Events in Sport
Event of Interest
1853 1st round-the-world trip by yacht (Cornelius Vanderbilt)
Cornelius Vanderbilt
- 1903 Bill Bradley becomes 1st Cleveland baseball player (Cleveland Naps) to hit for cycle
- 1920 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth becomes first to hit 50 home runs in a MLB season with a 1st inning blast off Jose Acosta in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators
- 1922 St Louis Cardinals future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Rogers Hornsby sets National League HR mark at 42
- 1927 NHL's Toronto St Patricks become Maple Leafs
- 1927 New York Yankees set a record of 106 victories
- 1929 New York Yankee pitcher Tom Zachary ends season 12-0, record for most pitching wins without a loss in one season
- 1930 Portsmouth beats Brooklyn in 1st NFL game played under floodlights
- 1931 Round-robin playoff among NYC's 3 major league teams, to raise money for unemployed, concludes with Brooklyn losing to both Giants & Yanks
- 1934 2,500 fans see Babe Ruth's farewell Yankee appearance at Yankee Stadium
- 1934 Idle Detroit wins pennant, as Red Sox beat Yankees 5-0
- 1938 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Don Budge beats fellow American Gene Mako 6-3, 6-8, 6-2, 6-1 to become first player to win a Grand Slam
US Open Women's Tennis
1938 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Alice Marble wins her second US singles crown; beats Nancye Wynne Bolton of Australia 6-0, 6-3
Alice Marble
Boxing Title Fight
1953 Rocky Marciano TKOs home town favourite Roland LaStarza in 11 at NYC's Polo Grounds to retain his world heavyweight boxing title
Rocky Marciano
- 1954 Yanks tie a record, 3 of their pinch hitters strike out in 1 inning
- 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers play last game at Ebbets Field, defeat Pirates 2-0
- 1963 Idle Dodgers clinch their 2nd LA pennant as Cubs beat Cards
- 1967 NFL St. Loius Cardinals' Jim Bakken kicks 7 field goals at Pittsburgh Steelers, setting NFL record at the time
Event of Interest
1968 NY Met manager Gil Hodges suffers a heart attack
Gil Hodges
Event of Interest
1972 NY Jet Joe Namath passes for 6 touchdowns vs Baltimore Colts (44-34)
Joe Namath
- 1979 Russian ice skaters Protopopov & Beloussova ask for asylum in Switzerland
- 1980 Braves join every NL team with 1,000,000+ attendance for this season
- 1983 Braves Dale Murphy is 6th to hit 30 HRs & steal 30 bases in season
- 1983 Test cricket debut of Shoaib Mohammad, son of champion Pakistan batsman Hanif Mohammad; scores 6 in drawn 2nd Test v India in Jullundur; goes on to play 45 Tests
- 1984 Cubs clinch NL East title
Baseball Record
1985 Montreal Expo Andre Dawson is 9th to get 6 RBIs in an inning (5th), and joins Willey McCovey to hit 2 HRs in an inn twice
Andre Dawson
World Record
1988 Carl Lewis runs world record 100m (9.92 sec)
Carl Lewis
- 1988 American heptathlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee sets new world record 7,291 points to win the gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; East Germans Sabine John & Anke Behmer take the minor medals
- 1988 Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson breaks his own 100m world record with a time of 9.79 at the Seoul Olympics; disqualified 3 days later for use of drug stanozolol; Carl Lewis awarded gold and world record 9.92
- 1988 Soviet gymnast Vladimir Artemov shares horizontal bar gold medal with teammate Valeri Liukin at the Seoul Olympics; also wins the parallel bars event to take his gold medal haul to 4 for the Games
- 1988 East German cyclist Christa Luding-Rothenburger wins silver medal in the women's track sprint at the Seoul Olympics; first athlete to win medals at Summer & Winter Games in same year; won speed skating gold in Calgary
- 1988 Swimmer Silke Hörner wins her second gold medal of the Seoul Olympics as part of the victorious East German 4 x 100m medley relay team
