- 1871 The Rugby Football Union is formed at a meeting of 21 clubs at the Pall Mall Restaurant, London, England
Thorpe Gives Up Medals
1913 Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing 2 seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics
- 1921 Toronto NHL center Corb Denneny scores 6 goals to lead St. Patricks to a 10-3 win over Hamilton Tigers in Toronto
1924 American skater Charles Jewtraw claims the first ever Winter Olympic gold medal; wins 500m speed skating event in 44.0s at the Chamonix Games in France
- 1924 Australasian Championships Men's Tennis. Melbourne: James Anderson wins 2nd of 3 Australasian titles; beats fellow Australian Richard Schlesinger 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3
- 1924 Australasian Championships Women's Tennis, Melbourne: All-Australian final; Sylvia Lance Harper beats Esna Boyd Robertson 6-3, 3-6, 8-6
Thunberg's First Gold
1924 Clas Thunberg of Finland claims his first of 5 gold medals when he wins the 5,000m speed skating in 2:20.8 at the Chamonix Winter Olympics
Bradman's 128 in 96 Minutes
1934 Australian cricket batting icon Don Bradman scores 128 in just 96 minutes for NSW v Victoria in Sydney; smashes 17 x fours, 4 x sixes
1948 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: Adrian Quist wins his 3rd Australian title; beats fellow Australian and doubles partner John Bromwich 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
- 1948 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Marie Toomey 6-3, 6-1 for 4th straight Australian single title
- 1956 VII Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
- 1957 Joseph F Cairnes succeeds Lou Perini as President of Milwaukee Braves
1959 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: American based Peruvian Alex Olmedo wins his first Grand Slam event; beats Neale Fraser of Australia 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
- 1959 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Mary Carter Reitano wins her 2nd home singles title; beats Renee Schuurman of South Africa 6-2, 6-3
- 1960 High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points
- 1960 Oakland Raiders enter the American Football League
Rozelle Elected Commissioner
1960 Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot
- 1963 Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone
1500m Skate Record
1966 Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:06.2)
- 1970 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Margaret Court beats fellow Australian Kerry Melville Reid 6-1, 6-3; Court retains title for 9th Australian singles crown and 1st leg of her Grand Slam
- 1976 NFL Pro Bowl, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans: NFC beats AFC, 23-20; MVP: Billy Johnson, Houston Oilers, WR
- 1977 Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai & Marine Tcherkasova are 1st to perform a quadruple twist lift in Helsinki
- 1980 Islanders & Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game
- 1982 In a 9-2 NHL win over Pittsburgh Penguins, the NY Islanders score 4 goals within 1:38, 5 within 2:37 in a 6 goal 1st period
- 1984 Nordiques' Michel Goulet scored on 9th penalty shot against Islanders
Gretzky's 50th Goal
1985 Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season
- 1986 Hein Vergeer becomes European skating champion
- 1986 Super Bowl XX, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana: Chicago Bears beat New England Patriots, 46-10; MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE
- 1990 Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as asst GM (highest-ranking African American female in a major-league front office)
1991 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Monica Seles becomes the only Yugoslav player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Jana Novotná 5-7, 6-3, 6-1
- 1991 Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame
1992 Australian Open Men's Tennis: American Jim Courier wins 2nd career Grand Slam title and 1st Australian title; beats Stefan Edberg of Sweden 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
- 1992 Super Bowl XXVI, Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota: Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24; MVP: Mark Rypien, Washington, QB
- 1993 Everton scores a 3-1 away win over Wimbledon at Selhurst Park in London; lowest ever attendance at an EPL fixture, 3,039
- 1995 With a record 6,254,427 ballots cast by fans in NBA All-Star Voting, Detroit's Grant Hill becomes the first rookie to lead all NBA players in All-Star votes received, earning #1 on 1,289,585 ballots
1997 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras wins his 2nd and last Australian title; beats Carlos Moyá of Spain 6-2, 6-3, 6-3
1997 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Martina Hingis becomes first Swiss player – male or female – to win a Grand Slam singles title; beats Mary Pierce of France 6-2, 6-2
Lemieux Ties Record
1997 Mario Lemieux ties NHL record with 4 goals in the 3rd period as Pittsburgh wins, 5-2 at Montreal; 39th career hat trick and 13th 4-goal game, tying NHL record shared by Wayne Gretzky & Mike Bossy
- 1997 Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
- 2002 Australian Open Women's Tennis: American Jennifer Capriati wins her 2nd consecutive Australian title; beats Martina Hingis 4-6, 7-6, 6-2
2003 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Andre Agassi of the US wins his 8th and last Grand Slam title; beats Rainer Schuttler of Germany 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
- 2003 Super Bowl XXXVII, Qualc:omm Stadium, San Diego, CA: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders, 48-21; MVP: Dexter Jackson, Tampa Bay, S
2013 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Victoria Azarenka of Belarus wins her 2nd straight Australian title; beats Li Na of China 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2014 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland wins his first major title; beats Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
2014 NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: Team Rice beats Team Sanders, 22-21; MVPs: Nick Foles, Philadelphia, QB; Derrick Johnson, KC Chiefs, LB
- 2019 64th NHL All Star Games, SAP Centre, San Jose, CA: Metropolitan All Stars win four-team, 3-on-3 tournament; MVP: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins, C
2019 Australian Open Women's Tennis: Naomi Osaka becomes world #1 ranked player with 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 win over Petra Kvitová of the Czech Republic; first Japanese player to win Australian singles title
Kobe Byrant Dies in Helicopter Crash
2020 LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant dies in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, southern California; considered one of the greatest players in the game's history
2020 NFL Pro Bowl, Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida: AFC beats NFC, 38-33; MVP's: Lamar Jackson, QB (Baltimore Ravens), Calais Campbell, DE (Jacksonville Jaguars)
- 2025 AFC Championship, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri: Kansas City Chiefs beat Buffalo Bills, 32-29 to advance to the NFL Super Bowl
- 2025 Australian Open Men's Tennis: Jannik Sinner of Italy makes it back-to-back open titles with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 win over Germany's Alexander Zverev
- 2025 Ilia Malinin (20) wins his third consecutive US Men's Figure Skating Championship at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas
- 2025 NFC Championship, Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Eagles beat Washington Commanders, 55-23 to advance to the NFL Super Bowl
