Donald Bradman
- Jan 30 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton wins her first of 6 Australian singles titles; beats Emily Hood Westacott 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
- Jan 30 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Vivian McGrath wins his only Grand Slam singles event; beats fellow Australian John Bromwich 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 2-6, 6-1
- Feb 3 Don Bradman scores 212 (in 441 minutes!) in 5th cricket test v England
- Feb 10 Ragnhild Hveger swims world free style record 400m (5:14.2)
- Feb 12 Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams granted an NFL franchise
- Feb 13 Boston Redskins receive approval from NFL to move to Washington, D.C; to share baseball's Griffith Stadium with first Washington Senators of the American League
- Feb 27 Bradman scores 169 in 5th Test Cricket v England in 223 minutes
- Mar 19 96th Grand National: With King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in attendance, aptly-named Royal Mail ridden by jockey Evan Williams wins at odds of 100/6; estimated crowd, 300,000
- Mar 20 England beats Scotland, 6-3 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh to clinch the Home Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown
- Mar 25 Lionel Conacher misses on 1st Stanley Cup penalty shot
Event of Interest
Mar 26 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replaces his 40 oz bat with a 36 oz one
Joe DiMaggio
Ty Cobb
US Masters Golf
Apr 4 4th Augusta National Invitation Tournament (Masters) Golf: Byron Nelson wins first of his 5 major titles by 2 strokes ahead of Ralph Guldahl
Byron Nelson
- Apr 12 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
- Apr 15 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat New York Rangers, 3-0 for a 3-2 series win; back-to-back titles for Red Wings
- Apr 19 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20
- May 8 63rd Kentucky Derby: Charley Kurtsinger on War Admiral wins 2:03.2
- May 9 Reds beat Phillies 21-10 (Ernie Lombardi goes 6 for 6)
- May 12 St Louis Cards beat Philadelphia Phillies, 15-3
- May 15 62nd Preakness: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 1:58.4
PGA Championship
May 30 20th PGA Championship: Denny Shute at Pittsburgh FC Aspinwall PA
Denny Shute
- May 30 Pitcher Carl Hubbell's 24th consecutive victory
- May 30 61,756, second largest crowd in Polo Grounds history, sees Dodgers ends Carl Hubbell's consecutive-game winning streak at 24
- May 30 42nd Men's French Championships: Henner Henkel beats Bunny Austin (6-1, 6-4, 6-3)
- May 30 42nd Women's French Championships: Hilde Sperling beats Simonne Mathieu (6-2, 6-4)
- May 31 Brooklyn Dodgers snap NY Giant Carl Hubbell's 24-game winning streak
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: Wilbur Shaw wins in 4:24:07.861 (182.789 km/h)
- Jun 1 Chicago White Sox Bill Dietrich no-hits St Louis Browns, 8-0
- Jun 5 69th Belmont: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 2:28.6
- Jun 6 Phillies trailing 8-2 to St Louis, forfeit game
US Golf Open
Jun 12 US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: Ralph Guldahl wins first of his 2 consecutive US titles, 2 strokes ahead of Sam Snead
Sam Snead
- Jun 13 Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs against St Louis Browns
- Jun 19 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Beverly CC: Helen Hicks wins the first of her 2 major titles, defeating amateur Bea Barrett 6 & 5 in the final
- Jun 26 Test cricket debut of Len Hutton v NZ at Lord's, scores 0 & 1
- Jul 2 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Don Budge beats Germany's Gottfried von Cramm 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 for first of back-to-back titles
- Jul 2 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Dorothy Round of England beats Poland's Jadwiga Jędrzejowska 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her second Wimbledon title
- Jul 5 NY Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio hits 20th HR of the season but 1st career grand slam in 8-4 win vs Boston Red Sox
Event of Interest
Jul 7 5th MLB All Star Game, Griffin Stadium, Washington: AL wins 8-3, Lou Gehrig drives in 4 runs with HR & double
Lou Gehrig
- Jul 9 British Open Golf, Carnoustie: Henry Cotton wins second of his 3 Open titles, 2 strokes ahead of fellow Englishman Reg Whitcombe
- Jul 25 31st Tour de France won by Roger Lapebie of France
- Jul 27 32nd Davis Cup: USA beats Great Britain in Wimbledon (4-1)
- Jul 30 Phillies Dolph Camilli, plays 1st base and registers no put outs
- Aug 6 MLB overturns NY Yankees 7-6 win over Cleveland Indians because of umpire error
- Aug 9 Ranger (US) easily beats Endeavour II (England) in race 4 to wrap up the 17th America's Cup yachting series, 4-0; it's the final competition for 21 years
- Aug 14 Detroit Tigers score 36 runs in double header vs St Louis Browns
- Aug 30 Joe Louis beats Tommy Farr in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Sep 4 15 year old cyclist Doris Kopsky becomes 1st Amateur Bicycle League of America woman's national champion in 4:22.4 in Buffalo, NY
- Sep 10 2nd American Football League plays 1st game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0)
- Sep 10 Cleveland (Los Angeles) Rams plays their 1st NFL game, lose 28-0
- Sep 11 US National Championship Men's Tennis: American Don Budge wins 1st of 2 straight US titles; beats Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
- Sep 11 51st U.S. Women's National Championship: Anita Lizana beats Jadwiga Jedrzejowska (6-4, 6-2)
- Sep 16 Redskins NFL franchise play first game in Washington at Griffith Stadium; defeat the New York Giants in season opener, 13–3
- Sep 17 1st NFL game in Washington, D.C.; Redskins beat NY Giants 13-3
- Sep 23 Yankees lose 9-5 but clinch pennant when Red Sox beat Detroit
- Sep 29 Frans Slaats bicycles world record time (45,563 km)
- Sep 30 Ryder Cup Golf, Southport & Ainsdale GC: US wins 8-4; first time the host team loses the competition
- Oct 10 NY Yankees beat Giants 4 games to 1 in 34th World Series
- Nov 3 Frenchman Maurice Archambaud cycles world record for distance in one hour, 45.796 km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
- Nov 3 Howie Morenz Memorial Game, Montreal Forum: NHL All-Stars beat Montreal All Stars, 6-5
- Nov 30 3rd Heisman Trophy Award: Clint Frank, Yale (HB)
Contract of Interest
Dec 7 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams
Ted Williams
- Dec 7 Russian chess player Alekhine recaptures world title from Max Euwe
- Dec 11 25th CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts claim their 4th Championship; beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4-3
- Dec 12 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Washington Redskins beat Chicago Bears, 28-21
- Dec 12 1938 NFL Draft: Corbett Davis from University of Indiana first pick by Cleveland Rams
- Dec 21 O'Reilly completes 14-98 for cricket match, NSW v South Aust
- Dec 21 Chicago Black Hawks left wing Paul Thompson becomes first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother; scores on bro Cecil of the Boston Bruins with just 9 seconds left in regulation; Bruins win though, 2-1
- Dec 27 German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany