Events in Sport
- 1871 Columbia & Sappho (US) beat Livonia (UK) in 3rd America's Cup
- 1884 1st World Series OKed by AA, Providence (NL) beats NY Mets (AA) 6-0
- 1903 8th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 18-6 in Montgomery
- 1910 Philadelphia A's beat Chicago Cubs 4 games to 1 in 7th World Series
- 1920 Chicago grand jury indicts Abe Attell, Hal Chase, & Bill Burns as go-betweens in Black Sox World Series scandal
- 1921 Green Bay Packers play 1st NFL game, 7-6 win over Minneapolis
Contract of Interest
1945 Jackie Robinson signs Montreal Royal contract
Jackie Robinson
- 1955 Dominican League moves to winter baseball for 1st time
- 1964 Japanese beat Russian for 1st Olympic Gold in woman's volleyball
- 1964 Japan beats the Soviet Union 3-0 to claim the inaugural Olympic women's volleyball gold medal in Tokyo; undefeated in 6-team round robin competition
- 1964 Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia finish 8-1 in inaugural Olympic men's volleyball competition in Tokyo; Soviets win 10 team round robin on count back of sets won-lost
- 1964 Dutch 10th dan judoka Anton Geesink wins Open gold medal in the first ever Olympic judo competition in Tokyo; prevents clean sweep of the gold medals by Japan
- 1964 Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská wins the balance beam at the Tokyo Olympics; her 3rd gold medal of the Games with individual all-round and vault victories
- 1964 Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina wins the floor exercise gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics; her 2nd gold of the Games (team) and career 9th (1956, 60, 64), a gymnastics record
- 1964 Japanese gymnast Yukio Endo wins the parallel bars gold medal in the Tokyo Olympics; his 3rd gold medal of the Games (individual all-round and team); 4th career gold (1960, 64)
Olympic Gold
1964 Future undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier dominates German Hans Huber for an easy points win and the Olympic heavyweight gold medal in Tokyo
Joe Frazier
- 1964 Hungary beats Czechoslovakia 2-1 to win the men's football gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics
- 1966 Australian Jack Brabham is first to win F1 World Drivers Championship and International Cup for Constructors Championship in the same year; 2nd in season ending Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez
- 1967 NJ Americans (later NY/NJ Nets) play 1st ABA game
- 1968 American swimmer Kaye Hall sets a world record 1:06.2 to beat Canadian Elaine Tanner by 0.5s and win the 100m backstroke gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics
- 1973 Yankee GM & pres Lee MacPhail named AL president
Event of Interest
1973 19 year old American tennis star Chris Evert retains her WTA Tour Championship at Boca Raton, Florida; beats Nancy Richey Gunter 6-3, 6-3 in the final
Chris Evert
Nancy Richey
- 1974 Cubs trade Billy Williams to A's for Manny Trillo, Knowles & Locker
- 1977 7th NYC Women's Marathon won by Miki Gorman in 2:43:10
- 1977 8th NYC Marathon won by Bill Rodgers in 2:11:38
- 1977 Despite not driving in season ending Japanese Grand Prix, Austrian Niki Lauda wins his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by 17 points from Jody Scheckter of South Africa
- 1980 McCosker (168) & Dyson (152) make 319 opening stand cricket, NSW v WA
- 1983 13th NYC Women's Marathon won by Grete Waitz in 2:27:00
- 1983 14th NYC Marathon won by Rod Dixon in 2:08:59
- 1984 Cubs Rick Sutcliffe, selected as a unanimous choice as NL Cy Young
- 1988 Boston Celtics play Spain in Madrid
- 1993 Blue Jays beat Philadelphia Phillies, 8-6 in Game 6 at the SkyDome, Toronto to retain Baseball World Series; Blue Jays infielder Paul Molitor MVP
Baseball Record
1993 Joe Carter of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a World Series winning walk-off home run against the Philadelphia Phillies
Joe Carter
- 1994 Solheim Cup Women's Golf, The Greenbrier: US regains Cup; beats Europe, 13-7; Americans Dottie Mochrie & Bradie Burton both win their 3 matches
- 1996 New York Yankees set record recovering from 0-6 in Baseball World Series game to beat Braves, 8-6 in Game 4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium; record 7th straight post-season road win
- 1997 Les Alexander, owner of Houston Rockets buys NHL's Edmonton Oilers
- 2000 "Monday Night Miracle", down 30-7 at the end of the third quarter, New York Jets pull together an improbable comeback with 4 touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter, eventually defeating the Miami Dolphins 40-37 in overtime
- 2004 16th College Football Holy War: Boston College beats Notre Dame 24-23 in South Bend
- 2010 MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat Philadelphia Phillies, 4 games to 2
- 2011 7th Rugby World Cup Final, Eden Park, Auckland: Tournament favourites New Zealand edge France, 8-7; crowd 61,079
- 2013 Boston Red Sox defeat St Louis Cardinals in game 1 of the MLB 2013 World Series
Birthdays in Sport
John Heisman
1869 John Heisman, American football coach who legalized the forward pass, originated the center snap and for which the Heisman Trophy is named, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1936)
John Heisman
- 1894 Rube Bressler, baseball player (d. 1966)
- 1900 Douglas Jardine, cricketer (England's Bodyline captain)
