- Jan 1 24th Orange Bowl: #4 Oklahoma beats #16 Duke, 48-21
- Jan 1 24th Sugar Bowl: #7 Mississippi beats #11 Texas, 39-7
- Jan 1 44th Rose Bowl: #2 Ohio State beats Oregon, 10-7
- Jan 3 Australian cricket fast bowler Lindsay Kline takes a hat-trick (Eddie Fuller, Hugh Tayfield, Neil Adcock) as South Africa dismissed for 99 in follow-on 2nd Test at Cape Town
Hillary Reaches the South Pole
Jan 4 NZ team led by Edmund Hillary reaches the South Pole, the 1st to reach the Pole overland using motor vehicles and the 1st since Amundsen in 1911 and Scott in 1912
Robertson Scores 56
Jan 9 In basketball Oscar Robertson (Cin) scores 56, Seton Hall team 54
- Jan 12 8th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Western Conference beats Eastern Conference, 26-7; MVPs: Hugh McElhenny, SF 49ers, HB; Gene Brito, Washington Redskins, DE
- Jan 12 NCAA adds 2 point conversion to football scoring
Schayes Sets Record
Jan 12 Syracuse National Dolph Schayes sets NBA record at 11,770 points
8th NBA All-Star Game
Jan 21 8th NBA All-Star Game, Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Mo: East beats West, 130-118; MVP: Bob Pettit, Milwaukee Hawks, C
- Jan 21 Phillies agree to televise 78 games into NYC (doesn't happen)
- Jan 21 St Louis Hawks forward Bob Pettit becomes first member of the losing team to win the NBA All-Star MVP award; scores 28 points and grabs 26 rebounds, even though East beats West, 130-118
Longest Innings in Test History
Jan 23 Pakistani cricket batsman Hanif Mohammad scores record 337 runs in 970 minutes in drawn 1st Test v West Indies at Bridgetown, longest innings in Test history
Cooper Beats Anderson
Jan 27 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Ashley Cooper wins 2nd straight Australian title; beats fellow Australian Malcolm Anderson 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Barrett Defeats Coghlan
Jan 27 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Angela Mortimer Barrett of England beats Lorraine Coghlan of Australia 6-3, 6-4
Campanella Paralyzed
Jan 28 Dodger catcher Roy Campanella is paralyzed in an automobile wreck
- Jan 30 MLB Commissioner Ford Frick announces that players and coaches, rather than fans, will vote on selections for the All-Star Game; vote returns to the fans in 1970
"Jackpot Bowling"
Jan 31 "Jackpot Bowling" premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host
- Feb 1 Manchester United beats Arsenal, 5-4 at Highbury in the team's last game on British soil, 5 days prior to the plane crash at Munich airport that killed 7 players
- Feb 1 Tommy Taylor scores 2 goals and Duncan Edwards 1, in Manchester United's 5-4 win vs Arsenal at Highbury; pair amongst 7 players killed 5 days later when team’s charter plane crashes at Munich airport
- Feb 4 MLB Hall of Fame fails to elect anyone for 1st time since 1950
- Feb 5 Test cricket debut of outstanding West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs, 2nd Test v Pakistan in Port-of-Spain
- Feb 6 21 dead in air crash at Munich-Riem Airport; 8 players and 3 staff are from the Manchester United football team
Williams Highest Paid
Feb 6 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams becomes highest paid player in MLB when he re-signs with Boston Red Sox for $135,000
- Feb 7 Dodgers officially become the Los Angeles Dodgers, Inc
Sports History
Feb 12 Boston Celtic Bill Russell grabs 41 rebounds to beat Syracuse Nationals, 119-101
- Feb 15 Ice Dance Championship at Paris won by June Markham/Courtney Jones GRB
Arcaro's 4,000th Winner
Feb 20 American future Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro rides his 4,000th winner on Riding Ban in the 8th race at Santa Anita
- Feb 20 LA Coliseum approves 2-year pact allowing LA Dodgers to use facility whilst Dodger Stadium is completed in time for the 1962 MLB season
- Feb 22 Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets 6 world records in 2 days
F1 World Champion
Feb 23 5-time F1 World Drivers champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by Cuban rebels from Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement; released soon after Cuban GP
- Feb 28 West Indies 1-504 in reply to Pakistan 328, day 3 of 3rd Test Cricket
Cricket Record
Mar 1 21-year-old West Indian cricket all-rounder Garfield Sobers turns his maiden Test century into a world record 365no in the Windies' 3rd Test win over Pakistan in Kingston, Jamaica; Sobers and Conrad Hunte (260) 446 run partnership for 2nd wicket
- Mar 8 5th ACC Men's Basketball Tournament: Maryland beats North Carolina, 86-74
- Mar 9 Detroit Pistons forward George Yardley III scores 26 points in 111-90 defeat to Syracuse Nationals; 1st NBA player to score 2,000 points in a season
- Mar 15 England retains the Five Nations Rugby Championship with a 3-3 draw against Scotland at Murrayfield, Edinburgh; England’s 16th FN title
- Mar 15 Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati Royals scores a NBA midwest region-record 56-point game
- Mar 15 Royals basketball star Maurice Stokes collapses during a playoff game with encephalitis; He goes into a coma & is permanently disabled
- Mar 16 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Beverly Hanson wins by 5 strokes ahead of Betty Dodd
- Mar 18 MLB Los Angeles Dodgers announce their mascot and clown Emmett Kelly will not perform in 1958
- Mar 19 Garfield Sobers completes a century in each innings for WI vs. Pakistan
Sports History
Mar 22 20th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Seattle, 84-72; Seattle's future Hall of Fame small forward Elgin Baylor is named tournament MOP
Sports History
Mar 25 Sugar Ray Robinson is 1st boxing champ to win 5 times
- Mar 29 112th Grand National: Arthur Freeman aboard 18/1 bet Mr. What wins by 30 lengths from Tiberetta
US Masters Golf
Apr 6 22nd US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Arnold Palmer wins the first of his 4 Masters titles, 1 stroke ahead of Doug Ford and Fred Hawkins; first of his 7 major titles
- Apr 7 Dodgers erect 42-foot screen in left field at LA Coliseum to cut down on home runs, since it is only 250 feet down the line
- Apr 12 12th NBA Championship: St Louis Hawks beat Bost Celtics, 4 games to 2
- Apr 15 1st baseball game in California, SF Giants beat LA Dodgers, 8-0
- Apr 18 NL single-game record crowd of 78,682 as the Los Angeles Dodgers win their first ever home game over San Francisco Giants, 6-5, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
- Apr 20 Stanley Cup Final, Boston Garden, Boston, MA: Montreal Canadiens' 3-peat; beat Boston Bruins, 5-3 for a 4-2 for series win
- Apr 21 62nd Boston Marathon won by Franjo Mihalić of Yugoslavia in 2:25:54
Sports History
Apr 23 Gil Hodges hits his 300th HR & Pee Wee Reese plays in 2,000th game
- Apr 24 Lee Walls hits 3 HRs, as Cubs beat Dodgers 15-2
- Apr 30 Ted Williams is 10th major league player to get 1,000 extra-base hits
- May 2 Yanks threaten to broadcast games nationwide if NL goes ahead with plans to broadcast, games into NYC
- May 3 84th Kentucky Derby: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Tim Tam wins in 2:05
Sports History
May 9 Russian Mikhail Botvinnik recaptures world chess championship
Baseball Record
May 13 MLB player Stan Musial is 8th to get 3,000 hits
Baseball Record
May 13 MLB San Francisco Giants teammates Willie Mays & Darryl Spencer each hit 2 HRs & a triple, and combine for 10 RBI in a 16-9 win over the Dodgers at Los Angeles
- May 17 83rd Preakness: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Tim Tam wins in 1:57.2
- May 28 European Cup Final, Brussels: Francisco Gento scores the winner in extra time as Real Madrid beats AC Milan, 3-2; 3rd consecutive title for Los Blancos
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Jimmy Bryan wins a race best known for a massive first-lap, 15-car pileup that results in death of fan-favourite driver Pat O'Connor
- May 31 57th Women's French Championships: Zsuzsi Kormoczy beats Shirley Bloomer (6-4, 1-6, 6-2)
- May 31 French Championships Men's Tennis: Mervyn Rose wins his first and only French title; beats Luis Ayala of Chile 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
- Jun 1 The Riverside International Raceway in Southern California opens with three 500-mile races in one weekend; Eddie Gray wins the Crown America 500 for NASCAR Grand National cars
Sports History
Jun 2 Brooks Robinson hits into 1st of record 4 triple plays
Baseball Record
Jun 2 Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford fans 6 in a row to tie an AL record
LPGA Championship
Jun 8 LPGA Championship, Churchill Valley CC: Mickey Wright wins first of 13 major titles by 6 strokes from Fay Crocker
US Golf Open
Jun 14 US Open Men's Golf, Southern Hills CC: Native Oklahoman Tommy Bolt wins his only major championship, 4 strokes ahead of 22-year old South African Gary Player
- Jun 22 Game in KC between A's & Red Sox delayed 29 minutes due to tornado
Sports History
Jun 22 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Kahkwa CC: Patty Berg wins back-to-back WO titles; beats runner-up Beverly Hanson by 4 strokes
- Jun 28 American swimmer Nancy Ramey sets world record for 100m butterfly in 1:09.6 in Los Angeles, California
- Jun 28 US Open Women's Golf, Forest Lake CC: Mickey Wright wins 1st of 4 Open titles by 5 from Louise Suggs; 1st player to win Open & LPGA in same year
FIFA World Cup
Jun 29 FIFA World Cup Final, Råsunda Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden: Vavá & Pelé each score 2 goals as Brazil beats Sweden, 5-2
- Jul 4 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Ashley Cooper wins his only Wimbledon singles title beating Neale Fraser 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 13-11
British Golf Open
Jul 5 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes GC: Australian Peter Thomson wins by 4 strokes in a 36-hole playoff with Welshman Dave Thomas, for his 4th Open title
Wimbledon Women's Tennis
Jul 5 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: American Althea Gibson beats Angela Mortimer of England 8-6, 6-2 to successfully defend her title
Baseball History
Jul 20 Detroit Tigers future Baseball HOF pitcher Jim Bunning no-hits Boston Red Sox, 3-0
PGA Championship
Jul 20 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Llanerch CC: Dow Finsterwald wins 1st PGA C'ship held in current stroke play format; wins by 2 from Billy Casper
- Jul 24 Ted Williams is fined $250 for spitting at Boston fans again
- Jul 24 Test Cricket debuts against NZ for Dexter, Illingworth & Subba Row
- Aug 6 American athlete Glenn Davis breaks his own world record by 0.3 (49.2) in 400m hurdles in Budapest, Hungary
Sports History
Aug 13 MLB Cleveland Indians' right fielder Rocky Colavito makes his pitching debut, hurling 3 hitless innings, Detroit 3, Cleveland 2
- Aug 15 25th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: All-Stars 35, Detroit 19 (70,000)
Patterson TKOs Harris
Aug 18 Floyd Patterson TKOs Roy Harris in 13 for heavyweight boxing title at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, California
- Aug 20 Chicago Cubs use 1st baseman Dale Long as their 1st major league lefty catcher since 1906
- Aug 24 Sergei Popov wins Stockholm marathon (2:15:17.0) (WR)
- Aug 28 American baseball player Nellie Fox sets record for consecutive games without striking out (98)
- Sep 1 St Louis Cardinals pitcher Vinegar Bend Mizell walks a NL record 9 batters in a 1-0 shutout of Cincinnati Reds
- Sep 7 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Ashley Cooper outlasts fellow Australian Mal Anderson 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 10-8, 8-6 for his 3rd Grand Slam event win of the year
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 7 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Althea Gibson beats Darlene Hard 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
Baseball Record
Sep 8 Pirate Roberto Clemente ties modern record of 3 triples in a game
Sports History
Sep 13 Braves Warren Spahn is 1st lefty to win 20 or more games 9 times
Sports History
Sep 14 Yankees win 24th pennant, & 9th under Casey Stengel
Sports History
Sep 20 Baltimore Oriole knuckleball pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm no-hits NY Yankees 1-0
- Sep 26 Columbia (US) beats Sceptre (Britain) in 18th America's Cup
NHL All-Star Game
Oct 4 12th NHL All-Star Game, Montreal Forum, Montreal, QC: Montreal Canadiens beat All-Stars, 6-3
F1 World Champion
Oct 19 Stirling Moss wins season ending Moroccan Grand Prix at Ain-Diab but fellow Brit Mike Hawthorn takes World Drivers Championship from Moss by just 1 point by finishing second; first British world champion
- Nov 2 Los Angeles Rams beat Chicago Bears, 41-35 before 90,833 fans at the Los Angeles Coliseum; NFL single-game attendance record
- Nov 12 Bob Turley of NY Yankees wins Cy Young Award
- Nov 13 NYC Mayor Robert Wagner announces plans to begin a new baseball league called the Continental League, to fill the void created by the city's Giants and Dodgers moving to the west coast
- Nov 28 George "Punch" Imlach becomes coach of NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs
- Nov 28 Legendary cricket fast bowler Wes Hall makes his Test debut for West Indies v India in 1st Test at Bombay; Hall's match figures 4/107
- Nov 29 23rd Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 14-8 in Birmingham
- Nov 29 CFL Grey Cup, Empire Stadium, Vancouver: Winnipeg Blue Bombers beat Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 35-28 for a 4th Championship
- Dec 2 1959 NFL Draft: Randy Duncan QB University of Iowa #1 pick by Green Bay Packers
- Dec 2 24th Heisman Trophy Award: Pete Dawkins, Army (HB)
- Dec 5 Phils drop plans for NY sportcast as Yanks threat to do same in Philadelphia
Summerall's Winning Goal
Dec 14 Pat Summerall kicks game winning field goal for the New York Giants against the Cleveland Browns at Yankee Stadium
Ballon d'Or
Dec 16 Ballon d'Or: Real Madrid's French midfielder Raymond Kopa wins award for best football player in Europe ahead of German winger Helmut Rahn and French forward Just Fontaine
Lindsay's Scoring Record
Dec 17 Ted Lindsay becomes highest scoring left wing in NHL history, passing Aurel Joliat who retired with 270; scores twice and adds an assist In Chicago Black Hawks' 5-2 win over the Boston Bruins at Chicago Stadium
- Dec 28 "The Greatest Game Ever Played": Baltimore Colts win the 26th NFL championship against the New York Giants 23-17 at Yankee Stadium, in the first ever sudden-death overtime game in NFL history. 17 future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were involved in the game.
- Dec 31 47th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Brisbane (3-2)
Shoemaker's Record 4th Win
Dec 31 Bill Shoemaker 1st jockey to win national riding championship 4X
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions