Events in Sports History on December 29

  • 1906 Stanley Cup, Montreal Arena, Westmount, Quebec: Montreal Wanderers beat New Glasgow (NS), 7-2 for 17-5 aggregate challenge series victory

Yankees Refuse Babe Ruth Release

1933 New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert refuses to release future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth to manage the Cincinnati Reds

  • 1934 First collegiate basketball doubleheader is played at Madison Square Garden, NYC; New York University beats Notre Dame, 25-18; Westminster edges St. John's, 37-33

Thesz vs. Marshall

1937 Lou Thesz beats Everett Marshall in St Louis, to win NWA World heavyweight title - youngest ever

  • 1940 3rd NFL All Star Game: Chicago Bears beats NFL All-Stars, 28-14

Maurice Richards Fastest to 100

1945 Montreal right wing Maurice Richard scores twice in Canadiens' 5-4 loss to Chicago Black Hawks to record his 100th NHL career goal; reaches mark in 145 games, then fastest in history; since broken by Mike Bossy, 100 goals in 129 games

  • 1955 NHL officials wear new vertically striped black-and-white sweaters for the first time in Montreal Canadiens' 5-2 win over Toronto Maple Leafs
  • 1957 National Football League Championship, Briggs Stadium, Detroit: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 50-14; Lions score 2 touchdowns in each quarter
  • 1962 Australian cricket batting champion Doug Walters makes 1st-class debut for NSW v Queensland in Sydney at just 17 years, 8 days; scores 50 in NSW 2nd innings

Hill F1 Champion

1962 British driver Graham Hill wins the South African Grand Prix at Prince George Circuit in a BRM; takes out his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 12 points from Scotsman Jim Clark

  • 1963 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Chicago Bears beat New York Giants, 14-10; Giants 3rd consecutive championship defeat; played in temperatures under 10 °F (−12 °C)
  • 1965 CBS purchases NFL TV rights for 1966-68 at $18.8 million per year

NY Jets Beat Oakland Raiders

1968 AFL Championship, Shea Stadium, NYC: New York Jets beat Oakland Raiders 27-23; Joe Namath 3 TD passes sparks Jets to win

  • 1968 NFL Championship, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Baltimore Colts shutout Cleveland Browns, 34-0

Award to Gerd Müller

1970 Ballon d'Or: Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller wins award for best European football player ahead of West Ham United defender Bobby Moore and Cagliari forward Luigi Riva

  • 1972 Test Cricket debut of Jeff Thomson and Max Walker v Pakistan at MCG
  • 1974 AFC Championship, Oakland Coliseum: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Oakland Raiders, 24-13
  • 1974 NFC Championship, Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington: Minnesota Vikings beat Los Angeles Rams, 14-10
  • 1978 Test Cricket debut of Allan Robert Border, v England at the MCG
  • 1979 Red Army beats NY Islanders 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
  • 1981 Ballon d'Or: German 1-2-3 with Bayern Munich forward Karl-Heinz Rummenigge taking title of Europe's best football player for the 2nd straight year; beats teammate Paul Breitner and Barcelona midfielder Bernd Schuster

Sports History

1982 American college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant ends his career with University of Alabama (323 wins)

  • 1983 2nd College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College 19-18 in Memphis
  • 1983 Australian cricket batsman Graham Yallop completes a painstaking 268 (716 mins) v Pakistan in the drawn 4th Test in Melbourne

Gavaskar Surpasses Bradman

1983 Indian cricket opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar scores an unbeaten 236 in drawn 6th Test v West Indies at Chennai; his 4th Test double century and 30th century, surpassing Don Bradman's record of 29

  • 1984 NHL St. Louis Blues launch 27 shots in 1 period during 5-1 loss to visiting New York Islanders; NY goaltender Kelly Hrudey finishes game with 47 saves

Gretzky Reaches 100 Points

1984 Wayne Gretzky scores his NHL career 32nd hat trick & adds 3 assists in Edmonton's 6-3 win over Detroit Red Wings for his 100th point in just 35 games; 2nd fastest in history - recorded 100 points in 34 games in 1983

  • 1987 Ballon d'Or: Milan's Dutch midfielder Ruud Gullit wins best football player in Europe award ahead of Paulo Futre (Porto/Atlético Madrid) and Real Madrid striker Emilio Butragueño
  • 1988 Soviet Red Army Team edges NY Islanders, 3-2 at Nassau Coliseum
  • 1988 Toronto’s Ed Olczyk and Gary Leeman score goals just 4 seconds apart in the 3rd period, tying the NHL record for fastest 2 goals by one team; Leafs beat the Quebec Nordiques, 6-5.
  • 1989 Wayne Gretzky and Martina Navratilova, named athletes of decade by the Associated Press

Warne's Famous Hat-trick

1994 Australian cricket's spin king Shane Warne dismisses England's Phil DeFreitas, Darren Gough and Devon Malcolm for a famous hat-trick in 2nd Test win in Melbourne

  • 1997 Carquest Bowl 8: Georgia Tech beats West Virginia, 35-30
  • 1997 Cricket Women's World Cup: Australia defeats New Zealand by 5 wickets
  • 2007 American boxer Steve Cunningham defends his IBF cruiserweight title for the first time with a 12th-round TKO of local favourite Marco Huck in Bielefeld, Germany

Brady Throws Record 50th TD Pass

2007 Tom Brady sets a then-NFL record, throwing his 50th touchdown pass, and the New England Patriots become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0

Schumacher's Ski Accident

2013 7-time world F1 motor racing champion Michael Schumacher suffers a serious head injury in a ski accident in the French Alps; his condition still remains unclear

  • 2018 85th Orange Bowl: #1 Alabama beats #4 Oklahoma, 45-34
  • 2020 Milwaukee Bucks break NBA record for most 3-pointers made by a team in a single game with 29 in a dominant 144-97 victory over the Heat in Miami