- Jan 1 23rd Rose Bowl: #3 Pittsburgh beats #5 Washington, 21-0
- Jan 1 3rd Sugar Bowl: Santa Clara beats LSU, 21-14
- Jan 1 3rd Orange Bowl: #14 Duquesne beats Mississippi State, 13-12
- Jan 6 Bradman scores 270 Aust v England at the MCG, incl 110 singles
- Jan 17 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins inaugural event by 3 strokes ahead of Dorothy Kirby
Hall of Fame
Jan 19 Cy Young, Tris Speaker & Nap Lajorie elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- 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 12 Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams granted an NFL franchise
- Feb 13 Maribel Vinson wins her 9th US figure skating championship
- 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
Sports History
Mar 26 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replaces his 40 oz bat with a 36 oz one
- Mar 27 Feijenoord Stadion, home ground of Dutch football club Feyenoord Rotterdam and nicknamed De Kuip opens after 2 years in construction
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
- 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
Sports History
Apr 23 New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell's first start of season, a 3-0 win over the Boston Bees, is his 17th straight win; streak continues for league record 24 victories in a row
- 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
- May 27 New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell wins his MLB record 24th consecutive game in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field; streak starts July 17, 1936
PGA Championship
May 30 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Pittsburgh Field Club: Defending champion Denny Shute defeats Jug McSpaden in 37 holes
- 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 Second largest crowd in Polo Grounds history (61,756) sees Brooklyn Dodgers beat NY Giants, 10-3, ending Carl Hubbell's record consecutive-game winning streak at 24
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: Wilbur Shaw and riding mechanic 'Jigger' Johnson win race from Ralph Hepburn by 2.16 seconds, closest finish to that point; Johnson last winning riding mechanic
- Jun 1 Chicago White Sox pitcher Bill Dietrich no-hits St Louis Browns, 8-0 at Comiskey Park, Chicago
- Jun 3 Josh Gibson HR's just 2 feet below rim of Yankee Stadium (580' drive)
- Jun 5 69th Belmont: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 2:28.6
- Jun 6 Philadelphia 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
- 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 all-time great English batsman Len Hutton v New Zealand in 1st Tests 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 3 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
Sports History
Jul 7 5th MLB All Star Game, Griffin Stadium, Washington: AL wins 8-3, Lou Gehrig drives in 4 runs with HR & double
- Jul 9 British Open Men's 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 New York 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 MLB record 36 runs in double header vs St. Louis Browns at Navin Field; win 16-1 & 20-7
- Aug 27 Brooklyn Dodger Fred Frankhouse no-hits Cin, 5-0 in 7 2/3 inn game
- Aug 29 MLB Philadelphia A's Bob Johnson is 2nd to get 6 RBIs in an inning (1st)
- 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, Forest Hills, NY: American Don Budge wins first of 2 straight US titles; beats Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
- Sep 11 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Anita Lizana of Chile becomes first Latin American to win a major; beats Jadwiga Jędrzejowska of Poland 6-4, 6-2
Sports History
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 cycles a world hour 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 Baseball World Series: in second consecutive all-New York WS, Yankees again beat Giants, 4-2 at the Polo Grounds for a 4-1 series victory
- Oct 15 Rather than accept any trade offers, the Yanks release Tony Lazzeri
Sports History
Oct 25 Casey Stengel signs to manage Boston Bees
Contract of Interest
Dec 7 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams
- Dec 7 Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
- 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 20 Australian cricket spin bowler Bill O'Reilly takes career best 9-41 for NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval
- Dec 21 O'Reilly completes 14-98 for cricket match, NSW v South Australia
- Dec 21 Chicago Black Hawks left wing Paul Thompson becomes first player in NHL history to score a goal against his brother; scores on goaltender Cecil Thompson 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
