- Jan 1 45th Rose Bowl: #2 Iowa beats #16 California, 38-12
- Jan 1 25th Sugar Bowl: #1 LSU beats #12 Clemson, 7-0
- Jan 1 25th Orange Bowl: #5 Oklahoma beats #9 Syracuse, 21-6
- Jan 11 Hanif Mohammad completes 499 runs for Karachi, then 1st class cricket world record
- Jan 11 9th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 28-21; MVPs: Frank Gifford, NY Giants, HB; Doug Atkins, Chicago Bears, DE
NBA All-Star Game
Jan 23 9th NBA All-Star Game, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Mi: West beats East, 124-108; MVPs: Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis Lakers, F; Bob Pettit, St. Louis Hawks, C; first co-winners of MVP award
Elgin Baylor
Bob Pettit
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Mary Carter Reitano wins her 2nd home singles title; beats Renee Schuurman of South Africa 6-2, 6-3
- Jan 26 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: American based Peruvian Alex Olmedo wins his first Grand Slam event; beats Neale Fraser of Australia 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
- Jan 28 Soviet Union wins 62-37 for 1st international basketball loss by US
- Feb 1 Outfielder Zack Wheat, a Brooklyn Robins favourite of the 1910s and 1920s, is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Wheat hits .317 over 19-year career, and bats .300 or better 14 times
Golf Tournament
Feb 1 PGA Seniors Championship, PGA National GC: Willie Goggin, using a borrowed set of woods, wins by 1 stroke ahead of Leland Gibson, Paul Runyan and Denny Shute
Denny Shute
Contract of Interest
Feb 2 Vince Lombardi signs a 5 year contract to coach Green Bay Packers
Vince Lombardi
- Feb 5 Australia regain the Ashes with a 10 wicket victory at Adelaide
- Feb 7 Dorothy Rigney sells White Sox to Bill Veeck for a reported $27M
- Feb 11 Vinoo Mankad ends his final Test Cricket (v WI at Delhi)
- Feb 22 Inaugural Daytona 500: Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp cross finish line side by side; Beauchamp declared unofficial winner; ruling overturned after 3 days by NASCAR founder Bill France Sr
- Feb 27 Chicago Cards trade running back Ollie Matson to LA Rams for 9 players
- Feb 28 Ice Dance Championship at Colo Springs USA won by Denny & Jones of Great Britain
- Feb 28 NFL trade, Chicago Cards trade Ollie Matson to LA Rams for 9 players
- Mar 3 San Francisco Giants rename their stadium Candlestick Park
- Mar 7 6th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: NC State beats North Carolina, 80-56
- Mar 10 Dorothy Comiskey Rigney, sells 54% of White Sox to Bill Veeck
Golf Tournament
Mar 15 LPGA Titleholders Championship, Augusta CC: Louise Suggs wins her 4th Titleholders title by 1 stroke from Betsy Rawls
Louise Suggs
Betsy Rawls
NBA Record
Mar 18 Boston Celtic's Bill Sharman begins record of 56 straight free-throws
Bill Sharman
Event of Interest
Mar 21 21st NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: California beats West Virginia, 71-70; WV future Hall of Fame point guard Jerry West is named MOP
Jerry West
- Mar 21 113th Grand National: Michael Scudamore wins aboard 8/1 second favourite Oxo; only 4 of 32 starters finish the race
- Mar 25 Bill White traded to St Louis for pitchers Sam Jones & Don Choate
- Mar 26 Test debut for Pakistani cricketer Mushtaq Mohammad v West Indies, aged 15 years
- Mar 29 Wes Hall takes Pakistani cricket hat-trick at Lahore
- Apr 4 France beats Wales, 11-3 at Stade Colombes to win the Five Nations Rugby Championship outright for the first time
- Apr 5 23rd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Art Wall Jr wins by 1 stroke from Cary Middlecoff for his only PGA Tour major victory
- Apr 9 Baltimore Orioles pull their 2nd triple play (3-6-3 vs Washington Senators)
- Apr 9 Bill Sharman hits a NBA record 56 consecutive foul shot
- Apr 9 13th NBA Championship: Boston Celtics sweep Minnesota Lakers in 4 games, first of Boston Celtics record 8 straight titles
- Apr 10 Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox gets a MLB Opening Day record tying 5 hits in 7 at-bats in a 14-inning, 9–7 win in Detroit
- Apr 11 Dodger pitcher Don Drysdale hits his 2nd Opening Day HR
- Apr 16 NY Yankees unveil their 1st message scoreboard
- Apr 16 Phils' Dave Philley gets a major league record 9th straight pinch hit
- Apr 18 Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: Montreal Canadiens' 4th straight title; beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3 for a 4-1 series win
- Apr 20 63rd Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:22:42
Event of Interest
Apr 22 Yankee Whitey Ford strikes-out 15, beating Senators, 1-0 in 14 innings
Whitey Ford
- Apr 22 Chicago White Sox beat KC Athletics 20-6, in 1 inning Sox score 11 runs on 1 hit, 10 walks, & 3 errors
Boxing Title Fight
May 1 Floyd Patterson scores 11th round KO of Englishman Brian London in Indianapolis; his 4th World Heavyweight Boxing title defence
Floyd Patterson
- May 2 85th Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker aboard Tomy Lee wins in 2:02.2
Event of Interest
May 7 "Roy Campanella Night" Largest baseball crowd (93,103 in LA Coliseum) sees Dodgers' Sandy Koufax beat Yankees 6-2 in exhibition
Roy Campanella
Event of Interest
May 9 Dorothy Rigney, husband John, and Hank Greenberg resign from White Sox
Hank Greenberg
Event of Interest
May 11 Yankee catcher Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games ends
Yogi Berra
- May 25 US Supreme Courtt rules Louisiana prohibiting black-white boxing unconstitutional
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Rodger Ward wins in 3:40:47.470 (218.641 km/h)
- May 30 58th Men's French Championships: Nicola Pietrangeli beats Ian Vermaak (3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1)
- May 30 58th Women's French Championships: Christine Truman beats Zsuzsi Kormoczy (6-4, 7-5)
- Jun 3 European Cup Final, Stuttgart: Real Madrid beats Stade de Reims, 2-0; 4th consecutive title for Los Blancos
US Golf Open
Jun 11 Charlie Sifford becomes the 1st African American to play in a US Golf Open
Charlie Sifford
- Jun 12 SF Giants Mike McCormick no-hits Phillies, 3-0 in 5 inning game
- Jun 13 91st Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Sword Dancer wins in 2:28.6
- Jun 14 US Open Men's Golf, Winged Foot GC: Billy Casper wins first of his 2 Open titles, 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Bob Rosburg
- Jun 22 Most Phillies strike out in a game (16 by Sandy Koufax)
- Jun 26 Ingemar Johansson TKOs Floyd Patterson in 3 for heavyweight boxing title
US Women's Golf Open
Jun 27 US Open Women's Golf, Churchill Valley CC: Mickey Wright successfully defends her Open title by 2 strokes from Louise Suggs
Mickey Wright
Louise Suggs
- Jun 28 Phils Wally Post is only outfielder to throw out 2 runners in an inning twice (Losing to Giants 6-0)
British Golf Open
Jul 3 British Open Golf, Muirfield: 23 year old South African Gary Player wins the first of his 9 major titles, 2 strokes clear of runners-up Fred Bullock and Flory Van Donck
Gary Player
Tennis Open
Jul 3 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Maria Bueno of Brazil wins her first of 3 Wimbledon singles titles beating Darlene Hard 6-4, 6-3
Maria Bueno
Darlene Hard
LPGA Championship
Jul 6 LPGA Championship, Sheraton Hotel CC: Betsy Rawls wins her second title in the event by 1 stroke from Patty Berg
Betsy Rawls
Event of Interest
Jul 7 26th MLB All Star Game, Forbes Field, Pittsburgh: Willy Mays triples to score Hank Aaron as NL wins 5-4
Hank Aaron
- Jul 12 NBC uses cameras to show catchers signals during Yankee-Red Sox game
- Jul 18 African American William 'Bill' Wright is the 1st colored person to win a major golf tournament (U.S. Amateur Public Links Championships)
- Jul 18 46th Tour de France won by Federico Bahamontes of Spain
- Jul 21 Red Sox are last team to use a black player (Pumpsie Green)
- Jul 27 William Shea announces plans to have a baseball team in NYC in 1961
- Jul 30 In his major league debut, SF Giant Willie McCovey goes 4-for-4
- Aug 2 PGA Championship, Minneapolis GC: Bob Rosburg wins by 1 stroke from Jerry Barber and Doug Sanders
- Aug 2 Milwaukee Braves outfielder Bill Bruton hits 3 triples in 11-5 win v Cardinals, 2 of them bases loaded, first time in 20th Centiury
- Aug 2 Future Hall of Fame 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits 1st of his 521 MLB home runs in Giants 5-3 win v Pirates
- Aug 3 27th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Memorial Coliseum, LA
- Aug 3 AL beats NL 5-3 in Game 2 of All Star Baseball doubleheader (to boost player pension fund) at LA Memorial Coliseum
- Aug 5 Chicago Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL), 55-26 in a pre-season exhibition at CNE Stadium in Toronto
- Aug 14 26th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Baltimore 29, All-Stars 0 (70,000)