- 1988 West German swimmer Michael Gross wins 200m butterfly in Olympic record 1:56.94 at the Seoul Games; third career gold medal
- 1988 American swimmer Matt Biondi sets world record 22.14 to win the 50m freestyle gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; his 4th of 5 gold medals for the Games
- 1989 Ryder Cup: US & Europe draw, 14-14 at The Belfry, England
Event of Interest
1991 Deion Sanders, left Braves July 31 to report to NFL Falcons, returns
Deion Sanders
- 1992 John Jaha ties record of 11 teammates to steal 10 bases (Brewers)
- 1992 Scott Stevens is named 5th Captain in NJ Devils history
- 1992 Toronto's Dave Winfield, 40, is oldest player to reach 100-RBI
- 1995 Ryder Cup Golf, Oak Hill CC: Europe wins 14½-13½; unheralded Irish rookie Philip Walton secures victory for Europe beating Jay Haas 1 up
- 2006 Ryder Cup Golf, K Club, Ireland: Europe, captained by Ian Woosnam wins convincingly 18½-9½ for 3rd consecutive Cup victory
Event of Interest
2017 NFL players kneal, lock arms or stay in their dressing room during the anthem in protests against comments made by President Donald Trump
Donald Trump
Event of Interest
2017 LeBron James calls President Donald Trump "U Bum" in a tweet in response to Trump's comments about Stephen Curry
LeBron James
Donald Trump
Stephen Curry
Event of Interest
2017 Roger Federer is unbeaten as Team Europe dominates Team World 15-9 in the inaugural Laver Cup Tennis event in Prague, Czech Republic
Roger Federer
- 2017 Tour Championship Men's Golf, East Lake GC: Xander Schauffele wins rich season-ending event by 1 stroke from Justin Thomas
Football Awards
2018 Real Madrid midfielder & Croatian World Cup captain Luka Modrić is named world's best male player at the FIFA Awards in London; Brazil & Orlando Pride forward Marta best female player; France's Didier Deschamps best men's coach
Luka Modrić
Didier Deschamps
Birthdays in Sport
- 1871 Lottie Dod, British all-round athlete (Wimbledon 1887-88, 1891-93), born in Bebington, England (d. 1960)
- 1884 Gustave Garrigou, French cyclist (Tour de France 1911), born in Vabre-Tizac, France (d. 1963)
- 1890 Mike González, Cuban baseball player, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1977)
- 1894 Tommy Armour, Scottish-American golfer (US Open 1927, PGA 1930, British Open 1931), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1968)
- 1921 Jim McKay, American sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2008)
- 1924 Sammy Guillen, West Indian cricket wicket-keeper (5 Tests West Indies & 3 Tests New Zealand), born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago (d. 2013)
- 1924 Nina Bocharova, Soviet-Ukrainian gymnast (Olympic gold balance beam, team 1952), born in Suprunivka, Ukraine (d. 2020)
- 1934 John Brunner, Britsih sci-fi author (100th Millennium), born in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, England (d. 1995)
- 1934 Tommy Anderson, Scottish footballer (Stockport County), born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland
- 1940 Slaven Zambata, Croatian soccer forward (31 caps Yugoslavia; Dinamo Zagreb), born in Sinj, Croatia (d. 2020)
- 1941 John Mackey, American NFL tight end (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers), born in Roosevelt, New York (d. 2011)
- 1941 Tony Rutter, British motorcycle road racer (Formula Two World C'ship 1981-84; 7 x Isle of Man TT Races), born in Wordsley, England (d. 2020)
- 1945 Catherine Burns, American actress (Last Summer, One Life to Live, Catcher), born in NYC, New York
- 1946 Joe Greene, American Pro Football Hall of Fame tackle (Super Bowl 1974, 75, 78, 79; 10 × Pro Bowl; 5 × First-team All-Pro; Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Temple, Texas
- 1946 Pat Pocock, Welsh cricketer (intermittent England off-spinner 1968-85), born in Bangor, Wales
- 1950 Mohinder Amarnath, Indian cricketer (son of Lala Indian batsman of 70's/80's), born in Patiala, India
- 1951 Terry Metcalf, American NFL, CFL running back (St Louis, Toronto), born in Seattle, Washington
- 1956 Ilona Slupianek, German shot-putter (Olympic gold 1980), born in Demmin, East Germany
- 1961 Allen Bestwick, American Nascar broadcaster, born in Newport, Rhode Island
- 1962 Mike Phelan, English footballer and coach (Manchester United), born in Nelson, England
- 1962 Jake Phelps, American skateboarder, journalist (editor Thrasher magazine), born in San Francisco, CA (d. 2019)
- 1964 Rafael Palmeiro, 1st baseman (Baltimore Orioles), born in Havana, Cuba
- 1966 Atul Bedade, Indian cricketer (ODI batsman), born in Bombay, India
- 1966 Bernard Gilkey, American MLB outfielder (NY Mets), born in St Louis, Missouri
- 1966 Kevin Koslofski, American MLB outfielder (Milwaukee Brewers), bon in Decatur, Illinois
- 1967 Frank Cornish, NFL center/guard (Jacksonville Jaguars, Philadelphia Eagles)
- 1969 Andrew Greene, Canadian football guard (NFL: Miami Dolphins; 4 x CFL All Star, Saskatchewan Roughriders), born in Kingston, Jamaica
- 1970 Jeanette Kollasch, American WPVA volleyballer (Pismo-17th-1995), born in Evanston, Illinois
- 1970 Kristin Talbot, American speed skater (Olympics 1994), born in Schuylerville New York
- 1970 Paul Spoljaric, Canadian pitcher (Toronto Blue Jays), born in Kelowna, British Columbia
- 1970 Winfred Tubbs, American NFL linebacker (Pro Bowl 1998; New Orleans Saints, SF 49ers), born in Fairfield, Texas
- 1973 Rodrick Rhodes, american NBA forward (Houston Rockets), born in Jersey City, New Jersey
- 1973 Eddie George, American College Football Hall of Fame running back (Heisman Trophy 1995, Ohio State; Pro Bowl 1997-2000, Houston / Tennessee Oilers / Titans), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- 1974 Kiwane Garris, American NBA guard (Denver Nuggets), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1974 Matt McKeon, American soccer midfielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Florissant, Missouri
- 1976 Carlos Almeida, Angolan basketball player and politician, born in Luanda, Angola
- 1977 Frank Fahrenhorst, German footballer, born in Kamen, West Germany
- 1978 Wietse van Alten, Dutch archer, born in Zaandam, Netherlands
- 1979 Fábio Aurélio, Brazilian footballer (Liverpool), born in São Carlos, Brazil
- 1980 Petri Pasanen, Finnish footballer, born in Lahti, Findland
- 1980 John Arne Riise, Norwegian footballer, born in Molde, Norway
- 1980 Daniele Bennati, Italian professional road racing cyclist, born in Arezzo, Italy
- 1980 Dean Canto, Australian racing driver (Supercars), born in Sydney, Australia
- 1981 Drew Gooden, National Basketball Association player and broadcaster, born in Oakland, California
- 1981 Ryan Briscoe, Australian America racing driver, born in Sydney, Australia
- 1982 Morgan Hamm, American gymnast, born in Washburn, Wisconsin
- 1982 Paul Hamm, American gymnast, born in Washburn, Wisconsin
- 1982 Jeff Karstens, American baseball player, born in San Diego, California
- 1983 Randy Foye, American basketball player, born in Newark, New Jersey
- 1987 Matthew Connolly, English footballer (Cardiff City), born in Barnet, England
- 1988 Karl Alzner, Canadian hockey player, born in Burnaby, British Columbia
- 1988 Lisa Wang, American gymnast, born in Madison, Wisconsin
Weddings in Sport
Deaths in Sport
- 1896 Percy McDonnell, Australian cricketer (19 Tests 1880-88, 3 centuries), dies a 35
- 1919 Frank Laver, Australian cricketer (15 Tests for Aust 1899-1909), dies at 49
- 1933 Mike Donlin, American baseball player (NY Giants), dies at 55
- 2002 Leon Hart, American College Football Hall of Fame end and fullback (Heisman Trophy 1949, Notre Dame), dies at 73
- 2008 Mickey Vernon, American baseball first baseman (7 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1960; AL batting champion 1946, 53), dies at 90
- 2020 Dean Jones, Australian cricket batsman and broadcaster (52 Tests @ 46.55; 164 ODIs; Victoria), dies from cardiac arrest at 59
- 2020 Keith Hufnagel, American skateboarder (founded skate/clothing company HUF), dies of brain cancer at 46
