Events in Sports History in 1896

Sports History

Feb 14 George Lohmann takes a hat-trick for England v South Africa, 8-7 for inning - their lowest ever

Cricket Medium Pace Bowler George Lohmann

Feb 14 Stanley Cup, Victoria Skating Rink, Montreal, Quebec: Winnipeg Victorias beat Montreal Victorias, 2-0
Mar 2 Best 9-wicket haul in cricket history; George Lohmann takes 9-28 as England beats South Africa by an innings and 197 runs in 2nd Test at Johannesburg
Mar 22 Charilaos Vasilakos of Greece wins 1st modern marathon in 3:18 at the Panhellenic Games
Mar 27 58th Grand National: Former owner David Campbell wins aboard 40/1 outsider The Soarer
Apr 6 First modern Summer Olympic Games open in Athens, Greece; American athlete James Connolly becomes first modern Olympic champion when he wins triple jump (then 2 hops and a jump); later 3rd in long jump, 2nd in high jump
Apr 7 American athlete Robert Garrett wins the throwing double at the Athens Olympics by taking out the shot putt (11.22m); wins the discus the previous day

First Olympic 1500m

Apr 7 Australian athlete Edwin Flack wins gold in the first Olympic 1500m final at inaugural modern Games in Athens; goes on to win 800m two days later

Apr 9 Australian athlete Edwin Flack claims the middle distance double at the Athens Olympics winning the 800m final in 2:11.0; his 2nd victory of the Games after success in the 1500m
Apr 9 Greek shooter Pantelis Karasevdas scores a perfect 40 hits to win the military rifle event at the Athens Olympics; Greek 1-2-3 with Pavlos Pavlidis and Nicolaos Trikupis taking out the minor placings
Apr 10 American athlete Thomas Burke claims the sprint double at the Athens Olympics winning the 100m final in 12.0s; his 2nd victory of the Games after success in the 400m
Apr 10 High jumper Ellery Clark leads an American sweep of the placings with a leap of 1.81m at the Athens Olympics; his 2nd victory of the Games after taking out the long jump

1st Olympic Marathon

Apr 10 Spyridon Louis of Greece wins inaugural Olympic marathon (2:58:50) in Athens; runs last lap accompanied by Constantine I

Apr 11 Hungarian swimmer Alfréd Hajós beats Otto Herschmann of Austria by 0.6s to win the inaugural Olympic 100m freestyle final in 1:22.2 at the Athens Games; also takes out the 1,200m on the same day
Apr 11 Irish tennis player John Boland, representing Great Britain wins both the men's singles and doubles finals at the Athens Olympics; Dionysios Kasdaglis of Greece loses both matches
Apr 12 Stamasia Portrisi is 1st woman to win a marathon (5:30 in Athens)
Apr 15 1st modern Summer Olympic Games close in Athens, Greece; USA wins gold medal count, 11; Greece wins total medal count, 46; IOC has retroactively assigned gold, silver & bronze medals to 3 best placed athletes in each event
May 6 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins first Derby held at the current distance of 1.25 miles (2.0km)
May 8 Bobby Peel scores 210 not out as Yorkshire is dismissed for 887 in drawn County Cricket match against Warwickshire in Birmingham
May 30 First car accident occurs; Henry Wells hits a cyclist in NYC
Jun 2 30th Belmont: Henry Griffin aboard Hastings wins in 2:24.5
Jun 6 Preakness Stakes: Henry Griffin aboard the Byron McClelland trained Margrave wins in 1:51
Jun 12 England cricket spin bowler Jack Hearne sets record for earliest date taking 100 first-class wickets in a season when he captures 9-73 for the MCC in an innings & 18 run drubbing of Australia at Lord's

36th British Men's Open

Jun 13 British Open Men's Golf, Muirfield: Harry Vardon of Jersey wins first of 6 Open titles by 4 strokes in a 36-hole playoff with defending champion J.H. Taylor

Jun 20 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia CC: Elisabeth Moore beats defending champion Juliette Atkinson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
Jul 13 Philadelphia outfielder Ed Delahanty becomes second major leaguer to hit 4 HRs in a game as Phillies lose 9-8 to Chicago Colts at the West Side Grounds, Chicago
Jul 16 Indian born K S Ranjitsinhji debuts for England v Australia in 2nd Test at Old Trafford; first Indian to play Test cricket
Jul 18 George Giffen is 1st to complete 1000/100 double, in 30th Test Cricket
Jul 18 Indian born K S Ranjitsinhji completes an unbeaten 154 on Test cricket debut for England in 2nd Test against Australia at Old Trafford
Jul 18 US Open Men's Golf, Shinnecock Hills: American-based Scot James Foulis wins by 3 strokes ahead of Englishman Horace Rawlins

Wimbledon Men's Tennis

Jul 20 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Harold Mahony beats 3-time champion Wilfred Baddeley 6-2, 6-8, 5-7, 8-6, 6-3

Wimbledon Women's Tennis

Jul 21 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Defending champion Charlotte Cooper beats Alice Simpson Pickering 6-2, 6-3

Aug 12 Willem II soccer team forms in Tilburg

US Men's Tennis Open

Aug 26 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Newport R.I.: Robert Wrenn beats Fred Hovey 7-5, 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-1 for his third US singles title

Sep 7 A. H. Whiting wins the 1st automobile race held on a closed-circuit track in Cranston, Rhode Island
Dec 30 Stanley Cup, Granite Rink, Winnipeg, Manitoba: Ernie McLea scores a hat-trick as Montreal Victorias beat Winnipeg Victorias, 6-5; first SC Challenge game played outside of Montreal