On This Day in Sport for October 17
Events in Sport
- 1860 1st British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Willie Park Sr. wins inaugural event by 2 strokes from fellow Scot Tom Morris Sr
- 1885 Baseball sets all players salaries at $1,000-$2,000 for 1885 season
- 1920 Chicago Bears (as Decatur Staleys) play 1st NFL game, win 7-0
- 1927 Ban Johnson, in failing health, retires as AL President
- 1935 Pacific Association of AAU votes not to participate in Berlin Olympics
- 1956 Chess "Game of the Century": 13-year-old Bobby Fischer defeats 1953 U.S. Champion Donald Byrne in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City
- 1962 Yanks beat Giants for 20th world championship
- 1964 In the first ever Olympic women's pentathlon Irina Press of the Soviet Union sets a world record 5,246 points to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Games
- More Events in Sport
Ernie Els
Kimi RäikkönenWeddings in Sport
- 1914 American baseball legend Babe Ruth (19) weds waitress Helen Woodford (17) at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Ellicott City, Maryland
More Weddings & Divorces in Sport
Deaths in Sport
- 1918 Gordon White, cricketer (WW I Superb South African batsman 1905-12), dies
- 1958 Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (2 Tests for England 1899), dies at 81
- 1965 Bart King, American cricket pioneer (North America's greatest all-rounder; helped develop art of swing bowling), dies at 91
- 1972 Walter "Turk" Broda, Canadian ice hockey goaltender, 5x Stanley Cup, 2x Vezina Trophy (Toronto Maple Leafs, 1935-51), dies of a heart attack at 58
October in Sport History
Black Power Salute
Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the podium at 1968 Olympics
October 16, 1968Prince of Wales Gallops Out of Horseracing After Scandal
Once regarded as the ‘first gentleman of Europe’, the lifestyle of a former Prince of Wales caused revulsion, starting with a horseracing scandal on this day.
October 20, 1791
