3rd – The first Inter-county women’s cricket match took place in 1811 when Hampshire and Surrey played each other at Newington. In 1888 the New Zealand Natives, a privately organised and mainly Maori rugby team, plays its first game in the UK, they also become the first national rugby team to wear the silver fern. One of Australia’s great post-war fast bowlers, Ray Lindwall was born on in 1921. A former Test captain, he took 228 wickets in 61 Tests between 1946 and 1960, half of which (114) were against England.   In 1931 the comic strip Dick Tracy first appeared in the New York Times. American golfer Fred Couples was born in 1959. A professional since 1980, he captured his first Major, the US Masters, beating Ray Floyd by two strokes, in 1992. On this day in 1971, Tennis star Billie-Jean King becomes the first female athlete to win $100,000. Born today in 1987 was GB international high jumper Robbie Grabarz, his honours include a European Championship Gold medal in 2012 and a silver in 2016m a World Indoor silver in 2016 and an Olympic bronze in 2012. Also born on the same day in 1991 is British and Welsh Paralympian sprinter Jenny McLoughlin, winner of 2 IPC European silvers in 2012 and 2014, a 2010 Commonwealth silver and a Paralympic bronze medal as part of the T35-38 4xq00m relay team in London 2012. In 2015, World cup rugby Hosts England, crash out of the competition at the pool stage losing 33-13 to Australia.

 

4th – The first US Open golf championship took place at Newport, Rhode Island in 1895. The winner of the $150 first prize was English-born Horace Rawlins with a score of 173 (91 and 82). Today in 1905, Orville Wright pilots the first flight longer than 30 minutes. Lasting 33 minutes 17 seconds the flight covered 21 miles in total. South African cricketer Basil d’Oliveira was born in 1931. The Worcestershire and England batsman was at the centre of a controversy when dropped from the side to tour his home country in 1964-65 because of his opposition to South Africa’s apartheid policies. When the MCC did finally pick him for a tour to his troubled homeland, in 1968, the South African authorities reacted by cancelling the series. He played for England 44 times. Gordon Richards rode all six winners on the card on the first day of two at Chepstow in 1933. He also won the last race at the Nottingham meet the previous day. Remarkably the day after his coup at Chepstow he rode the first five winners of the day to take his sequence to a staggering 12 consecutive victories. His run ended with the 4:30 at Chepstow when his mount Eagle Ray finished third. New Zealand speedway star Ivan Mauger was born on this day in 1939. Former England cricket Test captain Norman Yardley and Peter Taylor, Brian Clough’s former right-hand man, both passed away on this day in 1989 and 1991, aged 74 and 62 respectively.

 

5th – The French fencer Lucien Merignac was born today in 1873. In 1921 the Baseball World Series was broadcast on the radio for the first time. Newcastle United equalled the Football League record for the biggest winning margin when they thrashed Newport Country 13-0 in a second-division games in 1946. Born on this day in 1953 was Scotland’s most capped scrum-half, Roy Laidlaw, who won 47 caps between 1980 and 1988. The British Ryder Cup Team, led by Dai Rees, beat the Americans at Lindrick in 1957 to register their first win since 1933. The Americans would not lose again until 1985. Laura Davies, one of England’s top female golfers was born today in 1963. In 1965 the leading ice hockey player Mario Lemieux was born. He equalled the Stanley Cup record of five goals in a match against Philadelphia in 1989.

 

6th – Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre was published in London in 1847. American tennis champion Helen Wills-Moody was born in 1905. Her total of 31 Grand Slam titles included 19 in the singles, eight of them in the Ladies Championship at Wimbledon. Former England centre-forward Tommy Lawton was born in 1919. He scored 22 goals in 23 full internationals. In 1926 the New York Yankees’ ‘Babe’ Ruth became the first batter to hit three home runs in a World Series game. Australian cricketer Ritchie Benaud was born in 1930. A great all-rounder, he scored 2201 Test runs and took 248 wickets, He later found fame as a cricket commentator. In 1944 Russian ice hockey player and coach Boris Mikhailov was born. Tony Greig was born on this day in 1946. South-African born Greig captained England before joining Kerry Packer’s rebels in the 1970s. Ex Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, known as the “Clown Prince of Goalkeepers” was born in 1957. He started he career in the Football League with Crewe. In 1976, John Hathaway completes a 50,600 mile bicycle tour of every continent. Walter Hagen, one of America’s most flamboyant golfers died in 1969, at the age of 76. Nigel Mansell, driving a Williams, notched up his first win in F1 in the European GP at Brands Hatch in 1985.

 

7th – Hugh Kirkaldy wins the 31st British Gold Open at St Andrews in 1891, shooting a 166 winning score. In 1916, Georgia Tech defeated Cumberland ‘university 222-0 in the most lopsided college football game in American history. Lyudmilla Tourescheva, one of the most elegant of all the great Soviet gymnasts, was born in 1952. Her total of 34 Olympic, World and European Championship medals exceeds by two the number won by the great Czech gymnast Vera Caslavska. Tourescheva won four Olympic goals in 1968, 1972, and 1976. Jayne Torvill, half of the British best-ever ice-dance team, was born in 1957. She and Christopher Dean won the world title four years in succession between 1981 and 1984. They also won a record six British titles between 1978 and 1983 and fold at the 1984 Olympics. Jackie Stewart wins the 24th Formula 1 WDC by 16 points in 1973. In 2000, the last ever competitive football match takes place at Wembley Stadium, a 1-0 defeat of England by Germany and the last goal was scored by Liverpool’s Dietmar Hammann. The match was Tony Adams’ 60th at Wembley setting the record for the most appearances at the stadium

 

8th – The modern boxing glove was invented in 1743, the brainchild of Englishman Jack Broughton. But Broughton’s gloves, or mufflers as they were then known, were at the time only used for sparring; It was not until this day in 1818 that Broughton’s style of gloves were used in a competitive fight, between two unnamed English boxers at Aix-la-Chapelle in France. A French newspaper reported: ‘the two champions were built like Hercules…they entered the ring with their hands guarded with huge padded gloves.’ Gloves became mandatory when the Marquis of Queensbury Rules were drafted in 1865, and officially adopted in 1892. Miss Eileen Joel, daughter of the millionaire racehorse owner Jim Joel, made history at Newmarket in 1925 as the first women jockey to win an ‘open’ race, the Four-mile Town Plate, on Hogier. The race, which dates to 1665, is open to any rider irrespective of sex. Five of the eight jockeys in the 1925 race were women. The former Australian Test cricket captain Neil Harvey was born in 1928. Welsh snooker player Ray Reardon was born in 1932. Winner of six world titles between 1970 and 1978, Reardon was one of the great personalities of the game and played a major role in developing the sport in the 1970s.   American swimmer Matt Biondi was born in 1965. Four times holder of the 100m freestyle record and winner of seven medals at the 1988 Olympics including five gold. In three Olympics (1984-1992) he won 11 medals, eight fold, two silver and one bronze. In 1982 the Serbian Racing car driver Milos Pavlovic was born.

 

9th – Harvard Law School began admitting women for the first time in 1949. Bill Tidy, British cartoonist, was born today in 1933. Tidy was appointed MBE in 2000 for “Services to Journalism”. He is noted for his charitable work, particularly for the Lord’s Taverners, which he has supported for over 30 years. Deeply proud of his working class roots in the North of England, his most abiding cartoon strips, such as the Cloggies and the Fosdyke Saga, have been set in an exaggerated version of that environment. Middle-distance.runner Steve Ovett was born in 1955. He and his great rival Sebastian Coe dominated the 800m, 1500m and mile in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Ovett broke the world record for the 1500m three times and the mile record twice. Jackie Milburn, one of Newcastle United’s best known footballers and the Uncle the Jackie and Bobby Charlton, died in 1988 at the age of 64. Milburn scored both goals in Newcastle’s 2-0 win over Blackpool in the 1951 FA Cup final and he set up Newcastle’s 3-1 win over Manchester City in the 1955 final by scoring the first after a little over a minute. French swimmer Laure Manaudou was born on this day 1986. Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the daughter of a French father and a Dutch mother, and she is the older sister of Florent Manaudou who is also an Olympic gold medalist swimmer.