- Jan 1 18th Orange Bowl: #6 Georgia Tech beats #9 Baylor, 17-14
- Jan 1 18th Sugar Bowl: #3 Maryland beats #1 Tennessee, 28-13
- Jan 1 38th Rose Bowl: #4 Illinois beats #7 Stanford, 40-7
- Jan 9 Karel Sys wins European heavyweight boxing title
Marines to Recall Williams
Jan 9 Marines give notice that they will recall Ted Williams to active duty
- Jan 12 2nd NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: National Conference beats American Conference, 30-13; MVP: Dan Towler, LA Rams, FB
Stan Musial's Salary
Jan 16 US Standard Board clears Stan Musial to get an $85,000 salary
Mikan's 61 Points
Jan 20 The NBA's first superstar George Mikan scores a career high 61 points leading the Minneapolis Lakers to a 91-81 double-overtime victory over the Rochester Royals
- Jan 24 First NFL team in Texas; Dallas Texans, formerly NY Yanks; loses 11 of 12 games
Benaud Debuts
Jan 25 Test debut of great Australian cricket captain (62 Tests) and broadcaster Richie Benaud, v West Indies at the SCG
McGregor Defeats Sedgman
Jan 28 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Ken McGregor wins his first and only Grand Slam event; upsets fellow Australian Frank Sedgman 7-5, 12-10, 2-6, 6-2
- Jan 28 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: In an all-Australian final Thelma Coyne Long beats Helen Angwin 6-2, 6-3 for 1st of her 2 Australian singles titles
- Jan 31 Detroit Tigers Harry Heilmann & Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Waner elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
First African-American TV Executive
Feb 4 Jackie Robinson becomes the 1st African American executive of a major US TV and radio station as Director of Community Activities at radio WNBC-NY and TV station WNBT
NBA All-Star Game
Feb 11 2nd NBA All-Star Game, Boston Garden: East beats West, 108-91; MVP: Paul Arizin, Philadelphia Warriors, F
Sports History
Feb 13 Future world champion Rocky Marciano knocks out Italian heavyweight boxer Gino Buonvino in the 2nd round at Rhode Island Auditorium, Providence for his 40th straight win
- Feb 14 Giant slalom event for women debuts at the Winter Olympics at Oslo Games; American skier Andrea Mead-Lawrence wins gold ahead of Dagmar Rom of Austria and German Annemarie Buchner
- Feb 14 VI Winter Olympic Games open at Oslo, Norway
- Feb 15 Giant slalom event for men debuts at the Winter Olympics at Oslo Games; Stein Erikson of Norway wins gold ahead of Austrians Christian Pravda and Toni Spiß
- Feb 16 Ian Craig makes NSW cricket debut aged 16 years 249 days (NSW record)
- Feb 16 United States goes 1-2 in the 500m speed skating at the Olso Winter Olympics with Ken Henry taking gold ahead of teammate Don McDermott; Norwegian Hjalmar Anderson dominates remaining 3 speed skating events
- Feb 17 Montreal Canadiens center Elmer Lach picks up his 354th career assist in a 3-2 loss at the NY Rangers to become NHL's all-time assists leader; passes Bill Cowley's mark
- Feb 17 Trude Jochum-Beiser of Austria wins the downhill gold medal at the Oslo Winter Olympics; second career gold medal after taking out the combined event at St. Moritz (1948)
- Feb 18 Norwegian speed skater Hjalmar Anderson wins his 3rd gold medal of the Oslo Winter Olympics when he claims the 10,000m in Olympic record 16:45.8; also wins gold in 1,500m and 5,000m
- Feb 19 American defending champion Dick Button becomes 1st figure-skater to land a triple jump in competition; performs triple loop in Olympic free skate in Oslo; wins gold medal ahead of Austria’s Helmut Seibt
- Feb 20 American alpine skier Andrea Mead-Lawrence is only multi-gold medallist at the Oslo Winter Olympics when she wins the slalom, after taking out the inaugural giant slalom
Altwegg wins Gold
Feb 20 Britain's Jeannette Altwegg wins the Olympic women’s figure skating gold medal at the Olso Winter Games ahead of American Tenley Albright, who goes on to win in Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956)
