- 1871 Formation of the first Rugby Union at a meeting at Pall Mall restaurant, London, England
Event of Interest
1913 Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing as a professional
Jim Thorpe
1st Winter Olympics
1924 American skater Charles Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal; wins 500m speed skating event in 44.0s at the Chamonix Games in France
Learn More >>
- 1924 Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: All-Australian final; Sylvia Lance Harper beats Esna Boyd Robertson 6-3, 3-6, 8-6
- 1924 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis. Melbourne: James Anderson wins 2nd of 3 Australasian titles; beats fellow Australian Richard Schlesinger 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
- 1924 Clas Thunberg of Finland claims his first of 4 gold medals when he wins the 5,000m speed skating in 2:20.8 at the Chamonix Winter Olympics
Donald Bradman
- 1948 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
- 1948 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Adrian Quist wins his 3rd Australian title; beats fellow Australian and doubles partner John Bromwich 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- 1951 Mel Ott & Jimmie Foxx elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1956 VII Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
Hall of Fame
1956 Hank Greenberg & Joe Cronin are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Hank Greenberg
- 1957 Joseph F Cairnes succeeds Lou Perini as President of Milwaukee Braves
- 1959 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Mary Carter Reitano wins her 2nd home singles title; beats Renee Schuurman of South Africa 6-2, 6-3
- 1959 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
- 1960 High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points
- 1960 Oakland Raiders enter the American Football League
Election of Interest
1960 Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot
Pete Rozelle
- 1963 Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone
Australian Open Women's Tennis
1969 1st Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court wins inaugural Open event; beats American Billie Jean King 6-4, 6-1
Billie Jean King
- 1970 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court beats fellow Australian Kerry Melville Reid 6-1, 6-3; Court retains title for 9th Australian singles crown and 1st leg of her Grand Slam
- 1976 NFL Pro Bowl, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: NFC beats AFC, 23-20; MVP: Billy Johnson, Houston Oilers, WR
- 1977 Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai & Marine Tcherkasova are 1st to perform a quadruple twist lift in Helsinki
- 1980 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
- 1982 Islanders score 4 goals within 1:38, 5 within 2:37 vs Penguins
- 1984 Nordiques' Michel Goulet scored on 9th penalty shot against Islanders
Event of Interest
1985 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season
Wayne Gretzky
- 1986 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champion
- 1986 Super Bowl XX, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10; MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE
- 1989 Allan Border takes 7-46 against the West Indies at the SCG
- 1990 Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as asst GM (highest-ranking African American female in a major-league front office)
- 1991 Houston guard Vernon Maxwell is 4th NBAer to score 30 pts in a quarter
- 1991 Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame
Australian Open Women's Tennis
1991 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Monica Seles becomes the only Yugoslav player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Jana Novotná 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
Monica Seles
Jana Novotna
- 1991 Houston guard Vernon Maxwell becomes 5th player in NBA history to score 30 points in a quarter in Rockets' 103-97 home win over Cleveland; joins Wilt Chamberlain, David Thompson, George Gervin & Michael Jordan
- 1992 Super Bowl XXVI, Metrodome, Minneapolis, MI: Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24; MVP: Mark Rypien, Washington, QB
- 1992 Australian Open Mens Tennis: American Jim Courier wins 2nd career Grand Slam title and 1st Australian title; beats Stefan Edberg of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
- 1993 Everton scores a 3-1 away win over Wimbledon at Selhurst Park in London; lowest ever attendance at an EPL fixture, 3,039
- 1995 With a record 6,254,427 ballots cast by fans in NBA All-Star Voting, Detroit's Grant Hill becomes the first rookie to lead all NBA players in All-Star votes received, earning #1 on 1,289,585 ballots
- 1997 Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
Australian Men's Tennis Open
1997 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras wins his 2nd and last Australian title; beats Carlos Moyá of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
Pete Sampras
Australian Open Women's Tennis
1997 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Hingis becomes first Swiss player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Mary Pierce of France 6-2, 6-2
Martina Hingis
Mary Pierce
NHL Record
1997 Mario Lemieux ties NHL record with 4 goals in the 3rd period as Pittsburgh wins, 5-2 at Montreal; 39th career hat trick and 13th 4-goal game, tying NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky & Mike Bossy
Mario Lemieux
- 2002 Australian Open Women's Tennis: American Jennifer Capriati wins her 2nd consecutive Australian title; beats Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
- 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII, Qualc:omm Stadium, San Diego, CA: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders, 48-21; MVP: Dexter Jackson, Tampa Bay, S
Australian Men's Tennis Open
2003 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Andre Agassi of the US wins his 8th and last Grand Slam title; beats Rainer Schuttler of Germany 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
Andre Agassi
Australian Open Women's Tennis
2008 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Russian Maria Sharapova wins her first and only Australian title; beats Ana Ivanović of Serbia 7-5, 6-3
Maria Sharapova
Australian Open Women's Tennis
2013 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus wins her 2nd straight Australian title; beats Li Na of China 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Li Na
Australian Men's Tennis Open
2014 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland wins his first major title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Rafael Nadal
- 2014 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: Team Rice beats Team Sanders, 22-21; MVPs: Nick Foles, Philadelphia, QB; Derrick Johnson, KC Chiefs, LB
Australian Open Women's Tennis
2019 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Naomi Osaka becomes world #1 ranked player with 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Petra Kvitová of the Czech Republic; first Japanese player to win Australian singles title
Naomi Osaka
- 2019 64th NHL All Star Games, SAP Centre, San Jose, CA: Metropolitan All Stars win four-team, 3-on-3 tournament; MVP: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
Event of Interest
2020 LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, southern California; considered one of the greatest players in the game's history
Kobe Bryant
- 2020 NFL Pro Bowl, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida: AFC beats NFC, 38-33; MVP's: Lamar Jackson, QB (Baltimore Ravens), Calais Campbell, DE (Jacksonville Jaguars)
