On This Week – 19th June 2017

19^th – The first baseball match took place at Elysian Fields, Hoboken (birthplace of Frank Sinatra as a by the way!), New York, in 1846. The New York Nine beat the sport’s first organised club, the Knickerbocker Club, 23-1. The Hungarian athlete Alajos Szokolyi was born in 1871; he was also a sports organiser/manager, archivist and physician. He competed at the 1896 Olympics, winning the bronze medal in 100m. In the same year he also won the first ever edition of the Hungarian Athletics Championships in 100yds. The “first lady of the turf”, Gladys Mills Phipps, American socialite, sportswoman and thoroughbred race horse owner and breeder was born on this day on. 1883. She was an avid ice skater and an excellent golfer; winning a number of tournaments, including a match play championship at the Newport, Rhode Island, in which she beat her male counterparts. She was, however, first and foremost a lover of horses. Her father had owned racing stables in the United States and in France. Her twin, Beatrice, would inherit the French stable and become a leading owner in that country. Gladys Phipps became involved in the sport of Thoroughbred racing in 1926, when she and her brother Ogden L. Mills established the highly successful Wheatley Stable. Both of her children became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing. One of the most successful batsmen in English cricket, Walter Hammond, was born in 1903. He played for England 85 times between 1927 and 1947 and scored a then Test record 7249 runs. His 336 not out against New Zealand at Auckland in 1933 was also a Test record at the time. He scored 50,511 runs in first-class cricket. Rūdolfs Jurciņš, Latvian basketball player, was born today in 1909. Jurciņš won a gold medal at the 1935 EuroBasket competition, becoming first European champion. He participated at the 1936 Olympics, where Latvia national basketball team came 15^th/18^th. Jurciņš started to play basketball at the age of 15 in 1924. Before that he played football. He studied in the University of Latvia but didn’t graduate. However he played for University basketball team Universitātes sports from 1930 until 1937. He was a 6 time Latvian champion and made his debut in the national basketball team in 1928. Overall, he played 23 games in the national team and was a team captain.He was arrested in 1945 and deported to the GULAG camp in 1947; he died on 22 July 1948 in Molotov Oblast, Soviet Union. American Olympic swimming champion and former world record holder Helene Madison was born in 1913. She won three golds, 100m and 400m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay, at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, becoming, along with Romeo Neri of Italy, the most successful athlete at the 1932 Games. In sixteen months in 1930 and 1931, she broke sixteen world records in various distances. Following the 1932 Olympics she appeared in the films The Human Fish and The Warrior’s Husband and hence, as a professional, was not allowed to participate in the1936 Berlin Olympics. After her swimming career, she had odd jobs as a swimming instructor, department store clerk and a nurse. Divorced three times and living alone, she died of throat cancer in 1970 in Seattle, Washington. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1966, and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992. Shirley Muldowney,  known professionally as “Cha Cha” and the “First Lady of Drag Racing”,was born in 1940. . She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events. A crash in 1984 crushed her hands, pelvis, and legs, necessitating half a dozen operations and 18 months of therapy.  Muldowney was side-lined for a long period, but returned to the circuit in the late 1980s. She continued to race, mostly without major sponsorship, throughout the 1990s in IHRA competition as well as match-racing events. She returned to the NHRA towards the end of her career, running select events until her retirement at the end of 2003. Former World Champion Archer Linda Myers was born in 1947. She was selected to represent the United States at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, where she finished 5th and 7th respectively. She became the World Champion at the 1973 World Archery Championships in Grenoble, and also won a team silver medal. England rugby international Rory Underwood was born in 1963. With 85 caps he is third in the “most capped player” list, behind Johnny Wilkinson with 91 and Jason Leonard with 114. Underwood made his debut against Ireland in 1984, a very talented and speedy winger; he is also one of England’s top try scorers with 49 to his credit. Maria Cioncan, middle distance runner from Romania was born on this day in 1977, she is perhaps best known for winning a bronze in the 1500m at the 2004 Olympics. Cioncan’s last competition on the top international level was the 2006 World Indoor Championships, where she failed to get past the first heat of the 800m. Earlier that indoor season she ran an indoor personal best of 2:01.70.On January 21, 2007, Maria died in a car accident near Pleven, Bulgaria. She was returning from a training camp in Greece when her vehicle flipped over and struck a tree, killing her instantly.On this day in 1978 Ian Botham completed a remarkable Test match against Pakistan at Lord’s when he became the first man to score a century and take eight wickets in an innings (8-34). On this very same day in 1978, Garfield, holder of the Guinness World Record for the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip, made its debut. The first male gymnast from Brazil and South American to win a World Championship medal, Diego Matias Hypólito was born in1986. He also won 63 medals in the gymnasts World Cup and has represented Brazil in 3 Olympics: 2008, 2012 and 2016. He won Floor silver at the 2016 Olympics.  He is also the younger brother of Daniele Hypólito, the first Brazilian gymnast ever to medal at Worlds. The 2005 United States Grand Prix, one of the most controversial F1 races in modern history, was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Out of the 20 cars that entered the race, only the six cars from the teams using Bridgestone tyres (Ferrari, Jordan and Minardi) competed. The remaining fourteen entrants, all using Michelin tyres, completed the parade lap (thus having technically taken part in the race, avoiding punishment), but retired to the pits before the race started. Following several tyre failures before the race, most spectacularly on Ralf Schumacher’s Toyota during practice, Michelin advised its seven customer teams that without a reduction in speed in Turn 13, the tyres provided for the race would only be safe for 10 laps, this situation  worsened by the 2005 F1 rules, which forbade tyre changes during the race. FIA, the sport’s governing body, refused a compromise proposal from Michelin to allow a chicane to be installed, maintaining that such rule changes would be grossly unfair to the Bridgestone-shod teams, who had come prepared with properly working tyres, and that a last-minute change to the track layout would be dangerous. The Michelin teams, unable to come to a compromise with the FIA, decided not to participate. It was later stated that the Michelin-shod teams could have potentially exposed themselves to criminal liability under Indiana state law had they competed. Michael Schumacher was the eventual winner, with his teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second. The result significantly boosted Schumacher’s championship standing, placing him third overall—no driver above him in driver championship points took part in the race.  The younger brother of Yaya and Kolo Toure, Ibrahim Touré died today in 2014 aged 28. Ibrahim began his senior career with Ukrainian side Metalurh Donetsk in 2003, before joining French team Nice, originally on loan, following a successful trial In 2009, he joined Syrian club Al-Ittihad, then signed for Makasa the following year and loaned to Telephonat until June 2012. He then transferred to Al-Safa, scoring six goals in ten league games. Unlike his two brothers, Ibrahim never appeared in an international match. He was only eligible for his country of birth, the Ivory Coast. Both of his brothers travelled to feature in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments of the FIFA World Cup. Touré died in Manchester after a short battle with cancer. His brothers Yaya and Kolo were in Brazil at the time, representing the Ivory Coast at the 2014 World Cup. In an announcement, the Ivorian Football Federation said that “just a few hours after” the match against Colombia (which the Ivory Coast lost 2–1), the Tourés received news of Ibrahim’s death. Yaya and Kolo, were told by their father to remain in Brazil for the remainder of the World Cup.

 

20^th – The paddle-wheel steamship Savannah arrives in Liverpool today in1819, after a voyage of 27 days and 11 hours, thereby becoming the first steamship to successfully cross the Atlantic. Samuel Morse received the patent for the Telegraph on this day in 1840. Jack Worrall, Australian rules footballer and Test cricketer, was born in 1861.He was one of Australia’s great all-round sports people of the nineteenth century, and was involved in Australian football and cricket at the elite level for many decades. After his retirement, he coached both sports, and is considered the “father” of Australian football coaching. Worrall had an extended career as a sporting journalist, and he was a highly respected member of the press box right up until his death in 1937. He was no stranger to conflict, and his forthright manner embroiled him in a number of sporting controversies throughout his lifetime. The American golfer, Daniel Edward “Ned” Sawyer was born today in 1882 In 1904 Sawyer was part of the American team that won the Olympic gold medal.In the individual competition, he finished ninth in the qualification and was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the match play. Sawyer won the 1906 Western Amateur after finishing runner-up in 1904 and finished runner-up in the 1905 US Amateur. Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian spinto-soprano was born in 1891. After studing in Naples at the Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella with Beniamino Carelli, she made her debut in Rome in 1920, singing mezzo-soprano roles for the next three years. After further studies with the retired singers Adelina Stehle and Tina Poli-Randaccio, she made a second debut as a soprano in 1923. Rapidly invited to all the great opera houses of Europe, although she never appeared in Paris or London, she also sang to great acclaim in South America. She was chosen by Dame Nellie Melba to take part in her farewell tour of Australia in 1928. Arangi-Lombardi was especially renowned in roles such as La vestale, Lucrezia Borgia, La Gioconda, and Aida. She appeared at the Salzburg Festival in 1935 but retired from the stage, while still in good voice, three years later. She then taught at the Music Conservatory in Milan, and later in Ankara, where she had the well-known soprano Leyla Gencer as a pupil. Born today in 1914  Muazzez İlmiye Çığ, the  Turkish archaeologist and Assyriologist who specializes in the study of Sumerian civilization. In 2006, at the age of 92, she received world-wide coverage in international media outlets when, upon publication of her 2005 book which described, among other topics, how her research into the history of the headscarf revealed that it did not originate in the Muslim world, but was worn five thousand years ago by Sumerian priestesses who initiated young men into sex. Pancho “Segoo” Segura, born Francisco Olegario Segura on this day in 1921, is a former leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. In 1950 and 1952, as a professional, he was the World Co-No. 1 player. He was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, but moved to the United States in the late 1930s and is a citizen of both countries. He is the only player to have won the US Pro title on three different surfaces (which he did consecutively from 1950–1952). Today in 1930 Bobby Jones shoots a 291 to win the 65^th edition of the British Golf Open at The Royal Liverpool GC at Hoylake. This was Jones’s third Open title, winning by two strokes over Leo Diegel and Macdonald Smith, on his way to the single-season Grand Slam. On this day in 1936 Jesse Owens sets a new 100m world record at the NCAA Track & Field Championships at Chicago, the new mark was 10.2secs.Indian Test cricketer Ramakant Bhikaji Desai was born in 1939. A fast bowler, he stood less than 5feet 6inches in height, earning him the nickname ‘Tiny’. He made his Test debut against West Indies in 1958-59. His best bowling performance in Tests was 6 for 56 against New Zealand at Bombay in 1964-65. At Dunedin in 1967-68 his jaw was fractured by a ball from Dick Motz, despite which he added 57 runs for the last wicket with Bishen Bedi. In his first year in the Ranji Trophy, he took 50 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 11.10 – it is still a record for Bombay. As the only bowler of pace in the Indian team, he was perennially overworked. When Desai retired from regular first-class cricket after the 1968-69 season, when still only 29 years old, P.N. Sundaresan wrote that he “bowled his heart out on the dead pitches in India … A more judicious use of his talent both in the Ranji Trophy and other matches could have preserved him as a penetrating bowler for a longer period.” Desai was the chairman of selectors from 1996-97. He resigned the post a month before his death. He died four days after being admitted in a hospital for a cardiac arrest.At Wimbledon in 1949 American tennis player Gussie Moran, nicknamed “Gorgeous Gussie”, caused a sensation when she appeared wearing lace-trimmed knickers designed by Teddy Tinling. The knickers outraged the All-England Club so much that Tinling was not a welcome visitor at Wimbledon for 33 years! Mexican Pro tennis player Raúl Ramírez was born in 1953. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s, and is regarded as one of the great all-around players of the modern era.  Ramírez was also the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing the feat in 1976. He attended and played tennis at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.South African-born Northants and England Test cricketer Allan Lamb was born in 1954. England vice-captain on the 1989-9 tour to the West Indies, he took over as skipper or the fourth and fifth Tests in Graham Gooch’s absence. Boxing history was made at the New York Polo Grounds in 1960 when Floyd Patterson knocked out Sweden’s Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round to become the first man to regain the world heavyweight title and the first to beat the Swede. Patterson had lost his crown to Johansson a year earlier. Former East-German sprinter Silke Möller (née Gladisch was born in 1964; in the 1980s she was considered one of the best female sprinters in the world. She was a member of the East German quartet that broke the world record in the 4×100m relay at the World Cup in Canberra on October 6, 1985. She and teammates Sabine Rieger, Marlies Göhr, and Ingrid Auerswald ran a time of 41.37seconds, which stood as the world record until 2012. She is the 1987 World champion at both 100m and 200m. 32 years to the day after Jesse  Owens ran 100m in 10.2, Jim Hines,in 1968,  became the first person to officially run the distance in under 10 seconds. His place in history was made during the the 1968 US national championships in Sacramento, California, where he was recorded with a 9.9 (manual timing), with an electronic time of 10.03 – two other athletes, Ronnie Ray Smith behind him (electronic time 10.13) and Charles Greene in the other semi-final (electronic time 10.09) having the same official clocking. That evening at the Hughes Stadium has been dubbed by track and field historians as the “Night of Speed”. Horace Lindrum, born Horace Norman William Morrell, Australian professional snooker and billiards player, died on this day in 1974 aged 62.  Although the dominant snooker player in Australia, he was eclipsed by Joe Davis, whom he never beat on level terms. Lindrum contested three World Championship finals against Davis, in 1936, 1937 and 1946, losing all three but coming closer than anyone to beating him. When past his best, Lindrum won the 1952 World Championship which, because of a dispute between the governing body and the players’ association, was only contested by himself and New Zealander Clark McConachy. New Zealand beat France 29-9 at Auckland in 1987 to become the first winners of the Rugby Union World Cup.  British cartoonist Jim Bamber, best known for his motor racing related caricatures, died on this day in 2014 at 65.. His images now adorn every issue of Autosport magazines as well as his annual compilation of cartoons from the magazine called The Pits. During his time as an illustrator, looking at a picture of Stig Blomqvist in his driver’s overall and helmet, Bamber began to practice cartoon drawing of drivers in overalls and a full-face helmet, of whom Blomqvist was the first caricature drawn by Bamber. Rather than drawing faces of drivers, a common feature at the time, he short-cutted it by drawing a ball as a helmet and adding names above their visors to identify drivers. In 1983, Bamber took his first commissioned job as a cartoonist for the monthly car magazine Car & Car Conversions, titled “Yumping Yarns”, to which he contributed monthly specialising in World Championship Rallying. This was followed by a stint for Autosport for a cartoon now known as “Bamber’s view”, specialising mostly in topics related to F1. Although appearing regularly in the magazine, his cartoon became a weekly feature in 1994 which continues to this day. In addition, Bamber also created a short lived comic strip called “Bumpa the Bear” that appeared weekly in Auto Express from 1991 to 1992.By 1988, his drivers’ caricatures had evolved from a lanky goggle-eyed character to a dumpier version. Bamber used this design for the rest of his career.

 

21^st – Dutch Olympic Fencer Adrianus de Jong was born on this day in 1882. He fenced at five Olympics between 1906 and 1928, winning five bronze medals. This record would not be broken by a Dutchman until shooter Eric Swinkels made his sixth Olympic appearance in 1996. Between 1910 and 1928 de Jong won eighteen Dutch titles; 9 using the épée; 6 using the sabre; and 3 using the foil. In 1924, he held titles in all three weapons simultaneously. However, he had his greatest international success with the sabre, where he won the first two World Championships in 1922 and 1923, and Olympic four bronze medals in 1912, 1920, and 1924. With the épée, he won bronze at the 1912 Olympics and silver at the 1922 world championships. During the individual sabre event at the 1924 Olympics, he reached the semi-finals against Hungarian Sándor Pósta and was leading by three hits when an audience member fell through his chair. This distracted the jury, who failed to see De Jong’s decisive hit. Disrupted, De Jong lost the bout. De Jong eventually finished fifth (one ahead of eventual seven-time Danish Olympian Ivan Osiier) while Pósta went on to win gold. At the age of 54, De Jong won the épéé event at the Military World Championships in 1936.After retiring from the army, De Jong became the manager of the Tampat Senang, an Indonesian restaurant in The Hague. He died in 1966. On this day in 1907 two Golfing Opens came to a conclusion; at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, the 13^th US Open saw Alec Ross shoot a 302 to take the title, while in the Royal Liverpool GC in Hoylake, the 47^th British Open was being staged. That was won by Arnaud Massy who shot a 312 to card the winning score. Vladimir Simagin, Russian Chess Grandmaster, was born in 1919.  He was three times Moscow champion (1947, 1956, and 1959), helped to train Vasily Smyslov to the World Championship, and made many significant contributions to chess openings. He died of a heart attack while playing in the Kislovodsk tournament. Swiss figure skater Hans Gerschwiler was born today in 1920. He made his international debut at the 1939 European Championships, coming 5th. Between 1939 and 1947, no international skating competitions were held, due to World War II. Gerschwiler had been living in England with his uncle and coach Jacques Gerschwiler when the war broke out. When his uncle was called home to Switzerland, Gerschwiler stayed with Cecilia Colledge’s family. He spent the war years working as a factory worker and fire watcher and was able to practice skating only once a week. Gerschwiler won the 1947 World Figure Skating Championships and European Figure Skating Championships. He also won the silver medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz and came second at the 1948 European Championships, both time finishing behind Dick Button. He turned professional after the 1948 Winter Olympics. Until Stéphane Lambiel won his first world title in 2005, Gerschwiler was the only Swiss man ever to have been World Champion. He and Lambiel are the only Swiss figure skaters ever to have won a silver medal at the Olympics. The only other Swiss skater to medal at the Olympics was Georges Gautschi who won bronze in1924. Surrey and England cricketer John Edrich was born in 1937. He scored 5138 runs in 77 Tests between 1963 and 1976. His 310 not out against New Zealand at Leeds in 1965 included a Test record 57 boundaries.BBC television cameras cover the Wimbledon championships for the first time in 1937. Today in 1938 Don Bradman scored 101* in 77 minutes for Australia against Lancashire.  In 1948 Columbia Records held a public demonstration, at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, to introduce their new long-playing record album. The first sound recorded was done in 1806 by Englishman Thomas Young. He used wax over a rotating drum to record a tuning fork. In 1857 Frenchman Leon Scott de Martinville recorded sounds on a “phonoautograph” but had no way to play the sounds back. Recording of sound was spurred on in America by Alexander Graham Bell. Edison was trying to invent an answering machine when he instead improved the record player in 1877. Aston Villa and Wales striker Dean Saunders was born in 1964. He started his career, which lasted from 1982 until 2001,  at his hometown club Swansea City before playing variously for Cardiff on loan, Brighton, Oxford, Bradford City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United  and Derby, as well as spells abroad at both Galatasaray and Benfica. His move from Derby to Liverpool in 1991 was a British record (£2.9 million). He was capped 75 times at senior level for Wales between 1986 and 2001, scoring 22 times, making him one of the nation’s highest-scoring and most-capped players of all time, although Wales never qualified for any major internationals while Saunders was playing for them. Following his retirement from playing in 2001, he entered the realms of football coaching and then management, firstly at non-league Wrexham (2008-2011) and since then of Domcaster Rovers (2011-2013, Wolverhampton Wanderers (2013), Crawley Town (2014-2015) and Chesterfield (2015) Tennis player Maureen Connolly died in 1969 aged only 34.  Known as “Little Mo“, she was the winner of nine Grand Slam singles titles in the early 1950s. In 1953, she became the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments during the same calendar year. The following year, in July 1954, a horseback riding accident seriously injured her right leg and ended her competitive tennis career at age 19. In 1966, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and on June 4, 1969, she underwent a third operation for a stomach tumour. She died nearly three weeks later. Today in 1969 John Pennel set a new pole vault world record when he cleared 5.45m. In 1970 Tony Jacklin became the first Briton since Ted Ray in 1920 to win the US Open. While Jacklin was lifting the US Open title at Hazeltine, Minnesota, Brazil were winning the 1970 Jules Rimet Trophy, comfortably beating Italy 4-1 in Mexico. They were allowed to keep the trophy as this was their third win in the World Cup. In 1970 Judy Rankin won the LPGA George Washington Golf Classic. On this day in 1975 the West Indies, skippered by Clive Lloyd, beat Australia by 17 runs at Lords to win the first cricket World Cup. Tennis ace Arthur Ashe underwent double-bypass heart surgery on this day in 1983. Heike Dreschler of East German long jumped into the record books with a new world record mark of 7.45m today in 1986. Today in 1992 saw both Ian Botham and Allan Lamb play their last day of Test cricket.  At Wimbledon in 1994 Steffi Graf became the first defending champion to lose in the first round of a major championship when she lost to Lorrie McNeal.   The Women’s National Basketball Association began today in 1997 as NY Liberty beat LA Sparks. On this day in 2014 Tiger Woods announced that he would begin golfing again after a three month hiatus he took to recover from back surgery.  In 2015 at the 115^th US Golf Open: Jordan Spieth shit a 275 at Chambers Bay, Washington. At 21, he was the youngest winner for over 90 years when in 1923 Bobby Jones took the title.

 

22^nd – The MCC and Hertfordshire played the first match at the present-day Lord’s Cricket Ground, St John’s Wood, London, in 1814; Yorkshireman Thomas Lord had previously opened grounds on the site of Dorest Square and at North Bank, St John’s Wood. Today in 1865 saw the First-class cricket debut of Dr WG Grace. On this day in 1918, the worse circus train accident ever in the US occurred with 86 people losing their lives and 127 more injured.  At 3:56am the 26-car Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train pulled into a railroad siding in order to check an overheated axle bearing.  Behind it was a Michigan Central Railroad troop train, moving 20 empty Pullman cars. Alonzo Sargent, the engineer of the troop train, fell asleep at the throttle. He was reportedly already suffering from a lack of sleep when he took some “kidney pills.” The lulling movement of the train caused him to drift off. He missed the warning signals and his train, running at full throttle (35 mph) slammed into the stopped circus train, which was bringing the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the second largest circus in the country, to town. There were around 400 performers and equipment on the old wooden train. The impact of the troop train crushed the caboose and 4 wooden sleeping cars. The kerosene lanterns on board ignited the wreckage. Many of those killed in the crash perished within the first 35 seconds. The fire spread through the train burning many of the bodies beyond recognition. On June 26, most of the dead were buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois. A section of the cemetery, called Showman’s Rest, had been purchased by the Showman’s League of America only a few months prior to the accident. The area is surrounded by elephant statues depicted in a symbolic mourning posture. Crowds had assembled nearby awaiting the circus coming to town and these people rushed to the scene of the crash. It took days for the wreckage to be cleared. The Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus cancelled just two performances – the one in Hammond and the one scheduled at their next stop in Monroe, Wisconsin. Competing circuses sent performers to help the bereaved troupe, believing in the adage, “The show must go on.” Alonzo Sargent was found to be the cause of the accident, but criticism was also heaped on the outdated, wooden circus train, as the deteriorated condition of the cars helped to spread the fire. Joe Louis became world heavyweight champion in 1937 by knocking out defending champion James J Braddock in the eighth round at Comiskey Park, Chicago. The ‘Brown Bomber’ went on to make a record 25 defences before retiring in 1949.  An attempt to regain the title the following year resulted in defeat by Ezzard Charles. Margrit Klinger, West-German 800m runner was born in 1960. Her personal best 800m time of 1:57.22, was achieved at the 1982 European Championships in Athens. This places her eighth on the German all-time list. Her personal best time for 1500m, 4:02.66, from August 1983 in Köln, puts her tenth on the German all-time list, Klinger competed for the sports club TV Obersuhl during her active career. Today in 1965 saw the final Test appearance in the career of Freddie Trueman when he took to the field at Lord’s against New Zealand. Thaddeus “Thad” Rutter Shideler. American hurdler, died on this day in 1966, he was 86. He competed at the 1904 Olympics winning silver in the 110m hurdles.  Competing for Indiana University, Shideler held an unofficial world record set a month before the 1904 Summer Olympics with a time of 15.0 seconds in the 100m hurdles. The watch of one of the three timers failed to start thus costing Shideler official verification for the mark. British racing driver Dan Wheldon was born on this day in 1978. He was the 2005 IndyCar Series champion and a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the race in 2005 and 2011. He tragically lost his life after a 15 car collision on the 11^th lap of the IZOD IndyCar World Championship on 16^th October 2011. His car flew approximately 325 feet (99m) into the catch-fence cockpit-first and landed back on the racing surface after his head hit a pole lining the track. He was extricated from his car and airlifted to hospital but died from his injuries; he was only 33 at the time. On this day in 1981 a young John McEnroe sporting a headband and frizzy hair electrified a first round Wimbledon match against Tom Gullikson with the immortal words, hurled at Edward James, the umpire: “You can’t be serious, man. YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS! That ball was on the line! Chalk flew up! It was clearly in! You guys are the absolute pits of the world…” and further subjecting, or perhaps treating, the centre court crowd to a tirade of ill-tempered invective as Mr James politely awarded a penalty point against him. But “Superbrat” won Wimbledon anyway. It ranks as one of the most memorable and intimidated moments in sporting history and one that McEnroe now admits he feels “terrible” about and refers to Mr James as “a pleasant-enough middle-aged gentleman” But his words will never go away. They have featured in pop songs, film dialogue and been spoken by the man himself in car rental adverts. Fast bowler Michael Holding set a NatWest Trophy record when he took 8 wickets for 21 runs for Derbyshire against Sussex at Hove in 1988. Chris Eubank beat Michael Watson  in points to retain his WBO middleweight title in 1991. It was the first boxing match at London’s Earls Court since Joe Bugner and Joe Frazier did battle in 1973.  On this day in 1996 Saurav Ganguly scored 131 at Lord’s on his Test cricket debut.  Dutch field hockey player Erik Parlevliet died aged 43 today in 2007. Born in Gelderland, he won the Hockey World cup in 1990 with and was a member of the Dutch national team at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, where his team won the bronze medal. He also played for the Dutch in five Champion Trophy competitions, all-told he earned a total number of 155 caps, scoring 47 goals. Allan Simonsen, Danish racing driver died on this day in 2013 after a crash during the third lap of that years Le Mans 24 Hours Race.

 

23^rd – On this day in 1894, The International Olympic Committee was founded at the Sorbonne, Paris, at the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin. Tedding Tinling, the man who bought a new meaning to tennis clothing was born in 1910. His designs for women players were eye-catching and revolutionary; the frilly lace knickers he devised for ‘Gorgeous Gussie’ Moran caused a stir at Wimbledon in 1949. Tinling died in 1990 aged 79; at his request the theme tune to the TV show Neighbours was played at his memorial service!  One of the all-time great England cricketers, Sir Len Hutton, was born in 1916. A Yorkshireman through-and-though, he was the first professional captain of the England Test side. His innings of 364 against Australia at the Oval in 1938 stood as a Test record for nearly 20 years. He scored 6971 runs for England in 79 appearances between 1937 and 1955. He retired in 1960 with a total of 40,140 runs in first-class cricket to his credit. Sir Leonard died in 1990 aged 74. World record holder, Olympic champion and international sports icon Wilma Rudolph was born in 1940. Rudolph competed in the 200m and won a bronze as part of the US 4×100m relay team at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. She also won three golds in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay at the 1960 Rome Games. Rudolph was acclaimed the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and became the first American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Due to the worldwide television coverage of the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rudolph became an international star along with other Olympic athletes such as Cassius Clay, Oscar Robertson, and Rafer Johnson. As an Olympic champion in the early 1960s, Rudolph was among the most highly visible black women in America and abroad. She became a role model for black and female athletes and her Olympic successes helped elevate women’s track and field in the United States. Rudolph is also regarded as a civil rights and women’s rights pioneer. In 1962 Rudolph retired from competition at the peak of her athletic career as the world record-holder in the 100m, 200m and the 4×100m relay. After competing in the 1960 Summer Olympics, the 1963 graduate of Tennessee State University became an educator and coach. Rudolph and her achievements are memorialized in a variety of tributes, including a U.S. postage stamp, documentary films, and a made-for-television movie, as well as in numerous publications, especially books for young readers. English polo international player Julian Hipwood was born today in 1946. Born and raised in the Cotswold he started his sporting career playing football but gradually moved to polo. He won the Barrantes Memorial Tournament and played on the winning team of many of Royal Palm Polo Club’s 26-goal Sunshine League tournaments. In 1977-1978, he played with the Fort Lauderdale team and in 1978 was a finalist in the Argentine Open, the first Englishman to do so. He played on the Southern Hills team that won the 1980 US Open Polo Championship, but was side-lined due to an injury. From 1981 to 1984, he won the 30-goal World Cup five times and in 1996 he won the United States Polo Association Monty Waterbury Cup and Heritage Cup. He was also the captain of the English National team winning the Coronation Cup six times, and the British Gold and Queen’s Cups. He later reconverted to a polo coach. He has coached the UK teams of George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven and London-based French businessman Jérôme Wirth. He also coached the Coca-Cola team, which won the US Open Championship in 2002. Hipwood currently lives in the United States and was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1973 Patricia’s Hope became only the second dog after Mick the Miller, in 1929 and 1930, to win the Greyhound derby a second time. Born today in 1964; Lou Yun, Chinese gymnast, who competed in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics games, winning the vault twice. He began gymnastics training at the Hangzhou Sports School for Amateurs, and in the same year he also entered the provincial sports school of Zhejiang. He was selected for the National Gymnastics team in 1977. Known for his specialty in the vault, he won the 1987 World Championships in that event, in addition to his two gold medals. Jaan Jüris, Estonian Ski-Jumper was born in 1977 and has competed since 2000. He finished 50th in the individual normal hill event at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.Jüris’s best finish at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships was 38th in the individual normal hill at Val di Fiemme in 2003 and he finished 43rd in the individual event at the 2002 Ski-flying World Championships in Harrachov. His best individual World Cup finish was 15th in a large hill event in Germany in 2003. His best individual career finish was fourth in a Continental Cup large hill event in Austria in 2003. He effectively retired from ski-jumping in January 2008. On this day in 1979 the West Indies beat England by 92 runs to win Cricket World Cup.Saint Lucian high jumper Levern Spencer was born in 1984. Spencer was an All-American high jumper for the University of Georgia and 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympian for Saint Lucia. Competing as a professional, she set a new facility record at the Georgia Invitational on Saturday 8 May 2010, clearing 1.98m to cruise to a victory with what was at the time the second-best jump in the world for the 2010 season. This is the current Saint Lucia National Record and the record for the Caribbean Community. In 2010, with a best result of 1.98m, Levern was the leading women’s high jumper in the Commonwealth. At the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, however, she needed two attempts to clear 1.88m, and eventually recorded Saint Lucia’s best-ever individual finish at Commonwealth Games athletics with a bronze medal, joining Dominic Johnson, who took bronze in men’s Pole Vault in 2002 in Manchester. In 2010, Levern recorded six of the top ten best jumps of her career. She scored a victory at the 2010 CAC Games with a jump of 1.94m and also had success on the European circuit, scoring five straight victories in Finland to scoop the 2010 Finnish Elite Games jackpot. In 2012, Levern was awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship and began training in Germany and she qualified for the 2012 Olympics. Levern also qualified for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, by clearing 1.94m at the Meeting Madrid in July. This made her eligible for her sixth World Championships and third Olympics. She won the Saint Lucia National Championship with a height of 1.90m. Along with Jeannelle Scheper, Levern represented Saint Lucia at the 2015 Pan Am Games. She won gold with a best height of 1.94m. It was Saint Lucia’s first gold medal ever at the Pan Am Games; the country had been represented at these Games six times since 1985. Pedro Morales swam 100m butterfly in a new world record time of 52.84. Mazda became the first Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 Hour race today in 1991.French pianist Brigitte Engerer passed away on this day in 2012in Paris. Born in Tunis, French Tunisia, Engerer started piano lessons at the age of four, and by the age of six was performing in public. When she was 11 her family moved to France and she entered the Paris Conservatoire to study under Lucette Descaves. In 1968, aged 15, she was unanimously awarded a first prize in piano, and the following year she won the Concours International Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud. Engerer was subsequently invited to undertake further training at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory where she joined the class of Stanislav Neuhaus: though her scholarship was originally for one year, she loved Russia so much that she studied there for nine years. In 1980, her career took a decisive turn when Herbert von Karajan invited her to play with the Berlin Philharmonic. She subsequently received engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Orchestre de Paris under Daniel Barenboim. Her subsequent career was divided between giving recitals and teaching at the Paris Conservatoire. Her last recital (Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, 12 June 2012), featured the work of Schumann. In 2013 India defeated England to win the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. American swimmer Sharon Stouder also known by her married name Sharon Stouder Clark, died at the age of 64 in 2013. She was a three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in four events. As a 15-year-old, she won three gold medals and one silver at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. She won the 100m butterfly, and was a member of the winning US teams in the 4x100m freestyle relay and the 4×100m medley relay. She also took 100m freestyle silver finishing behind Australian Dawn Fraser, for a total of four medals. Stouder swam sprint butterfly and sprint freestyle. She was the second woman in history to go under the one-minute barrier in the 100m freestyle and in1964 twice broke the 200m butterfly world record. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1972.

 

24^th – American distance athlete Arthur Lee Newton was born in 1883. Competing in the 1900 Olympics, he finished 4^th in the 2500m steeplechase and 5^th in the Marathon. Four years later in the St Louis Games he won gold as part of the four mile team contest and bronze in both the Marathon and the steeplechase. Fellow countryman and Olympian Frank Verner shared Newton’s 1883 birthday. He won silver in the 1500m in 4:06.8, placed fourth in the steeplechase and sixth in the 800m.  Another 1904 American Olympian Frank Waller was born in 1884. He won two silvers in the 400m flat and hurdles, behind gold medallist Harry Hillman in both events. He was US Champion in the men’s 440yds in 1905 and 1906, and the 220yds hurdles while competing for the Milwaukee Athletic Club. On this day on 1894 the decision was made to hold the modern Olympics every 4 years. Boxer Jack Dempsey was born in 1895 at Manassa, Colorado. Known as the ‘Manassa Mauler’, he won the heavyweight world title in 1919 by beating Jess Willard, the 17-stone (108kg) cowboy from Kansas. He lost it on points to Gene Tunney in 1926 and in the following year ‘was robbed of the title’ in the infamous ‘Battle of the Long Count’. At the 50^th edition of the British Golf Open in St Andrews in 1910 James Braid shot a 299 to take the title. The first great motor-racing world champion, Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, was born in 1911. He won the title a record five times between 1951 and 1957. He won 24 world championship races, a record which stood until surpassed by the late Jim Clark in 1968. Fangio drove for all the great manufacturers of the 1950s, winning world titles for Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Mercedes and Ferrari. BBC television covered a Test match for the first time in 1938 when the screened part of the second Test against Australia from Lord’s. The highlight of the match was Walter Hammond’s 240 in England’s first innings. Dutch professional tennis player Betty Stöve was born on this day in 1945; best remembered for reaching the ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon in 1977. She also won ten Grand Slam titles in women’s doubles and mixed doubles. Stöve began playing tennis internationally in the mid-1960s. She made her Grand Slam debut at the 1964 Wimbledon. A virus, complicated by a malfunctioning thyroid gland, forced her out of tennis for an 18-month period in the late 1960s. Despite being advised that she should never play tennis again, Stöve recovered to have her best years on the circuit. Stöve’s most notable singles match was that 1977 Wimbledon final, which she lost to Virginia Wade: 4–6, 6–3, 6–1. Queen Elizabeth II, in her silver Jubilee year, attended the final against Wade. Stöve was also a semi-finalist at the 1977 US Open, losing to Chris Evert. She also found success in the 1977 US Open by winning the women’s doubles with Martina Navratilova and the mixed doubles with Frew McMillan. She had her greatest success in doubles. She won ten Grand Slam doubles championships, six in women’s doubles and four in mixed doubles. She won two women’s doubles championships with Billie Jean King and two with Wendy Turnbull. Her other two titles were won with Françoise Dürr and Martina Navratilova. All of her mixed doubles championships were with Frew McMillan. Stöve was the runner-up in seventeen Grand Slam doubles tournaments, eight in women’s doubles and nine in mixed doubles. During her career, Stöve won one singles title and 75 doubles titles. She reached a career-high singles rank of World No. 5 in 1977. She was also ranked World No. 1 in doubles. Stöve competed in and lost all three finals at Wimbledon in 1977, failing to win any of them; the last player in any Grand Slam event to earn such a record. She competed for the Netherlands Fed Cup team in 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, and 1983. Raelene Boyle, Australian sprinter was born in 1951 and in 1998 was named one of 100 National Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia. Her career started after a series of strong performances in the 1968 Australian Championships and Olympic trials, where she was selected to represent Australia at the 1968 Olympics, at the age of 16. At 17, she won a silver medal in the 200m and came 4th in the 100m, setting world junior records in both distances of 22.73, and 11.20. The 200m mark lasted 12 years and the 100m, 8 years. Together with two silvers from the 1972 Games where she came second behind East-German Renate Stecher in both sprint finals, Boyle has a string of Commonwealth titles to her name (seven gold and two silver). Some consider her a very unlucky athlete in never having won an Olympic gold especially since some athletes who beat her were later revealed to have used anabolic steroids. In1972 South African athlete Danie Malan set a new 1000m world record in Munich. Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatari high-jumper, who is the national and Asian record holder with a clearance of 2.43m, was born in 1991. He won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a bronze medal at the 2012 London Games  He was the Asian Indoor and World Junior champion in 2010, and won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games. The current longest ever professional tennis match finished on this day in 2010. The men’s singles first round match between John Isner of the USA and Frenchman Nicolas Mahut began at 6:13pm BST on June 22^nd,  at 9:07pm, due to fading light, play was suspended before the start of the fifth set. After resuming the following day at 2:05pm, the record for previous longest match was broken at 5:45pm. The light faded again, and so play was suspended at 9:09pm, with the final set tied at 59 games all. Play resumed at 3:40pm on June 24th, and Isner won at 4:47pm, the final set having lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes.In total, the match took 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6–4, 3–6, 6–7^(7–9), 7–6^(7–3), 70–68 for a total of 183 games, by far the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. The final set alone was longer than the previous longest match. Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being referred to as “the endless match”. On this day in 2012 female athletes from Saudi Arabia would be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games for the first time.

 

25^th – On this day in 1678: The first Doctorate of Philosophy to be earned by a woman was awarded to Elena Lucrezia Piscopia. The University of Padua also awarded the 32-year-old the Doctor’s Ring, the Teacher’s Ermine Cape, and the Poet’s Laurel Crown. Dr. Piscopia was born into a noble Italian family in Venice. Her father was the Procurator of San Marco and her mother was also from the upper classes. She was the eldest daughter in her family and by age seven was already being tutored. She first studied Latin and Greek under distinguished instructors. After mastering these languages, she learned Hebrew, Spanish, French, and Arabic. With seven languages at her disposal, she was given the title “Oraculum Septilingue.” She went on to study mathematics, philosophy, and theology. In 1665 she took the habit of the Benedictine Oblate, however she never became a nun. Her father wanted her to enter the University of Padua. She excelled in her studies and was granted her PhD in the cathedral of Padua on this day. The University authorities were in attendance as were professors and the lesser faculty. Many of the students also came to witness this event along with a great number of prestigious invited guests from other Italian Universities. Elena spoke for an hour in classical Latin and explained random selections from the works of Aristotle. She was not permitted by the Catholic Church to receive a doctorate in theology. She went on to teach and write a variety of treatises before her death at age 38. On this day in 1910 Igor Stravinsky‘s ballet The Firebird is premiered in Paris, bringing him to prominence as a composer. The winner of the 1952 Olympic bronze in the 50k walk, Hungarian Antal Róka, was born on this day in 1927. In 1932 India made their Test cricket debut against England at Lord’s. England captained by Douglas Jardine, won by 158 runs. Doreen Wells, Marchioness of Londonderry, former ballet-dancer was born in London in 1937. She received her early dance training at the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, continuing her studies at the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School. She is a winner of the Adeline Genée Gold Medal from the Royal Academy of Dance and she made her professional stage debut in pantomime, before ultimately joining the Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet. In theatre, she has performed roles in West End musicals, including the leading role of Vera Baranova in On Your Toes at the Palace Theatre and Maggie Jones in 42nd Street at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She has also made television appearances including the 1985 Royal Variety Performance and a BBC Christmas Extravaganza.On 1 December 2009, she made an appearance on The Paul O’Grady Show, performing a dance routine with male backing dancers. She was then interviewed by O’Grady and spoke of her continued love for dance and about how she still performs regularly. Australian athlete Judy Amoore was born in 1940. At the 1964 Olympics she won a bronze medal in the first 400m race for females, only beaten by countrywoman Betty Cuthbert and Brit Ann Packer.  At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Jamaica she won the 440yds, and silver over 880yds as well as placing fourth in the 220yds. At the Australian championships in February 1964 she came 3rd in 440yds and 2nd in 880yds. In 1966 she competed in 100yds without reaching the final, but was 3rd in 220yds, 1st in both 440yds and 880yds.. In the state championships of Victoria she won both 220, 440 and 880yds races.As Judy Pollock, she set world records at 440yds (1965), 800m (1967) and 880yds (1967) before retiring due to pregnancy in 1968. She made a come-back in 1971, running some of her best times ever to make the team for the 1972 Olympics in Munich. She was Track and Field Team Captain at Munich, but was unable to compete because of injuries and retired soon after the Games; again for family reasons. In 1976, she made another comeback, now concentrating on 800m and 1500m. The veteran was selected in her third Olympic team after winning the 1500m at the Australian National Championships and running second to Charlene Rendina over 800m. So at the age of 36, she became the oldest Australian woman Olympian at the 1976 Montreal Games. Running in the 800m, she just missed the final, clocking her fastest ever time of 1:59.93 for fifth in her semi-final. Despite setting another personal best time in the 1500m, she was run out of her heat. She was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1947 The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published. Joe Louis made the 25^th and last defence of his world heavyweight crown, against ‘Jersey’ Joe Walcott at the Yankee Stadium, New York, in 1948. Louis won with an 11^th-round knockout. Eight months later, he announced his retirement. British Paralympic cyclist, Para-triathlete, adventurer and author Karen Darke was born in 1971. Darke is paralysed from the chest down following an accident, aged 21, whilst sea cliff climbing.  In 2006, she took part in an expedition which crossed Greenland’s ice cap whilst sitting on skis using her arms and poles to cover the 372 mile crossing. She has also climbed Mont Blanc, Matterhorn and El Capitan and hand-cycled, skied and swam the length of Japan. In 2009, she was a bronze medal winner in the Para-Cycling World Cup after which, in 2010, she became a member of the British Para-Cycling team. She has won two silver medals in the women’s H2 road race and time trial events at the 2011 Para-Cycling World Cup. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the H1–2 road time trial and in the H1-3 road race finishing fourth, after crossing the finishing line holding hands with team mate Rachel Morris, both in a time of 1:43:08, Morris was awarded the bronze medal. In October 2012, she competed in her first ITU Para-triathlon World Championships. She won the gold medal in her TRI-1 classification. On 14 September 2016 Darke won the gold medal in the H1-3 time trial at the Rio Paralympics in a time of 33:44:93. She was appointed an MBE in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to sport. History is made on this day in 1972 when Bernice Gera becomes the first female umpire to officiate in pro baseball. In 1983 India beat the West Indies by 43 runs to win the Cricket World Cup. Today in 1991 a new tennis record is set as Martina Navratilova win hers 100^th singles match at Wimbledon. Australian junior world 100m freestyle record holder Kyle Chalmers was born in 1998. She also won the gold medal in that event at the2016 Summer Olympics. Scottish National Hunt jockey Campbell Gillies died on this day in 2012 aged 21.He was most notable for his victory on Brindisi Breeze in the Albert Artlett Novices’ Hurdle at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival. In total, he rode 131 winners in his career, mainly for top Scottish trainer, Lucinda Russell and was widely considered by pundits and fans alike as one of the leading young jockeys in the UK.Gillies was found dead in a swimming pool at the Corfu holiday apartments where he was staying with fellow jockeys Henry Brooke, Nathan Moscrop, Harry Haynes and Mark Ellwood. The friends had returned from an evening out and had gone for a morning swim at around 8am local time. Gillies went under the water and failed to resurface.  A Greek coroner recorded his death was caused by drowning and a police spokesman revealed that toxicological reports revealed he had been drinking. On this day in 2014 Luis Suarez is charged with biting at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.