Events in Sports History on March 23

  • 1877 39th Grand National: Fred Hobson aboard 15/1 shot Austerlitz wins by 4 lengths from Congress
  • 1878 English FA Cup Final, Kennington Oval, London: Wanderers beat Royal Engineers, 3–1; Wanderers' back-to-back and 5th title overall
  • 1888 50th Grand National: George Mawson aboard 40/1 outsider Playfair easily wins by 10 lengths from Frigate
  • 1923 82nd Grand National: Capt. Tuppy Bennett wins aboard 13-year-old 100/6 shot Sergeant Murphy; first US bred horse to win race

Vinson Again US Champion

1930 US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Maribel Vinson

  • 1934 93rd Grand National: Gerry Wilson wins aboard 8/1 Golden Miller in race record 9:20.04; becomes only horse to win both UK's premier steeplechases with Cheltenham Gold Cup victory 1934

Commissioner Frees Cardinals

1938 MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis frees 74 St Louis Cardinals minor league players from their contracts

  • 1946 8th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Oklahoma State beats North Carolina, 43-40; Cowboys' back-to-back titles and center Bob Kurland MOP for 2nd straight year
  • 1948 10th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kentucky beats Baylor, 58-42; Wildcats' first victory in first title game
  • 1952 NY Rangers blow 6-2 lead, lose 7-6 to Chicago Black Hawks; Bill Mosienko scores fastest hat trick in NHL history, 21 seconds

Sports History

1957 19th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: North Carolina beats Kansas, 54-53 (3 OT); Wilt Chamberlain of Kansas 4th player to be named tournament MOP despite not playing for the championship team

  • 1962 Nawab of Pataudi captains India cricket v WI age 21 years 77 days
  • 1962 William DeWitt buys Cincinnati Reds for $4,625,000
  • 1963 25th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Loyola-Chicago beats Cincinnati, 60-58 (OT); Ramblers' first title in first title game
  • 1968 30th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats North Carolina, 78-55; Bruins back-to-back titles; Lew Alcindor tournament Most Outstanding Player for the 2nd of 3 consecutive years
  • 1968 France retains the Five Nations Rugby Championship with an 14-9 win over Wales at the National Stadium, Cardiff; first Grand Slam victory for France
  • 1972 Geoge Harrison and Friends' "The Concert for Bangladesh" concert film, directed by Saul Swimmer released in the US
  • 1972 NY Yankees agree to continue playing ball in the Bronx

Boxing Title Fight

1979 Larry Holmes TKOs Osvaldo Ocasio in 7 for heavyweight boxing title

Sports History

1980 18-year old American tennis star Tracy Austin wins her only WTA Tour Championship; upsets Martina Navratilova in the final 6–2, 2–6, 6–2 in NYC

Cricket History

1980 Australian cricketer Allan Border becomes the first and only batsman to reach 150 in each innings of a test, in the 3rd test vs Pakistan in Lahore

PGA Players Championship

1980 PGA Tournament Players Championship, Sawgrass Country Club (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida): Lee Trevino wins by 1 stroke ahead of runner-up Ben Crenshaw

PGA Players Championship

1981 PGA Tournament Players Championship, Sawgrass CC: Raymond Floyd beats Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange on the first hole of a sudden death playoff in a rain affected Monday finish

NHL Record

1982 NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy's 20th career hat trick, in his 5th career 4-goal game, an 8-1 win over visiting Washington Capitols

  • 1984 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Katarina Witt (GDR)

Sports History

1984 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Ottawa won by Scott Hamilton (USA)

Sports History

1984 World Ice Dancing Championship won by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean (Great Britain) in Ottawa, Canada

Sports History

1986 First of 2 WTA Tour Championships of the year; change of tennis schedule; Martina Navratilova wins 4th straight and 7th overall title 6–2, 6–0, 3–6, 6–1 against Hana Mandlíková in NYC

  • 1991 1st World League of American Football games, London beats Frankfurt 24-11, Sacramento beats Raleigh-Dur 9-3 & Mont beats Birmingham 20-5
  • 1991 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.12m)
  • 1992 Florida Marlins begin selling tickets
  • 1993 NY Knicks & Phoenix Suns get into a major brawl
  • 1994 Graeme Obree bicycles world record 10 km (11:28)

Cricket History

1994 Last day of Test cricket for Kapil Dev

NHL Record

1994 Wayne Gretzky sets NHL record with 802 goals scored

NHL Record

2000 Joe Sakic records his 400th career goal and becomes the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche all-time leading point scorer

Cricket World Cup

2003 Cricket World Cup, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, RSA: Ricky Ponting scores 140 no as defending champions Australia beat India by 125 runs; Sachin Tendulkar, Player of Series

  • 2003 ICC Men's Cricket ODI World Cup, Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa: Australia retain trophy with 125 run win over India; Player of the Match: Ricky Ponting (AUS) 140 no (121)
  • 2022 After 114 consecutive weeks as world #1 female tennis player, 25-year-old Australian Ash Barty makes shock retirement announcement; cites contentment with all she achieved in the sport

Sports History

2023 Harry Kane overtakes Wayne Rooney's record to become England's all-time greatest goalscorer in 2-1 victory over Italy with his 54th goal [1]

Sports History

2023 Lewis Koumas makes his debut for the Wales U19 national team against Scotland U19