US Navy Beats Mare Island
Jan 1 5th Rose Bowl, Tournament Park, Pasadena, California: Great Lakes, US Navy beats Mare Island, USMC, 17-0; MVP: George Halas, US Navy
Patterson Defeats Kingscote
Jan 20 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Double Bay, Sydney: Gerald Patterson beats Algernon Kingscote 6-4, 6-4, 8-6 to retain title for Australasia over the Great Britain, 3-1; ends 4-1
- Feb 1 Brooklyn Robins trade former NL MVP Jake Daubert to Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Tommy Griffith; result of a salary grievance
NHL Record
Feb 18 Cy Denneny of NHL Ottawa Senators scores record 52nd goal
- Feb 20 Foundation NHL club Toronto Arenas are permitted to cease operations due to financial difficulties; later become Toronto St. Patricks and then Maple Leafs
- Mar 1 Future Hockey Hall of Fame center Newsy Lalonde sets a playoff record with 5 goals in the Canadiens' 6-3 win over Ottawa in NHL Championship Game 3 in Montreal
- Mar 6 NHL Championship: Montreal Canadiens beat Ottawa Senators, 3 games to 1 with 1 tie
- Mar 28 78th Grand National: Ernie Piggott wins aboard Poethlyn; shortest price winner in history at 11-4
- Apr 1 Stanley Cup Final, Seattle Ice Arena, Seattle, WA: With Montreal Canadiens (NHL) & Seattle Metropolitans (PCHA) tied at 2-2-1, trophy not awarded due to worldwide flu epidemic
- Apr 5 Antwerp is officially declared the host city for the Games of the 7th Olympiad to be conducted in 1920; first post WWI Olympics
- Apr 21 23rd Boston Marathon won by Carl Linder in 2:29:13.4
- Apr 23 US Major League Baseball opens a reduced 140-game season
- Apr 30 Phillies beat Brooklyn Dodgers 9-0 in 20 innings
- May 4 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC, 35,000 watch the Phillies beat the NY Giants 4-3
- May 8 Appingedam soccer team forms
- May 10 45th Kentucky Derby: Johnny Loftus aboard Sir Barton wins in 2:09.8 on way to first Triple Crown
- May 11 Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hod Eller no-hits St Louis Cardinals, 6-0 at Redland Field, Cincinnati
Johnson - Quinn Pitching Duel
May 11 Washington Senators future Baseball Hall of Fame ace Walter Johnson pitches 12 scoreless innings in a famous 0-0 duel with Jack Quinn of the NY Yankees at the Polo Grounds
- May 12 New York Yankees and Washington Senators play second straight extra inning tie, 4-4 in 15 innings at the Polo Grounds; 0-0 in 12 the previous day
- May 14 44th Preakness: Johnny Loftus aboard Sir Barton wins in 1:53 on way to first Triple Crown
- May 15 Brooklyn Dodgers score 10 runs in 13th to beat Reds 10-0
Stengel Releases Sparrow
May 25 Casey Stengel releases a sparrow from under his baseball cap
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: Howdy Wilcox accompanied by riding mechanic Leo Banks win; driver Arthur Thurman dies in a crash on lap 45; lap 96, Louis LeCocq and riding mechanic Robert Bandini wrecked in turn 2, both burned to death
- Jun 11 51st Belmont: Johnny Loftus riding Sir Barton wins by 5 lengths over Sweep On; first Trip Crown winner
23rd US Men's Open
Jun 12 US Open Men's Golf, Brae Burn CC: Walter Hagen defeats Mike Brady by 1 stroke in an 18-hole playoff to win his second and final US Open
- Jun 20 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Philadelphia CC: Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman beats Marion Zinderstein 6-1, 6-2 for her 4th US singles title
- Jun 28 Boston Red Sox Carl Mays pitches a complete doubleheader against NY Yankees, winning 1st game, 2-0, losing 2nd game, 4-1 (Polo Grounds, NYC)
- Jul 1 SVV Scheveningen soccer club is established in the Dutch seaside town
Boxing Title Fight
Jul 4 Jack Dempsey beats champion Jess Willard, retired in 3rd round in Toledo, Ohio for world heavyweight championship
Wimbledon Women's Tennis
Jul 5 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Suzanne Lenglen of France beats Dorothea Chambers 10-8, 4-6, 9-7 for the first of 6 Wimbledon singles titles
- Jul 7 Philadelphia Phillies tie MLB record of 8 steals in an innings (9th) in a 10-5 loss vs NY Giants
- Jul 7 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: In the first all-Australian final Gerald Patterson beats Norman Brookes 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
- Jul 13 Boston Red Sox pitcher Carl Mays walks off mound blaming teammates for lack of support in field
- Jul 17 Yanks 21 hits, Browns 17 hits Browns win 7-6 in 17, on squeeze play
- Jul 27 13th Tour de France won by Firmin Lambot of Belgium
Sports History
Aug 11 Green Bay Packers football club founded by George Calhoun and Curly Lambeau - named after sponsor Indian Packing Company
- Aug 13 American thoroughbred racehorse Man o' War's only defeat in 21 start career; Upset wins Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
- Aug 14 Chicago White Sox outfielder Happy Felsch ties MLB record of 4 outfield assists in a game in 15-6 loss to Boston Red Sox
- Aug 20 Wichita outfielder Joe Wilhoit (Western League) fails to get a hit, ending a 69-game streak (155 hits in 299 at bats for .505 average)
- Aug 24 Having pitched into the 9th inning Cleveland's Ray Caldwell is flattened by a bolt of lightning; goes on to record final out for Indians' 2-1 win over Philadelphia A's
US Men's Tennis Open
Sep 4 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills NY: Bill Johnston wins his second US title; beats Bill Tilden 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
- Sep 10 Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell no-hits New York Yankees, 3-0 at the Polo Grounds, NYC
PGA Championship
Sep 20 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Engineers CC: Defending champion Jim Barnes defeats Fred McLeod, 6 & 5 in the final
- Sep 24 Boston Red Sox slugger Babe Ruth sets MLB season home run record at 28 off Yankee Bob Shawkey in a 2-1 loss at the Polo Grounds in NYC
- Sep 27 Boston Red Sox slugger Babe Ruth takes his MLB home run record to 29 with a 3rd inning blast in a 7-5 defeat at the Washington Senators' Griffith Stadium
- Sep 27 Pitcher Bob Shawkey sets then Yank record with 15 strike-outs
- Sep 28 Fastest major league game (51 mins), Giants beat Phillies 6-1
- Oct 1 Infamous 'Black Sox' Baseball World Series begins with Cincinnati Reds' Dutch Ruether pitching a 6-hitter and hitting 3 RBI on 2 triples and a single for a 9-1 rout of White Sox
- Oct 3 Cuban Dolf Luque becomes first Hispanic player to appear in Baseball World Series; pitches 1 inning of relief in Cincinnati Reds' 3-0 defeat to Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park
- Oct 6 Chicago White Sox catcher Ray Schalk is 2nd man ejected from a Baseball World Series in Game 5 vs Cincinnati Reds; angered when pitchers Eddie Cicotte & Lefty Williams refuse to follow his signals during 5-0 loss
- Oct 9 Baseball World Series: Cincinnati Reds beat Chicago White Sox, 10-5 at Comiskey Park for a 5-3 series victory; due to 'Black Sox Scandal' last WS to take place without a Commissioner of Baseball in place
- Oct 30 Baseball league presidents call for abolishment of spitball
- Dec 10 NL votes to ban the spitball's use by all new pitchers
Ban Johnson Controversy
Dec 10 NY, Boston, & Chicago, oppose AL resolution accusing Ban Johnson of overstepping his duties
- Dec 26 Yankees and Boston Red Sox reach agreement to move future Baseball Hall of Fame pitching slugger Babe Ruth to New York
- Dec 27 Red Sox owner Harry Frazee announces they will deal any player except Harry Hooper, Hooper is sent to the White Sox after 1920 season
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions