- 1852 America's first intercollegiate sporting event takes place when the Harvard heavyweight rowing crew beats Yale by 2 lengths over 2 miles on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
- 1881 US National Lawn Tennis Association removes "National" from its name
- 1906 Washington Nationals' Tom Hughes becomes the first MLB pitcher to win a 1-0 extra innings game with his own home run in the 10th inning against the St. Louis Browns
Umpire Starts a Riot
1909 MLB umpire Tim Hurst instigates a riot by spitting in the face of A's second baseman Eddie Collins, who questioned a call; Hurst is banned for life
- 1914 Yankees catcher Les Nunamaker throws out three Tigers' runners at second base during the first inning, the only time in the 20th century
- 1921 MLB Commissioner Kenesaw Landis hands out lifetime bans to eight Chicago White Sox players accused in the Black Sox scandal despite their acquittal by a Chicago jury
Games Cancelled on President's Death
1923 Baseball games are canceled following the death of US President Warren G. Harding
Piet Moeskops Sprint Champion
1924 Dutch track cyclist Piet Moeskops wins his fourth consecutive UCI World Sprint Championship in Paris
- 1928 Ray Barbuti wins the 400 m in 47.8 at the Amsterdam Olympics, the only individual track event won by an American at the Games
Chuck Klein's Second Streak
1930 For the second time in the year, Phillies' outfielder Chuck Klein hits safely in 26 straight games, but the run is halted in the second game of a doubleheader against the Boston Braves
- 1932 Official automatic timing and photo-finish camera for track events are used for the first time at the Los Angeles Olympics, instrumental in changing the 110 m hurdles final; review gives Donald Finlay bronze ahead of American Jack Keller
- 1933 Philadelphia A's defeat NY Yankees 7-0, the first time in 308 games "Bronx Bombers" are shut out
1936 American sprinter Jesse Owens wins the 100 m in 10.3 seconds in front of Adolf Hitler in a famous race at the Berlin Olympics, the first of four gold medals he wins at the Games
- 1936 Karl Hein (Olympic record of 56.49) and Erwin Blask achieve a German 1-2 in the hammer throw at the Berlin Olympics
DiMaggio Ends Streak
1941 New York Yankees Joe DiMaggio goes 0-4 in 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Browns, ending his on-base streak of 74 games, second longest in MLB history
- 1948 American divers Vicki Draves, Zoe Ann Olsen and Patsy Elsener go 1-2-3 in a US clean sweep of the medals in the women's 3 m springboard at the London Olympics
- 1948 An American 1-2 in the men's 200 m at the London Olympics with Mel Patton (21.1) defeating teammate Barney Ewell
- 1948 An American clean sweep of the medals in the men's 3 m springboard diving at the London Olympics with Bruce Harlan winning gold, Miller Anderson silver and Sammy Lee bronze
- 1948 An American sweep of the medals in the men's shot put at the London Olympics with Wilbur Thompson taking gold ahead of teammates Jim Delaney and Jim Fuchs
Paige's Cleveland Debut
1948 Negro League veteran pitcher Satchel Paige, age 42, makes his first start for Cleveland Indians, and goes 7 innings in a 5-3 win against Washington
- 1948 The US 4 x 200 m freestyle relay team of Wally Ris, Jimmy McLane, Wally Wolf, and Bill Smith swim a world record of 8:46.0 to win gold at the London Olympics
- 1949 Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball League (NBL) merge to form the National Basketball Association (NBA), with Maurice Podoloff elected as head of the new league
1952 Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinches the Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship by winning the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
- 1952 XV Summer Olympic Games close at the Helsingin Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland
- 1955 Automobile Association of America ends support of auto racing; Le Mans disaster and Bill Vukovich death at Indianapolis are contributing factors
- 1955 Belgian middle-distance runner Roger Moens breaks Rudolf Harbig's long-standing 800 m world record (1:45.7) in Oslo, Norway
- 1956 American sprinter Willie Williams sets a 100 m world record at 10.1 in Berlin, Germany
- 1958 MLB Baltimore Orioles manager Paul Richards is ejected from both games of a doubleheader at Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan
- 1959 27th MLB All-Star Game: AL wins 5-3 at Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
- 1959 AL defeats NL 5-3 in Game 2 of the All-Star Baseball doubleheader to boost the player pension fund at LA Memorial Coliseum
- 1960 For the only time in MLB history, teams exchange managers as Detroit trades Jimmy Dykes (44-52) for Cleveland's Joe Gordon (49-46)
- 1960 Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) defeat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 43-16 in an exhibition game at CNE Stadium in Toronto
- 1961 Pittsburgh Pirates rout St. Louis Cardinals 19-0, the largest lopsided shutout in NL history
- 1962 NY Met Frank Thomas hits his sixth home run in three games
- 1969 Cincinnati Reds, with 25 hits and 10 runs in the 5th, edge Philadelphia Phillies 19-17 at Connie Mack Stadium
- 1970 The second NFL work stoppage ends with NFL and Players' Association agreeing to a 4-year, $19.1 million deal
1979 Sam Snead, at 67 years, 2 months, and 7 days, sets the record for the oldest player to make the cut in a major - PGA Championship at Oakland Hills CC
- 1980 Al Kaline, Duke Snider, Chuck Klein, and Tom Yawkey are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
- 1980 XXII Summer Olympic Games close at the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russia
- 1982 Pitching coach Clyde King becomes the New York Yankees' third manager of the season, replacing Gene Michael after the Yankees are swept at home by the Chicago White Sox
- 1984 17-year-old Australian swimmer Jon Sieben stages a withering finish to upset hot favorite Michael Gross of West Germany in the 200 m butterfly at the Los Angeles Olympics in a world record time of 1:57.04
- 1984 Mary Lou Retton scores 10 for final vault to win the individual all-round competition in Los Angeles and become the first American woman to win an Olympic gymnastics medal
- 1984 Mexicans Ernesto Canto and Raúl González take the gold and silver medals in the 20 km walk at the Los Angeles Olympics
- 1986 First NFL "American Bowl" exhibition game at London's Wembley Stadium; Chicago Bears defeat Dallas Cowboys 17-6
Jack Morris
1987 Detroit Tigers ace Jack Morris ties the AL record with five wild pitches in a 4-2, 10-inning loss against the Kansas City Royals
- 1987 Twins pitcher Joe Niekro is caught with a file on the mound in an 11-3 win against the Angels, ejected and suspended for 10 games
- 1989 Cincinnati Reds set an MLB record for the most hits in the first inning of a game with 16, scoring 14 runs in an 18-1 rout of the Houston Astros
- 1989 Jorge Velásquez wins aboard Maddie Bumpo in the 3rd at Arlington International Racecourse to become only the fifth jockey in the world to ride 6,000 career winners
Rickey Henderson
1989 MLB Oakland A's outfielder Rickey Henderson sets an AL record of 50 stolen bases in 9 of his first 11 big-league seasons
- 1990 New York Yankees rookie first baseman Kevin Maas sets an MLB record by hitting 10 home runs in the fewest at-bats (72)
Andre Agassi
1996 American Andre Agassi wins the men's singles tennis gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics, defeating Spaniard Sergi Bruguera 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
1996 Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Induráin of Spain wins the 52.2 km road time trial in 1:04:05, at the Atlanta Olympics, 12 seconds ahead of countryman Abraham Olano
- 1997 Canadian Open Women's Golf (du Maurier Classic), Glen Abbey GC: Colleen Walker wins by two shots against Liselotte Neumann of Sweden
- 1997 Manchester United defeats Chelsea 4-2 on penalties to win the Charity Shield after a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at Wembley
- 1998 The Oval hosts its first competitive cricket match played under floodlights in London as the home team Surrey loses to Sussex by 8 wickets in the day/night 40-over fixture
Arsenal Sign Thierry Henry
1999 Arsenal FC completes a huge signing coup, snapping up ace French striker Thierry Henry for an estimated fee of £11 million from Italian club Juventus
- 2000 England cricket wicket-keeper Alec Stewart becomes only the 4th batsman to score a century (105) in his 100th Test, during the 3rd Test against the West Indies at Old Trafford
- 2001 Eighth Athletics World Championships open in Edmonton, Canada
- 2001 Olympic champion Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia becomes the first athlete to achieve the Olympics-World Championships marathon double, running 2:12:42 to defeat Kenya's Simon Biwott by just 0.1 seconds in the Edmonton World Championships
2003 British Open Women's Golf, Royal Lytham & St Annes GC: Annika Sörenstam of Sweden wins by 1 stroke from Se Ri Pak; completes career grand slam for Sörenstam
Albert Pujols
2004 St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols becomes the first player in MLB history to hit at least 30 home runs in each of his first four seasons as the Cardinals beat Montreal 10-6
Baseball Record
2006 Barry Bonds' 715th MLB home run ball, which moves him past Babe Ruth for second all-time, fetches $220,100 at auction
- 2006 Brazilian Champ Car driver Cristiano da Matta crashes into a deer during testing at Road America, Wisconsin; seriously injured but returns to racing in 2008
2008 British Open Women's Golf, Sunningdale GC: Jiyai Shin of South Korea shoots a final round of 66 (−6) to win her first major championship, three strokes ahead of runner-up Yani Tseng
2008 US Senior Open Men's Golf, Broadmoor GC: Eduardo Romero of Argentina wins by four strokes ahead of Fred Funk for his second Champions Tour major title
- 2012 American Missy Franklin swims a world record 2:04.06 to win the 200 m backstroke gold medal at the London Olympics
Michael Phelps
2012 American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins the 100 m butterfly in London to take his all-time Olympic gold medal tally to a record 17
- 2013 Super Rugby Final, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton: Chiefs successfully defend title with a 27-22 over ACT Brumbies
Alex Puccio
2014 Alex Puccio ascends Jade in Rocky Mountain National Park, becoming the fourth woman to climb V14
- 2016 International Olympic Committee approves baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding to be included in the sports program for the 2020 Games only; total number of sports is 33
Neymar's Record Transfer
2017 Brazilian soccer forward Neymar transfers from FC Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain for a world-record transfer fee of €222 million on a five-year contract
Elaine Thompson-Herah
2021 Jamaican athlete Elaine Thompson-Herah wins 200 m gold in Tokyo to become the first female to claim the 100/200 m double at consecutive Olympic Games
- 2021 Karsten Warholm of Norway runs the first sub-46 second 400 m hurdles in a world record of 45.94 seconds to claim the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics
- 2021 New Zealand canoeist Lisa Carrington wins her third straight Olympic K-1 200 m title at the Tokyo Games; also wins K-2 500 m for her fourth Olympic gold medal
First WNBA Player to 10,000 Points
2023 Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi becomes the first WNBA player to reach 10,000 points as she scores 42 points in a 91-71 win over the Atlanta Dream at Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Olympic Gold
2024 American gymnast Simone Biles wins the vault final for her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics and career seventh gold over three Games
Most Decorated Female Swimmer
2024 American swimmer Katie Ledecky ties Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian of all time when she wins her fourth consecutive 800m in Paris, her ninth individual gold medal
- 2024 Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh wins the 200 m individual medley for her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics, becoming the first Canadian Olympian to win three in one Games
- 2024 In a major upset in athletics, Julien Alfred edges race favorite Sha'Carri Richardson of the US for the women's 100 m gold medal at the Paris Olympics; St. Lucia's first-ever Olympic medal
- 2024 US mixed 4×100 m medley relay team of Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Gretchen Walsh, and Torri Huske win gold in a new world record of 3:37.43 at the Paris Olympic Games
- 2025 British Open Women's Golf, Royal Porthcawl GC: Miyū Yamashita of Japan claims her first major title by 2 strokes from England's Charley Hull
- 2025 MLB Speedway Classic: Atlanta Braves defeat Cincinnati Reds 4-2 before the largest crowd for a regular season baseball game, at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee
