Events in Sports History in 1866

  • Mar 7 28th Grand National: 1852 winner Alec Goodman wins his second GN aboard Irish 40/1 outsider Salamander
  • May 21 1st-class debut of cricketer Fred Grace aged 15 years 159 days at the Magdalen Ground, Oxford
  • Jul 23 Cincinnati Baseball club (Red Stockings) forms

British Golf Open

Sep 13 British Open Men's Golf, Prestwick GC: Willie Park Sr. wins his 3rd title; beats his brother Davie Park by 2 strokes

  • Sep 25 (Leonard W) Jerome Park opens in Bronx for horse racing
  • Nov 20 French inventor Pierre Lallement patents rotary crank bicycle
  • Dec 11 1st yacht race across Atlantic Ocean; schooners Fleetwing, Vesta and the Henrietta, with NY playboy Gordon Bennett on board, leave Sandy Hook for the Scilly Isles (the Henrietta wins)
  • Dec 23 First yacht race across the Atlantic won by the schooner Henrietta owned by Gordon Bennett of New York, first to reach Bishop Rock in the Scilly Isles after racing from NY