- 1904 Harvey Penick, American golfer, coach, author (World Golf Hall of Fame), born in Austin, Texas (d. 1995)
- 1905 Gertrude Ederle, American swimmer (1st female English Channel 1926), born in NYC, New York (d. 2003)
- 1914 Frank (Bruiser) Kinard, NFL, AAFC tackle (NY Yankees), born in Brooklyn, New York
- 1931 Jim Bunning, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, politician (perfect game vs Mets 1965, Rep. Senator-Ky), born in Southgate, Kentucky (d. 2017)
- 1933 Tom Dewdney, cricket pace bowler (WI of 50's)
- 1935 Chi Chi Rodriguez, Puerto Rican golfer (Senior Tournament Players C'ship 1986, PGA Seniors' C'ship 1987), born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
- 1936 Barry Sinclair, cricketer (21 Tests for NZ in the 60's, 3 centuries)
Pele
1940 Pelé [Edson Arantes do Nascimento], Brazilian footballer (Player of the Century; 1,281 goals in 1,363 games), born in Três Corações, Brazil
Pele
- 1941 Colin Milburn, cricketer (England bat whose career was cut short)
- 1946 Miklos Nemeth, Hungarian javelin thrower (Olympic gold 1976)
- 1956 Betsy Nagelsen, tennis star, born in St Petersburg, Florida
- 1956 Darrell Pace, archer (Olympic 2 gold/silver-1976, 84, 88), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- 1960 Wayne Rainey, American motorcyclist
- 1961 Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer
- 1962 Christo van Rensburg, South Africa, tennis star
- 1962 Doug Flutie, CFL/NFL quarterback (Argonauts, Generals, Bears, Pats)
- 1962 Mike Tomczak, NFL quarterback (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- 1963 David Bedard, 3m springboard diver (Olympics 1984, 88, 92, 96), born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1965 Al Leiter, Toms River NJ, pitcher (Florida Marlins, NY Mets)
- 1966 Alex Zanardi, Italian race car driver
- 1967 Jaime Yzaga, Peruvian tennis star, born in Lima, Peru
- 1967 Michael Philbrick, CFL defensive tackle (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
- 1968 Bettina Fulco Villella, Mar Del Plata Arg, tennis star (1993 Futures)
- 1968 Kendall Gammon, NFL center (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- 1968 Kevin Henry, NFL defensive end (Pittsburgh Steelers)
- 1969 Kristine Bailey, Livonia Mich, WPVA volleyballer (US Open-13th-1995)
- 1971 Alai Kalaniuvalu, NFL guard (Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1972 Daryl Price, defensive end (San Francisco 49ers)
- 1972 Patrise Alexander, linebacker (Washington Redskins)
- 1972 Tiffeny Milbrett, soccer forward (Olympics 1996), born in Portland, Oregon
- 1973 Blaine McElmurry, NFL defensive back (Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31)
- 1973 Mac Cozier, soccer forward (Olympic gold 1996)
- 1973 Shawn Wooden, free safety (Miami Dolphins)
- 1973 Sjoerd Sanders, soccer player (PSV/MVV)
- 1974 Beatrice Faumuina, New Zealand discus thrower (Olympics 96), born in Auckland
- 1974 Dani Tyler, softball infielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Denver, Colorado
- 1974 Sander Westerveld, soccer player (FC Twente)
- 1975 Keith Van Horn, NBA forward (NJ Nets), born in Fullerton, California
- 1978 Steve Harmison, English cricketer
- 1978 Jimmy Bullard, English footballer
- 1978 Archie Thompson, Australian footballer
- 1979 Simon Davies, Welsh footballer
- 1979 Jorge Solís, Mexican professional boxer
- 1980 Jade Davidson, Australia, gymnast (Olympics 1996)
- 1980 Pedro Liriano, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 Jeroen Bleekemolen, Dutch racing driver
- 1981 Ben Francisco, American baseball player
- 1982 Valentin Badea, Romanian footballer
- 1983 Filipos Darlas, Greek footballer
- 1986 Jake Robinson, English footballer
- 1988 Nicolaj Agger, Danish football player
Deaths in Sport
W. G. Grace
1915 W. G. Grace, Victorian England's greatest cricketer, dies of a heart attack at 67
W. G. Grace
- 2001 Daniel Wildenstein, French art dealer and racehorse owner, dies at 84
- 2004 Robert Merrill [Moishe Miller], American operatic baritone and actor (NY Metropolitan Opera), dies at 87
- 2008 Kevin Finnegan, British Middleweight Boxing Champion (b. 1948)
- 2010 Francis Crippen, American long-distance swimmer (b. 1984)
- 2011 Marco Simoncelli, Italian motorcycle racer (250cc World Championship 2008), dies in a track accident at 24
- 2015 Jim [James Wilfred] Roberts, Canadian NHL defenceman (1st Blues draft pick), dies at 75
October in History
![The Tragedy of Aberfan]()
The Tragedy of Aberfan
One hundred and sixteen young children died on this day when an avalanche of coal tip waste and debris thundered down a hillside and engulfed their school.
October 21, 1966![Jumping Jacques Makes First Parachute Descent]()
Jumping Jacques Makes First Parachute Descent
Daredevil André-Jacques Garnerin took to the sky in a hydrogen balloon on this day and after cutting himself adrift performed the first ‘parachute’ descent.
October 22, 1797![Test of Time for the Date of Creation]()
Test of Time for the Date of Creation
The assertion by a 17th Century bishop that the universe was created on this day in the year 4004 BC was put to the test in a famous trial in the United States.
October 23, 4004 BC![The Charge of the Light Brigade, a Brave and Foolish Tale]()
The Charge of the Light Brigade, a Brave and Foolish Tale
The Charge of the Light Brigade is infamous as an act of bravery in the face all insurmountable odds. An event immortalized in poetry by Alfred Tennyson.
October 25, 1854
