- 1871 The Rugby Football Union is formed at a meeting of 21 clubs at the Pall Mall Restaurant, London, England
Thorpe Gives Up Medals
1913 Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing 2 seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics
- 1921 Toronto NHL center Corb Denneny scores 6 goals to lead St. Patricks to a 10-3 win over Hamilton Tigers in Toronto
first ever Winter Olympic gold medal
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
- 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 Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: All-Australian final; Sylvia Lance Harper beats Esna Boyd Robertson 6-3, 3-6, 8-6
Thunberg's First Gold
1924 Clas Thunberg of Finland claims his first of 5 gold medals when he wins the 5,000m speed skating in 2:20.8 at the Chamonix Winter Olympics
Bradman's 128 in 96 Minutes
1934 Australian cricket batting icon Don Bradman scores 128 in just 96 minutes for NSW v Victoria in Sydney; smashes 17 x fours, 4 x sixes
Australian Men's Tennis Open
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
- 1948 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
Baseball Hall of Fame
1951 Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
Baseball Hall of Fame
1956 Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1956 VII Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
- 1957 Joseph F Cairnes succeeds Lou Perini as President of Milwaukee Braves
- 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
- 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
- 1960 High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points
- 1960 Oakland Raiders enter the American Football League
Rozelle Elected Commissioner
1960 Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot
- 1963 Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone
1500m Skate Record
1966 Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:06.2)
1st Women's Australian Open
1969 1st Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court wins inaugural Open event; beats American Billie Jean King 6-4, 6-1
- 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 In a 9-2 NHL win over Pittsburgh Penguins, the NY Islanders score 4 goals within 1:38, 5 within 2:37 in a 6 goal 1st period
- 1984 Nordiques' Michel Goulet scored on 9th penalty shot against Islanders
Gretzky's 50th Goal
1985 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season
- 1986 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champion
- 1986 Super Bowl XX, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana: Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10; MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE
Border's 7-46
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)
Seles Beats Novotná
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
- 1991 Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame
Courier Defeats Edberg
1992 Australian Open Men's 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
- 1992 Super Bowl XXVI, Metrodome, Minneapolis, MI: Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24; MVP: Mark Rypien, Washington, QB
- 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
Sampras Defeats Moyá
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
Hingis Defeats Pierce
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
Lemieux Ties 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
- 1997 Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
- 2002 Australian Open Women's Tennis: American Jennifer Capriati wins her 2nd consecutive Australian title; beats Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
Agassi Beats Schuttler
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
- 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII, Qualc:omm Stadium, San Diego, CA: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders, 48-21; MVP: Dexter Jackson, Tampa Bay, S
Sharapova Defeats Ivanović
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
Azarenka Defeats Li
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
Wawrinka Defeats Nadal
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
NFL Pro Bowl
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
- 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
1st Japanese Wins Australian Open
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
Kobe Byrant Dies in Helicopter Crash
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
NFL Pro Bowl
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)
