Events in Sports History on December 7

  • 1907 Eugene Corri becomes 1st referee in a boxing ring

Diegel's Back-to-back PGA

1929 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Hillcrest CC: Defending champion Leo Diegel defeats Johnny Farrell, 6 & 4 in the final

Armour's 2nd Win

1930 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Fresh Meadows CC: American based Scotsman Tommy Armour defeats Gene Sarazen 1 up in the final for the 2nd of his 3 major titles

Bradman Scores 219

1931 After scoring 226 in 1st Test in Brisbane, Don Bradman belts 219 for NSW against the visiting South Africa at the Sydney Cricket Ground

  • 1935 CFL Grey Cup, AAA Grounds, Hamilton: Winnipeg Pegs (later Blue Bombers) defeat Hamilton Tigers, 18-12

Williams to the Red Sox

1937 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams

  • 1937 Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)

Lou Gehrig Elected HOF

1939 Lou Gehrig, 36, is elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame

  • 1940 CFL Grey Cup (Game 2), Lansdowne Park, Ottawa: Ottawa beats Toronto Balmy Beach, 12-5
  • 1949 15th Heisman Trophy Award: Leon Hart (end), Notre Dame
  • 1956 American diver Pat McCormick wraps up the women's double when she wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics with 84.85 points; also won the 3m springboard gold
  • 1956 Australian swimmer Murray Rose claims his 3rd gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics when he wins the 1,500m in 17:58.9; also wins 400m & 4 x 200m relay

Larisa Latynina's Four Golds

1956 Soviet artistic gymnast Larisa Latynina takes her gold medal tally to 4 at the Melbourne Olympics; wins teams and individual all-round titles having earlier won vault and floor exercise sections

  • 1957 Tony Kubek of the Yanks selected as AL Rookie of the Year
  • 1973 Orioles sell pitcher Eddie Watt to the Phillies

Năstase's 4th ATP

1975 Romanian tennis star Ilie Năstase wins his 4th season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix title with a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 rout of Björn Borg of Sweden in Stockholm

  • 1980 69th Davis Cup: Czechoslovakia beats Italy in Prague (4-1)

Arnold Palmer Victory

1980 Senior PGA Championship, Turnberry Isle CC: Arnold Palmer wins with a birdie on the 1st playoff hole against Paul Harney

Border Captains Australia

1984 Allan Border's 1st Test Cricket match as captain (v WI Adelaide)

Navratilova Defeats Evert-Lloyd

1985 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert-Lloyd 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 for her 3rd and final Australian singles crown

Texas Rangers Sign Ryan

1988 MLB Texas Rangers sign free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan to a one-year contract

Islanders Fire Simpson

1988 NHL NY Islanders fire head coach Terry Simpson, and replace him with former coach Al Arbour

  • 1995 NBA settles strike of referees, refs to return on Dec 12
  • 1996 1st Big 12 Championship Game: Texas beats #3 Nebraska, 37-27
  • 1996 5th SEC Championship Game: #4 Florida beats #11 Alabama, 45-30
  • 1996 Australian rugby union team ends 12-game European tour unbeaten after 39-19 victory over the Barbarians at Twickenham; Wallabies fullback Matt Burke scores 2 tries and lands 4 conversions, 2 penalties
  • 2002 11th SEC Championship Game: #4 Georgia beats #22 Arkansas, 30-3
  • 2013 22nd SEC Championship Game: #3 Auburn beats #5 Missouri, 59-42
  • 2013 9th ACC Championship Game: #1 Florida State beats #20 Duke, 45-7

Ronaldo Wins 5th Award

2017 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo wins his 5th award to equal Lionel Messi's record; 2nd consecutive win for Ronaldo

  • 2017 Former US gymnastics physician Larry Nasser is sentenced to 60 years on child pornography charges
  • 2020 Breaking, the competitive form of breakdancing, confirmed as an Olympic sport for the Paris 2024 games