- Feb 20 Emmett Ashford is certified to be first black umpire in organised baseball; has to wait until 1966 for MLB debut
- Feb 22 German husband and wife team Ria and Paul Falk win the mixed pairs gold medal at the Oslo Winter Olympics; defeat American siblings, Karol and Peter Kennedy
- Feb 22 Germany takes the Olympic bobsleigh double with gold in the 4-man event at the Oslo Winter Games; Adreas Ostler and Lorenz Niebert score their 2nd gold medals after winning the 2-man a week earlier
- Feb 23 Following his Nordic combined gold medal in St. Moritz (1948), Heikki Hasu takes his 2nd Olympic gold as part of Finland’s 4 x 10k cross country relay team at the Olso Winter Games
- Feb 23 Lydia Wideman of Finland becomes first female Olympic cross-country skiing champion; wins inaugural 10k event in Olso; Finnish medal sweep with minors to Mirja Hietamies and Siiri Rantanen
- Feb 24 Canada wins 6th Olympic ice hockey title courtesy of a final round 3-3 tie with the US at the Oslo Winter Games; Canadian center Billy Gibson top scores with 19 points
- Feb 24 Norway goes 1-2 in the men’s ski jumping event at the Oslo Winter Olympics with Arnfinn Bergmann winning gold ahead of teammate Torbjørn Falkanger
- Feb 25 VI Winter Olympic Games close at Oslo, Norway
- Feb 29 Dick Button leads an unprecedented American sweep when he wins World Men's Figure Skating Championship in Paris; beats compatriots James Grogan and Hayes Alan Jenkins for his 5th straight world title
- Feb 29 Ice Dance Championship at Paris France won by Westwood & Demmy of Great Britain
- Mar 9 Heinz Neuhaus wins Europe Heavyweight Boxing title
Golf Tournament
Mar 16 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins her 3rd Titleholders title by 7 strokes from Betsy Rawls
- Mar 22 Wales wins Five Nations Rugby Championship, Grand Slam & Triple Crown with a 9-5 win over France at St. Helen's Ground, Swansea
- Mar 23 NY Rangers blow 6-2 lead, lose 7-6 to Chicago Black Hawks; Bill Mosienko scores fastest hat trick in NHL history, 21 seconds
- Mar 26 14th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Kansas beats St. Johns, 80-63; first tournament to have a true "Final Four" format
- Mar 28 US Ladies' Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
- Apr 5 106th Grand National: Jockey Arthur Thompson and trainer Neville Crump combine for their second GN with Teal winning at odds of 100/7 [1]
US Masters Golf
Apr 6 16th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Sam Snead wins his second green jacket by 4 strokes over Jack Burke Jr
Sports History
Apr 23 Bob Cain of St. Louis Browns and Bob Feller of Cleveland Indians each pitch a one-hitter, as the home team wins 1-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis, Missouri
Sports History
Apr 23 New York Giant Hoyt Wilhelm wins his 1st game in relief & hits his only HR
- Apr 25 6th NBA Championship: Minneapolis Lakers beat NY Knicks, 4 games to 3
Golf History
Apr 26 Patty Berg scores 64, best competitive round of golf by a woman
- Apr 28 St Louis Browns lend 2 black minor leaguers to Hankyu Braves of Japan
Kentucky Derby
May 3 78th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Hill Gail wins his record fifth Derby
Sports History
May 15 Johnny Longden becomes 2nd jockey to ride 4,000 winners
- May 17 77th Preakness: Conn McCreary aboard Blue Man wins in 1:57.4
- May 21 Booklyn Dodgers score 15 runs in their 1st inning to beat Cincinnati Reds 19-1
- May 30 Charlie Grimm succeeds Tommy Holmes as manager of Boston Braves
- May 30 Indianapolis 500: Troy Ruttman at 22 years 80 days sets record for youngest 500 winner in history; his Kuzma-Offenhauser is last dirt track car to win at Indy
French Open Men's Tennis
Jun 1 French Championships Men's Tennis: England based Czech Jaroslav Drobný wins his 2nd straight French title; beats Frank Sedgman of Australia 6-2, 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
French Open Women's Tennis
Jun 1 French Championships Women's Tennis: Doris Hart beats fellow American Shirley Fry 6-4, 6-4 for her 2nd French singles title
Boxing Title Fight
Jun 5 1st sporting event televised nationally - Jersey Joe Walcott beats Ezzard Charles in 15 rounds for heavyweight boxing title, at Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Jun 5 Test Cricket debut of Freddie Trueman v India at Headingley
- Jun 7 84th Belmont: Eddie Arcaro aboard One Count wins in 2:30.2
- Jun 7 Curtis Cup Women's Golf, Muirfield, Scotland: Great Britain & Ireland score first ever win in the contest; beat US, 5-4
- Jun 10 Chicago White Sox outfielder Sam Mele is only 6th MLB player to record 6 RBI's in an inning (4th) during a 15-4 win over the A's in Philadelphia
England Cricket’s Class Divide Hit For Six
Jun 11 Opening batsman Len Hutton becomes the 1st professional cricketer to captain England in Tests
Spahn Ties Whitney Record
Jun 14 Boston Brave Warren Spahn ties NL record held by Jim Whitney with 18 strikeouts against the Cubs in 15 innings
Peters' World Record Marathon
Jun 14 British runner Jim Peters runs world record marathon (2:20:42.2)
- Jun 14 US Open Men's Golf, Northwood GC: Julius Boros wins 1st of 3 majors by 4 shots from Ed Oliver
- Jun 19 Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine no-hits Chicago Cubs, 5-0
- Jun 21 LPGA Western Open Women's Golf, Skokie CC: Betsy Rawls defeats Betty Jameson, 1 up in the final
- Jun 25 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Big Spring CC: Jim Turnesa wins 1-up over Chick Harbert in the Wednesday final
US Women's Golf Open
Jun 29 US Open Women's Golf, Bala GC: 1949 champion Louise Suggs wins, 7 strokes ahead of runners-up Marlene Bauer and Betty Jameson
- Jul 1 The first NASCAR Grand National event is run outside of the US with Buddy Shuman winning the 200-lap race at Stamford Park, Ontario, Canada
- Jul 4 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Australian Frank Sedgman wins his only Wimbledon singles title beating Czech Jaroslav Drobný 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2
Wimbledon Women's Tennis
Jul 5 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Maureen Connolly beats Louise Brough 7-5, 6-3 for the first of 3 straight Wimbledon crowns
- Jul 8 19th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 3-2 in 5 at Shibe Park, Philadelphia
British Golf Open
Jul 11 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes GC: 3 titles in 4 years for Bobby Locke of South Africa beating Australian Peter Thomson by a stroke
Tour de France
Jul 19 39th Tour de France won by Fausto Coppi of Italy
Sports History
Jul 26 Mickey Mantle hits his 1st grand-slammer
- Jul 27 Swedish race walker John Mikaelsson makes it back-to-back gold medals in the 10k event at the Helsinki Olympics, having won the corresponding race in London in 1948
Patterson KOs Tita
Aug 2 17 year-old future world champion Floyd Patterson wins the gold medal in the middleweight division at the Helsinki Olympic Games with a 1st round KO of Romanian Vasile Tita
F1 World Champion
Aug 3 Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinches Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
- Aug 3 XV Summer Olympic Games close in Helsinki, Finland
Sports History
Aug 6 St. Louis Browns veteran pitcher Satchel Paige, 46, becomes oldest pitcher to win a complete shutout, 1-0 v Detroit Tigers in 12 innings
Olympic Gold
Aug 27 Having already won 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals, Czech star Emil Zátopek claims rare Olympic treble taking out Helsinki Games marathon in OR 2:23:03.2
- Sep 7 Alberto Ascari of Italy in a Ferrari wins Formula 1 World Drivers Championship with victory in season ending Italian Grand Prix at Monza; wins title by 12 points from countryman Giuseppe Farina
- Sep 7 NY Yankees Johnny Mize's pinch-hit grand slam gives Yanks a 5-1 win at Washington, giving him a HR in all 15 major league parks
- Sep 7 Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434'1" (Tenn)
- Sep 8 US National Championship Men's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Australian Frank Sedgman wins his second straight US title; beats American Gardnar Mulloy 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; last amateur major before turning pro in 1953
US Open Women's Tennis
Sep 8 US National Championship Women's Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Defending champion Maureen Connolly beats fellow American Doris Hart 6-3, 7-5
- Sep 21 MLB Boston Braves play what turns out to be their last home game at Braves Field in Boston, losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers 8–2 before crowd of 8,822; team relocates to Milwaukee before start of next season
- Sep 23 1st closed circuit pay-TV telecast of a sports event
- Sep 23 Brooklyn Dodgers clinch NL pennant with a record of 96-57 over the New York Giants 92-62
- Sep 23 Undefeated Rocky Marciano KOs defending champion Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round at Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia for the world heavyweight boxing title
- Sep 26 Yanks clinch 4th straight & 19th AL pennant, beating A's 5-2
- Sep 28 St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Stan Musial makes his only major league pitching appearance, throwing one pitch to Chicago Cubs Frank Baumholtz
- Oct 5 6th NHL All-Star Game, Detroit Olympia, Detroit, MI: 1st Team ties 2nd Team, 1-1; second year format - 1st v 2nd All-Star Teams, with additional players
- Oct 7 Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, 4-2 at Ebbets Field in Game 7 to tie own record 4th straight WS; MVP: NY 1B Johnny Mize
Cricket History
Oct 12 Hanif Mohammad completes twin cricket centuries for Pakistan v North Zone (India) in Amritsar; 121 & 109 no
- Oct 25 Nazar Mohammad scores Pakistan's first ever Test cricket century (124no) in 2nd Test v India in Lucknow
Cricket History
Oct 26 Pakistan's 1st Test Cricket win Fazal Mahmood 12 wkts v India
- Oct 30 4th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Tim Flock wins
- Nov 12 Philadelphia A's pitcher Bobby Shantz wins AL MVP
- Nov 12 White Sox place Jim Rivera on 1 year probation after cleared of rape
- Nov 20 Chicago Cubs slugging left fielder Hank Sauer wins NL MVP
- Nov 21 Dodgers pitcher Joe Black wins NL Rookie of Year
- Nov 27 Only win ever for NFL's Dallas Texans (1-11), beating the Chicago Bears, 27-23 at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio [1]
- Nov 29 17th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 21-0 in Birmingham
- Nov 29 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts prove to be the dominant club in Canada with their record 10th Championship; beat Edmonton Eskimos, 21-11
- Nov 30 Jackie Robinson accuses the NY Yankees of racial bias on national television
- Dec 2 18th Heisman Trophy Award: Billy Vessels, Oklahoma (HB)
- Dec 13 NFL Dallas Texans (former NY Yanks) play final game, losing 41-6 to the Lions in Detroit; finish with record of 1-11
- Dec 14 R H Shodhan scores 110 on Test Cricket debut v Pakistan, Calcutta
- Dec 18 Ellis W. Ryan resigns as Cleveland Indians president
- Dec 28 National Football League Championship, Cleveland Municipal Stadium: Detroit Lions beat Cleveland Browns, 17-7
Nardico vs. LaMotta
Dec 31 Danny Nardico stops former world middleweight champion Jake LaMotta in 7 rounds in a light heavyweight non-title bout in Coral Gables, Florida; LaMotta is knocked down for the only time in his career, his corner stopping fight after the round
Australia Retains Title
Dec 31 Davis Cup Men's Tennis, Memorial Drive, Adelaide: Vic Seixas beats Ken McGregor in 4 sets but Australia retains title for third straight year; beats US, 4-1 in Adelaide
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions