Events in Sports History on February 26

  • 1839 1st Grand National steeplechase, Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool: Jem Mason wins aboard 5/1 favourite Lottery
  • 1851 13th Grand National: Terry Abbott wins aboard Irish stallion Abd-El-Kader at 7/1; first dual winner and first to win back-to-back

Chess History

1859 Paul Morphy's chess match vs Augustus Mongredien begins; Morphy wins

Cricket History

1887 George Lohmann took 1st 8-wkt haul in test cricket, 8-35 at Sydney Cricket Ground

  • 1918 Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse & burn, killing 604
  • 1930 West Indies make 1st Test Cricket win, by 289 runs over England

Baseball History

1935 NY Yankees release Babe Ruth, he signs with Boston Braves

  • 1938 Rie Van Veen swims world record 200m free style (2:24.6)
  • 1938 US female Figure Skating championship won by Joan Tozzer
  • 1960 David Jenkins wins the men's figure skating gold medal at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; US takes the singles double after Carol Heiss wins women's event
  • 1960 USA's David Jenkins wins Olympic Gold for men's figure skating
  • 1961 3rd Daytona 500: Marvin Panch wins in a 1960 Pontiac owned by Smokey Yunick when race leader Fireball Roberts' car suffered a blown engine with 13 laps remaining

Daytona 500

1967 9th Daytona 500: Mario Andretti wins his first and only NASCAR Grand National event; only time driver born outside the US has ever won the Great American Race

  • 1972 Ireland-Wales Five Nations Rugby match scheduled for Lansdowne Road, Dublin is cancelled because of escalating political situation; Championship not completed for first time since World War II

Cricket History

1980 New Zealand cricket captain Geoff Howarth 147 and Richard Hadlee 103 hold off West Indies pace quartet of Roberts, Garner, Holding and Croft during famous 2nd Test draw at Christchurch

  • 1981 84 penalties (406 mins) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minn & Bost

Cricket Debut

1982 Test Cricket debut of batsman Martin Crowe, playing for New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, run out for 9

Sports History

1987 NBA's Michael Jordan's 58 points in one game is a Chicago Bulls record

  • 1987 Wash blocks 20 Indiana shots tying NBA regulation game record

Contract of Interest

1989 California court throws out most of Margo Adams's $12 million breach-of-contract suit against Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs

Sports History

1989 NFL Dallas Cowboys fire coach Tom Landry after a 29-year career

Sports History

1989 NY Yankees announce that Tom Seaver is their new TV sportscaster

  • 1991 Asanka Gurusinha scores twin Test Cricket tons v NZ (119 & 102)
  • 1991 NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together

Cricket Record

1993 Allan Border beats Gavaskar's record for most Test Cricket runs 10,123

  • 1994 St Louis Blues beat Ottawa Senators 11-1
  • 1998 Steven M Gluckstern completes sale of NY Islanders
  • 2006 XX Winter Olympic Games close in Turin, Italy

NBA All-Star Game

2012 61st NBA All-Star Game, Amway Centre, Orlando, FL: West beats East, 152-149; MVP: Kevin Durant, OKC Thunder, F

  • 2017 59th Daytona 500: Kurt Busch wins after Kyle Larson runs out of gas on last lap; Jeffrey Earnhardt makes NASCAR history, 1st ever 4th generation driver to compete in Daytona 500

Sports History

2023 Caitlin Clark records 34 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists for Iowa against Indiana

  • 2023 ICC Women's Cricket T20 World Cup, Cape Town: Defending champions Australia score a 19-run victory over South Africa to win their sixth title; Player of the series: Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner