28th

  • The oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, Harvard College, was founded on Cambridge, Mass. on this day in 1636. 
  • On this day in 1880 Billy Wedlock, English footballer was born. Also known as ‘Fatty’ or ‘The Indian Rubber Man’ Wedlock played for Bristol City between 1900-01 and from 1905 until he retired in 1921. He won 26 England caps between 1907 and 1914. The East End at Ashton Gate stadium was named the Wedlock stand in his honour before being demolished in 2014 as part of the stadium redevelopment.
  • After 5 months of competition the II Olympic Games in 1900 in Paris finally ended.
  • Canadian golfer Gary Cowan was born today in 1938. Cowan reached the semi-finals of the Ontario Amateur Championship at age 17 in 1956, a record for a player so young.
  • Irish snooker player Dennis Taylor was born in 1949. Snooker fans will long remember his match with Steve Davis in the final of the 1985 Embassy World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The last frame took 68 minutes to complete and was one of the most nail-biting climaxes imaginable. Taylor winning the game with the last black and ending the suspense for an estimated 18½ million BBC television viewers.
  • Born on the self-same day as Taylor was Bruce Jenner, an American athlete, who won gold in the Decathlon at the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1976 with a World Record score. Returning to America he established himself a career in television, film, auto racing and even as a Playgirl Cover model. In April 2015 Jenner revealed her identity as a trans-woman, publicly announcing her name change from Bruce to Caitlyn in July 2015. She has been called the most famous openly transgender women in the world. From 2015 to 2016 Jenner starred in the reality television series I am Cait, which focussed on her gender transition.
  • Rugby player John Bevan was born in 1950. He played rugby for Cardiff, Wales and the British Lions before turning professional with Warrington in 1973.   He then won Wales and Great Britain honours at the 13-a-side code.
  • George Carpentier, one of the most versatile of all boxing champions, died in 1975 at the age of 81. By the time he was 19 years old he held European titles at welterweight, middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight. He was world light-heavyweight champion between 1920 and 1922, and also challenged unsuccessfully or the world middle- and heavyweight titles.
  • Today at the 1984 New York Marathon, the women’s event was won by Grete Waitz in 2:29:30, while  Orlando Pizzolato took the men’s title in 2:14:53
  • The 11th Rugby League World Cup was won by Australia on this day in 1995, beating England 16-8
  • On this day in 2012 American Serena Williams won her 3rd season ending tennis title, beating Maria Sharapova of Russia 6–4, 6–3 in the WTA Championship decider in Istanbul, Turkey
  • In 2018 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished 4th in the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez  clinching his 5th Formula 1 World Drivers Championship and Ukrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina registered her biggest career win to date when she rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 triumph over American Sloane Stephens in a classic WTA Finals title decider in Singapore

 

29th

  • On this day in 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh, the English courtier, military adventurer and poet was executed in London. After the death of Elizabeth I, Raleigh’s enemies spread rumours that he was opposed to the accession of King James.
  • Wilfred Rhodes, the oldest man to play Test cricket was born on this day in 1877. Yorkshire-born Rhodes was 52 years and 156 days when he played for the last time against West Indies at Kingston, Jamaica, in April 1930. In 58 Tests for England he scored 2235 runs and took 127 wickets.
  • A shock defeat by the Harvard University football team to Centre College ended a 25-game winning streak in 1921 and was considered one of the biggest upsets in college football.
  • Today in 1927 the Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff claimed to have uncovered the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert, a claim still in dispute to this day.
  • In 1960 Muhammad Ali’s (Cassius Clay) first professional fight ended in a victory against Tunney Hunsaker in 6 rounds, in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. While elsewhere in America an airplane carrying the Cal Polu Football Team crashed on take-off in Toledo, Ohio. Of the 48 on board, 22 were killed including 16 players and a student manager.
  • On this day in 1967, Montreal’s WorldFair, Expo 67, closed after over 50 million people had visited.
  • Born today in 1973, Vonetta Flowers, American bobsledder, sprinter and long-jumper. She originally aspired to make the US Sumer Olympic team but after several failed attempts she turned to bobsledding and found success as a brake woman almost immediately. Along with driver Jill Bakken she won the gold in the two-woman event at the 2002 Winter Olympics, thius becoming the first black women to win a Winter Olympic gold.
  • In 1985 jockey Lester Piggott rode one winner at Nottingham before going into retirement. However, training winners was not the same as riding them and in 1990, aged 54, Piggott made a successful comeback.
  • Colin McMillian became the fastest outright winner of the Lonsdale Belt when he won the British title fight as featherweight in 1991 against Sean Murphy. He has won the fight in the division on 22 May, only 160 days earlier.
  • On this day in 2015 the Serbian basketball player and coach Ranko Žeravica died. With a career that spanned over 50 years, he is most noted for his work with the Yugoslav national team during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s. In particular, Žeravica’s single biggest achievement is guiding the country to its first ever major competition win — gold medal on home soil at the 1970 World Championships— leading to a huge expansion of the game of basketball throughout Yugoslavia.
  • In 2017 British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finished a distant 9th in Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, which was stillgood enough to take his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship, while Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki beat Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 to win the WTA Finals title decider in Kallang, Singapore

