- Jan 1 23rd Rose Bowl: #3 Pittsburgh beats #5 Washington, 21-0
- Jan 1 3rd Orange Bowl: #14 Duquesne beats Mississippi State, 13-12
- Jan 1 3rd Sugar Bowl: Santa Clara beats LSU, 21-14
Record 6th Wicket Stand
Jan 5 Australian cricket batsmen Jack Fingleton (136) and Don Bradman (out 270 the following day) make then record stand of 346 for 6th wicket in 3rd Test vs England in Melbourne
Berg Wins Inaugural Event
Jan 17 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Patty Berg wins inaugural event by 3 strokes ahead of Dorothy Kirby
Young ,Speaker, Lajorie Elected
Jan 19 Cy Young, Tris Speaker & Nap Lajorie elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
McGrath Beats Bromwich
Jan 30 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Vivian McGrath wins his only Grand Slam singles event; beats fellow Australian John Bromwich 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, 2-6, 6-1
- Jan 30 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton wins her first of 6 Australian singles titles; beats Emily Hood Westacott 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
- Feb 3 Don Bradman scores 212 (in 441 minutes!) in 5th cricket test v England
- Feb 12 Cleveland (now Los Angeles) Rams granted an NFL franchise
- Feb 13 Boston Redskins receive approval from NFL to move to Washington, D.C; to share baseball's Griffith Stadium with first Washington Senators of the American League
Sports History
Feb 13 Maribel Vinson wins her 9th US figure skating championship
- Feb 27 Australian cricketer Don Bradman scores 169 in 5th Test match v England in 223 minutes, ensuring Australia wins the Ashes 3-2
- Mar 19 96th Grand National: With King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in attendance, aptly-named Royal Mail ridden by jockey Evan Williams wins at odds of 100/6; estimated crowd, 300,000
- Mar 20 England beats Scotland, 6-3 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh to clinch the Home Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown
- Mar 25 Lionel Conacher misses on 1st Stanley Cup penalty shot
DiMaggio's New Bat
Mar 26 Joe DiMaggio takes Ty Cobb's advice and replaces his 40 oz bat with a 36 oz one
- Mar 27 Feijenoord Stadion, home ground of Dutch football club Feyenoord Rotterdam and nicknamed De Kuip opens after 2 years in construction
4th Augusta National Invitation
Apr 4 4th Augusta National Invitation Tournament (Masters) Golf: Byron Nelson wins first of his 5 major titles by 2 strokes ahead of Ralph Guldahl
- Apr 12 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
- Apr 15 Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat New York Rangers, 3-0 for a 3-2 series win; back-to-back titles for Red Wings
- Apr 19 41st Boston Marathon won by Walter Young of Canada in 2:33:20
Hubbell Continues Streak
Apr 23 New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell's first start of season, a 3-0 win over the Boston Bees, is his 17th straight win; streak continues for league record 24 victories in a row
- May 8 63rd Kentucky Derby: Charley Kurtsinger on War Admiral wins 2:03.2
- May 9 Reds beat Phillies 21-10 (Ernie Lombardi goes 6 for 6)
- May 12 St Louis Cards beat Philadelphia Phillies, 15-3
- May 15 62nd Preakness: Charley Kurtsinger aboard War Admiral wins in 1:58.4
- May 27 New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell wins his MLB record 24th consecutive game in a 3-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field; streak starts July 17, 1936
20th PGA Championship
May 30 20th PGA Championship Men's Golf, Pittsburgh Field Club: Defending champion Denny Shute defeats Jug McSpaden in 37 holes
- May 30 42nd Men's French Championships: Henner Henkel beats Bunny Austin (6-1, 6-4, 6-3)
- May 30 42nd Women's French Championships: Hilde Sperling beats Simonne Mathieu (6-2, 6-4)
- May 31 Indianapolis 500: Wilbur Shaw and riding mechanic 'Jigger' Johnson win race from Ralph Hepburn by 2.16 seconds, closest finish to that point; Johnson last winning riding mechanic
- May 31 Second largest crowd in Polo Grounds history (61,756) sees Brooklyn Dodgers beat NY Giants, 10-3, ending Carl Hubbell's record consecutive-game winning streak at 24
- Jun 1 Chicago White Sox pitcher Bill Dietrich no-hits St Louis Browns, 8-0 at Comiskey Park, Chicago
Gibson's Huge Home Run
Jun 3 Josh Gibson hits a home run just 2 feet below the rim of Yankee Stadium (580' drive)
41st US Men's Open
Jun 12 US Open Men's Golf, Oakland Hills CC: Ralph Guldahl wins first of his 2 consecutive US titles, 2 strokes ahead of Sam Snead
- Jun 13 Joe DiMaggio hits 3 consecutive HRs against St Louis Browns
- Jun 19 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Beverly CC: Helen Hicks wins the first of her 2 major titles, defeating amateur Bea Barrett 6 & 5 in the final
Louis KOs Braddock
Jun 22 Challenger Joe Louis KOs James J. Braddock in the 8th round at Chicago's Comiskey Park for the world heavyweight boxing title
- Jun 26 Test cricket debut of all-time great English batsman Len Hutton v New Zealand in 1st Tests at Lord's; scores 0 & 1
- Jul 2 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Don Budge beats Germany's Gottfried von Cramm 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 for first of back-to-back titles
- Jul 3 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Dorothy Round of England beats Poland's Jadwiga Jędrzejowska 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 for her second Wimbledon title
- Jul 5 NY Yankees outfielder Joe DiMaggio hits 20th HR of the season but 1st career grand slam in 8-4 win vs Boston Red Sox
Sports History
Jul 7 5th MLB All Star Game, Griffin Stadium, Washington: AL wins 8-3, Lou Gehrig drives in 4 runs with HR & double
- Jul 9 British Open Men's Golf, Carnoustie: Henry Cotton wins second of his 3 Open titles, 2 strokes ahead of fellow Englishman Reg Whitcombe
- Jul 25 31st Tour de France won by Roger Lapebie of France
- Jul 27 32nd Davis Cup: USA beats Great Britain in Wimbledon (4-1)
- Jul 27 International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Wimbledon: GB 4 title streak ends as American Frank Parker beats Charles Hare 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 for an unbeatable 3-1 lead; ends 4-1
- Jul 30 Phillies Dolph Camilli, plays 1st base and registers no put outs
- Aug 6 MLB overturns New York Yankees' 7-6 win over Cleveland Indians because of umpire error
- Aug 9 Ranger (US) easily beats Endeavour II (England) in race 4 to wrap up the 17th America's Cup yachting series, 4-0; it's the final competition for 21 years
- Aug 14 Detroit Tigers score MLB record 36 runs in double header vs St. Louis Browns at Navin Field; win 16-1 & 20-7
- Aug 27 Brooklyn Dodger Fred Frankhouse no-hits Cin, 5-0 in 7 2/3 inn game
- Aug 29 MLB Philadelphia A's Bob Johnson is 2nd to get 6 RBIs in an inning (1st)
- Aug 30 Joe Louis beats Tommy Farr in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
- Sep 4 15-year-old cyclist Doris Kopsky becomes 1st Amateur Bicycle League of America woman's national champion in 4:22.4 in Buffalo, NY
- Sep 10 2nd American Football League plays 1st game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0)
- Sep 10 Cleveland (Los Angeles) Rams plays their 1st NFL game, lose 28-0
- Sep 11 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Don Budge wins first of 2 straight US titles; beats Gottfried von Cramm of Germany 6-1, 7-9, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
- Sep 11 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Anita Lizana of Chile becomes first Latin American to win a major; beats Jadwiga Jędrzejowska of Poland 6-4, 6-2
Redskins First Game
Sep 16 Redskins NFL franchise play first game in Washington at Griffith Stadium; defeat the New York Giants in season opener, 13–3
- Sep 17 1st NFL game in Washington, D.C.; Redskins beat NY Giants 13-3
- Sep 23 Yankees lose 9-5 but clinch pennant when Red Sox beat Detroit
- Sep 29 Frans Slaats cycles a world hour record time (45,563 km)
- Sep 30 Ryder Cup Golf, Southport & Ainsdale GC: US wins 8-4; first time the host team loses the competition
- Oct 10 Baseball World Series: in second consecutive all-New York WS, Yankees again beat Giants, 4-2 at the Polo Grounds for a 4-1 series victory
Sports History
Oct 15 Rather than accept any trade offers, the Yanks release Tony Lazzeri
Bees Sign Stengel
Oct 25 Casey Stengel signs to manage Boston Bees
Williams to the Red Sox
Dec 7 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams
- Dec 7 Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
- Dec 11 25th CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts claim their 4th Championship; beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4-3
- Dec 12 1938 NFL Draft: Corbett Davis from University of Indiana first pick by Cleveland Rams
- Dec 12 National Football League Championship, Wrigley Field, Chicago: Washington Redskins beat Chicago Bears, 28-21
- Dec 20 Australian cricket spin bowler Bill O'Reilly takes career best 9-41 for NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval
- Dec 21 Australian cricket spin bowler Bill O'Reilly takes 5-57 to complete match figures of 14-98 as NSW beats South Australia by 33 runs in a Sheffield Shield match in Adelaide
- Dec 21 Chicago Black Hawks left wing Paul Thompson becomes first player in NHL history to score against his brother, Boston Bruins goaltender Cecil Thompson; scores with just 9 seconds left in regulation as Bruins win 2-1
- Dec 27 German immigration officials with no explanation bar Juan Carlos Zabala (Arg), 1932 Olympic marathon champion, from entering Germany
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
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NFL Stars
Tennis Champions