- Aug 14 AFL organized with NY, Dallas, LA, Minneapolis, Denver & Houston
- Aug 16 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Ranier G&CC: Betsy Rawls wins her second WO by 6 strokes from JoAnne Gunderson and Patty Berg
- Aug 22 Cincinnati Red Frank Robinson hits 3 consecutive HRs
- Aug 31 48th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in New York (3-2)
- Sep 11 Elroy Face's 22 game win streak ends as Dodgers beat Pirates 5-4
- Sep 11 Oriole Jerry Walker pitches 16 inn beating White Sox 1-0
- Sep 13 US National Championship Men's Tennis: Australian Neale Fraser wins 1st of 2 consecutive US titles; beats Alex Olmedo of Peru 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 6-4
- Sep 13 US National Championship Women's Tennis: Maria Bueno of Brazil wins her 1st of 4 US singles titles; beats Christine Truman of England 6-1, 6-4
Golf Tournament
Sep 17 59th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
- Sep 22 Chicago White Sox clinch AL pennant
- Sep 26 Milwaukee Braves Warren Spahn becomes winningest NL lefty
- Sep 26 SF Giants Sam Jones 2nd no-hitter, beats St Louis Cards, 4-0
- Sep 27 Braves & Dodgers finish in a tie (86-68)
- Sep 29 Dodgers win game 2 of playoff, 6-5, & take NL pennant
- Oct 1 Chicago White Sox beat LA Dodgers, 11-0 in Game 1 of the Baseball World Series at Comiskey Park; White Sox first WS appearance since 1919 'Black Sox Scandal'; LA wins series 4-2
NHL All-Star Game
Oct 3 13th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: Montreal Canadiens beat All-Stars, 6-1
Jean Beliveau
- Oct 4 First Baseball World Series game played west of St Louis; LA Dodgers beat Chicago White Sox 3-1 in Game 3; record 92,394 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
- Oct 4 Netherlands equal best performance against neighbours Belgium; win, 9-1 in soccer friendly at De Kuip, Rotterdam; Piet van der Kuil & Faas Wilkes score 3 apiece
- Oct 6 Single game World Series attendence record set (92,706 in LA)
- Oct 6 Chicago White Sox beat LA Dodgers, 1-0 in Game 5 of Baseball World Series at LA Memorial Coliseum; World Series record attendance 92,706
- Oct 8 LA Dodgers beat Chicago White Sox, 4 games to 2 in 56th World Series
- Oct 28 American Football League awards Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson
- Oct 29 10 nation soccer league to play all games on NY Randalls Is, announced
Event of Interest
Nov 1 Montreal Canadiens’ goal tender Jacques Plante becomes first NHL net-minder to wear a fibreglass protective face mask
Jacques Plante
Event of Interest
Nov 4 Ernie Banks, Cubs shortstop, wins 2nd consecutive NL MVP
Ernie Banks
- Nov 5 AFL announced with 8 teams
- Nov 7 Ryder Cup Golf, Eldorado GC: Sam Snead leads US to comprehensive 8½-3½ win
- Nov 12 White Sox 2B Nellie Fox wins AL's MVP
- Nov 15 Cleveland Browns' halfback Bobby Mitchell sets club record for longest run from scrimmage (90-yards), beat Wash 31-17
- Nov 22 AFL's 1st draft - NY Titans choice George Izo, QB, Notre Dame
- Nov 22 Boston Patriots enters AFL
- Nov 28 CFL Grey Cup, CNE Stadium, Toronto: Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Hamilton Tiger-Cats (21-7) for a second straight year
- Nov 28 24th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 10-0 in Birmingham, breaking a streak of five consecutive victories by Auburn in the series
- Nov 30 Joe Foss named 1st commissioner of AFL
- Nov 30 1960 NFL Draft: Billy Cannon from LSU first pick by Los Angeles Rams
- Dec 1 25th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Cannon, LSU (HB)
Event of Interest
Dec 8 President Eisenhower watches Pakistan v Aust Test Cricket at Karachi
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Event of Interest
Dec 11 NY Yankees trade Marv Thronberry, Don Larsen, Hank Bauer and Norm Seibern for Roger Maris, Kent Hadley and Joe Deaestri
Roger Maris
- Dec 12 Jack Brabham finishes 4th in season-ending US Grand Prix at Sebring to become first Australian F1 World Drivers Championship winner; takes title by 4 points from Briton Tony Brooks
- Dec 15 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Alfredo Di Stéfano wins his second award for best football player in Europe ahead of team mate Raymond Kopa and Juventus' Welsh utility John Charles
Event of Interest
Dec 18 Sammy Baugh named 1st coach of NY Titans (AFL)
Sammy Baugh
Event of Interest
Dec 21 Tom Landry accepts coaching job with Dallas Cowboys (stays until 1988)
Tom Landry