexander Volkov become first Russians to play in a regular season NBA game; Marciulionis scores 19 as Golden State lose 136-106 to Phoenix; Volkov held scoreless in Atlanta's 126-103 defeat by Indiana
- 1990 Atlanta Hawks' center Moses Malone sets an NBA record for free throws made in a career by hitting 7-of-9 in a 121-120 win over Indiana Pacers at the Omni; passes Oscar Robinson's record (7,694)
- 1990 TCU quarterback Matt Vogler completes 44 passes including 5 touchdowns for an NCAA football record 690 passing yards in a 56-35 loss to Houston at the Astrodome; Cougars quarterback David Klingler throws for 7 TDs
- 1991 New York City Marathon: Salvador Garcia of Mexico men's champion in 2:09:28; Liz McColgan of Scotland wins women's title, 2:27.0
Event of Interest
1991 Ayrton Senna wins Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; shortest F1 race ever run (14 laps) because of wet conditions; Senna retains his 3rd World Drivers title by 24 points from Nigel Mansell
Ayrton Senna
- 1993 Defenseman Ken Daneyko sets New Jersey Devils 'Ironman' record by playing 322nd consecutive NHL game in 2-3 loss at LA Kings
- 1993 Greg Maddux becomes first pitcher since Sandy Koufax to win the National League's Cy Young Award in successive MLB seasons and the first in successive seasons with different teams; Cubs 1992, Braves 1993
- 1994 Small forward Glenn Robinson signs the then most lucrative rookie contract in NBA history, a 10-year, $68.15 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks
- 1995 With a 105-91 victory over Charlotte at the United Centre, Chicago wins their first of an NBA record 72 games in one season and their first of an NBA record 37 home games won at the start of a season
- 1995 First NBA game at FleetCenter in Boston; Celtics lose to Milwaukee Bucks, 101-100
- 1995 First NBA game at Rose Garden in Portland; Trail Blazers lose 92-80 to Vancouver Grizzlies
- 1995 First NBA game at SkyDome in Toronto; Raptors beat New Jersey Nets, 94-79
- 1996 San Francisco 49ers receiver Jerry Rice grabs 3 passes for 45 yards and a TD to become 1st player in NFL history to reach 1,000 career receptions in 24-17 win over New Orleans Saints; finishes career with 1,549
- 1996 Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant becomes the then youngest player to make his NBA debut (18 years, 2 months, 11 days) in 91-85 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Great Western Forum
- 1996 New York City Marathon: Giacomo Leone of Italy, man's champion in 2:09:54; Anuta Catuna of Romania takes women's title in 2:28:18
- 1997 American racing legend Willie Shoemaker retires from thoroughbred training with a 90 winners from 713 start record; rode record 8,833 winners as a jockey, before becoming a trainer in 1990
- 1997 Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra becomes 6th player to be unanimous choice for American League Rookie of the Year; leads AL in hits (209), triples (11), multi-hit games (68); also sets AL rookie-record with 30-game hitting streak
- 1999 Los Angeles Lakers debut in the STAPLES Center, with 103-88 win v Vancouver Grizzlies; Magic Johnson & Chick Hearn co-host ceremony unveiling Lakers' retired jerseys & championship banners in new building
- 2001 Arkansas beats Mississippi, 58-56 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, Oxford in 7 overtime periods; the longest game in NCAA football history
- 2001 San Antonio Spurs guard Steve Smith plays first game against Portland after being traded from the Trail Blazers; ties NBA record for most 3-point field goals in a game without a miss; goes 8-for-8, scores 36 points in 106-90 win
- 2002 Federation Cup Women's Tennis, Gran Canaria, Spain: Janette Husárová beats Spaniard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-0, 6-2 to give Slovakia their first title, 3-1
Hall of Fame
2003 Grant Fuhr, Pat LaFontaine, Red Wings owner Mike Illitch and Ottawa 67’s coach Brian Kilreais are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Grant Fuhr
- 2007 Navy beats Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime, ending the Fighting Irish's NCAA Football-record winning streak against the Midshipmen at 43 games; last Navy win over Notre Dame, 35-14 in 1963
- 2012 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Santa Anita Racetrack; Day 2 winners: George Vancouver, Groupie Doll, Tapizar, Mizdirection, Shanghai Bobby, Little Mike, Trinniberg, Wise Dan, Fort Larned
- 2013 Nick Foles connects with Riley Cooper 3 times to become 7th passer in NFL history with 7 TD tosses in a game during Philadelphia Eagles’ 49-20 win over the Raiders at Oakland; Foles completes 22 of 28 for 406 yards
- 2013 Federation Cup Women's Tennis, Cagliari, Italy: Sara Errani of Italy outclasses Russia's Alisa Kleybanova 6-1, 6-1 for an unassailable 3-0 lead (ends 4-0) and 4th title for the home country
- 2015 Melbourne Cup won by Prince of Penzance ridden by Michelle Payne; first female jockey to win the event
- 2017 Breeders' Cup Horse Racing, Del Mar Racetrack; Day 1 winners: Rushing Fall, Battle of Midway, Mendelssohn, Forever Unbridled
Birthdays in Sport
- 1856 Jim McCormick, Scottish-born American baseball player, born in Glasgow (d. 1918)
- 1863 Blanche Bingley, British tennis player (6-time Wimbledon champion), born in Greenford, England (d. 1946)
- 1871 Albert Goldthorpe, English rugby league footballer
- 1880 Edmond Barrett, heavyweight wrestler (Olympic bronze 1908)
- 1893 R Lindley Murray, tennis champ (US Open-1918)
- 1900 Roger Blunt, cricketer (NZ all-rounder in 9 Tests 1930-32)
- 1900 Adolf Dassler, German founder of sportswear company Adidas, born in Herzogenaurach, Germany (d. 1978)
Bronko Nagurski
1908 Bronko Nagurski, Canadian-American NFL fullback (Chicago Bears), born in Rainy River, Ontario (d. 1990)
Bronko Nagurski
Roy Emerson
1936 Roy Emerson, Australian tennis player (12 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Blackbutt, Queensland
Roy Emerson
Larry Holmes
1949 Larry Holmes, American heavyweight boxing champ (1978-85), born in Cuthbert, Georgia
Larry Holmes
- 1949 Roswitha Krause, USSR, 4 X 100m swimmer (Olympic silver 1968)
- 1951 Azmat Rana, cricketer (one Test for Pakistan against Australia 1980)
- 1953 Larry Herndon, baseball player
- 1955 Phil Simms, NFL quarterback (NY Giants, Super Bowl 1986)
- 1956 Bob Welch, American MLB pitcher (Oakland), born in Seal Beach, CA, (d. 2014)
- 1958 Andrew Mapple, US water skier
- 1958 Sue Daniels, Adelaide Australia, golfer (1983 Victorian Amateur Champ)
- 1960 Sharon Monplaisir, American fencer-epee (Olympics 1996), born in NYC, New York
- 1960 Karch Kiraly, American indoor & beach volleyball player (3 x Olympic gold 1984, 88, 96), born in Jackson, Michigan
- 1962 Kym Hampton, WNBA forward (NY Liberty)
- 1963 Howard Ballard, NFL tackle (Seattle Seahawks)
- 1963 Stephen Corkin, judoka (Olympics 1996), born in Auckland, New Zealand
- 1963 Ian Wright, English footballer
- 1963 Shigeaki Hattori, Japanese racing driver
- 1964 Brian Young, cricketer (NZ Test opening batsman)
- 1965 John Feskens, Dutch soccer player (Willem II)
- 1965 Michael Paul Springer, PGA golfer (1994 Greater Milwaukee), born in San Francisco, California
- 1966 Todd Reynolds, pairs skaters (Olympics 1994), born in Norwalk, Connecticut
- 1966 Tracey Fuchs, Centereach NY, field hockey midfielder (Olympics 1988, 96)
- 1967 Rob Cowie, NHL defenseman (LA Kings), born in Toronto, Ontario
- 1968 Antonio Pettigrew, Macon Ga, 400m (Olympics 1996)
- 1968 Lee Germon, cricketer (NZ keeper & captain 1995- )
- 1968 Paul Quantrill, pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays), born in London, Ontario
- 1969 Jim Mckenzie, Gull Lake, NHL left wing (Winnipeg Jets)
- 1969 Leslie Shepherd, NFL wide receiver (Washington Redskins)
- 1970 Doug Zmolek, NHL defenseman (LA Kings), born in Rochester, New York
- 1971 Bob Kronenberg, WLAF center (Rhein Fire)
- 1971 Colbie Bell, 100kg Greco Roman wrestler (Olympics 1996), born in Edmonton, Alberta
- 1971 Darrin Hancock, NBA guard/forward (Charlotte Hornets)
- 1971 Matthew Lawton, Gulfport MS, outfielder (Minnesota Twins)
- 1971 William Strong, NFL cornerback (New Orleans Saints)
- 1971 Diego Alessi, Italian race car driver
- 1972 Chris Shelling, NFL cornerback (Cin Bengals)
- 1972 Verl Mitchell, NFL guard (Atlanta Falcons)
- 1973 Derrick Alexander, American NFL defensive end (Minnesota Vikings), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- 1973 Nemone, athlete and broadcaster
- 1974 Tariq Abdul Wahad, NBA forward (Sacramento Kings)
- 1975 Darren Sharper, NFL defensive back (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31)
- 1976 Guillermo Franco, Argentine-Mexican footballer
- 1979 Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer
- 1981 Sten Pentus, Estonian racing car driver
- 1982 Evgeny Plushenko, Russian figure skater
- 1984 Christian Bakkerud, Danish racing driver
- 1987 Felix Schütz, German ice hockey player
Colin Kaepernick
1987 Colin Kaepernick, American football player, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Colin Kaepernick
- 1990 Ellyse Perry, Australian soccer player/cricket player
Weddings in Sport
- 2012 Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson (24) weds Mark Caldwell (27) at the Main Street Garden Park in Dallas, Texas
Deaths in Sport
- 1971 Etienne Gailly, Belgium marathoner (Olympic bronze 1948), dies in accident at 48
- 2004 Sergei Zholtok, Latvian hockey player (b. 1972)
- 2006 Alberto Spencer, Ecuadorean footballer (b. 1937)
- 2012 Tommy Goodwin, British track cyclist, dies at 91
- 2015 Tom Graveney, England cricket batsman (79 Tests), dies of Parkinson's disease at 88