30th

  • Born on the day in 1893 was Angelo Siciliano, better known as Charles Atlas. He was the developer of a bodybuilding method and its associated exercise programme that was famous for a landmark advertising campaign featuring his name and likeness.
  • A crowd of 68,029 was attracted to the second division game between Aston Villa and Coventry City on this day in 1937, the highest attendance recorded at a ground to watch a League game outside the top division of the League.
  • In 1938 the radio play “The War of the Worlds”, starring Orson Wells, aired on CBS. The live drama, which employed fake news reports, panicked some listeners who thought its portrayal of a Martian invasion was true.
  • Died non this day in 1942 was British Olympic Silver medal winning polo-player Walter Selby Buckmaster. He represented Great Britain at the 1900 1908 Olympic Games.   
  • One of the world’s finest footballer-cum-‘handball’ players, Diego Mardonna, was born in 1960. 
  • Fourteen years and one day after making his professional debut Muhammed Ali became only the second man after Floyd Patterson to regain the world heavyweight title when he knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round off their contest at Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974, the fight forever being dubbed the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. 
  • Born today in 1986, Thomas Morgenstern, an Austrian former ski-jumper, He is one of the most successful contemporary ski jumpers, having won the World Cup twice, the Four Hills tournament and the Nordic Tournament once each, the Grand Prix three times, eight gold medals at the World Championships and three gold medals at the Winter Olympics.
  • Today in 1988 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna won the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his record 8th GP win of the season and thereby claiming his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship
  • Back to Argentine footballer Diego Maradona who announced his retirement from football on his 37th birthday today in 1997.
  • Tennis and today in 2015 Poland’s Agnieszka Radwańska won the WTA Finals title at Kallang in Singapore, beating Czech Petra Kvitová 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, a year later in 2016, Slovakian Dominika Cibulková beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to win that years title

31st

  • Scottish vet John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tyre on this day in 1888
  • In 1908, the 4th Olympic Games in London came to an end.
  • The Federation Sportive Feminine International, the first woman track and field association, was formed on this day in 1921. 
  • Australian snooker player Eddie Charlton was born in 1929. Known as ‘Steady Eddie’ because of his deliberate style of play he was one of the leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. He later earned himself a reputation as a television summarizer. An all-round sportsman in his younger days, Charlton was a fine boxer; a member of the crew that won the Australian surfing championship; an above-average cricketer; good at roller-staking and athletics, and a senior grade Aussie rules footballer for many years. In addition, he was one of the torch-bearers of the Olympic flame when the Games went to Melbourne in 1956.
  • Today in 1950 The Big Cat, Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to play a game in the NBA, scoring 6 points on his debut for the Washington Capitols
  • Cyclist Jeannie Longo of France was born in 1958. She has won a record eight individual world titles and was the Women’s Tour de France champion between 1987 and 1989.
  • In 1987 Chetan Sharma of India became the first cricketer to perform a hat-trick in the World cup when he dismissed three New Zealand batsmen at Nagpur.
  • Venus Williams made her professional debut as a 14 year old with a 6-3, 6-4 win over former NCAA champion and world No. 58 Shaun Stafford in the Bank of the West Classic in Oakland, California on this day in 1994 
  • On this day in 1999 yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted.
  • Professional surfer Bethany Hamilton has her arm bitten off by a shark in Hawaii in 2003, she was 13 years old at the time. Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. One month after the attack, she returned to her board
  • Today in 2015 at the 8th Rugby World Cup Final held in Twickenham, the All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter lands 4 penalties and 2 conversions as New Zealand defeat Australia, 34-17

1st November

  • On this day in 1604, William Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ was performed for the first time at the Whitehall Palace in London.
  • The Gaelic Athletic Association was formed in 1884, founded to promote Irish sport and games. The association denied membership to the police and army and is immediately infiltrated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Today the association, which includes the traditional Irish sports of hurling, Gaelic football, handball and rounders and also promotes Irish music and dance, and the Irish language, boasts more than 500,000 members worldwide.
  • Gary Player, South Africa’s finest golfer as born in 1935. An outstanding golfer who stayed at the top for more than 20 years, he won the first major tournament, the British Open, in 1959 and his last, the US Masters, at the age of 42 in 1978. He was one of only five men – Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods are the others – to win golf’s four Majors.
  • The popular BBC radio programme Sports Report first went on air in 1947. Over the years it has had many famous hosts, including Eamon Andrews and Des Lynam.
  • Today in 1953 Czech long distance runner Emile Zatopek set a world 10,000m record of 29:01.6 & 6 mile mark of 28:08.4 in Stara Boleslav, Czech Republic
  • Montreal-Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante wears a protective mask for the first time in an NHL game today in 1959.
  • Top British swimmer Sharron Davies was born in 1962. She won a silver medal in the 400m individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and two gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. Since retiring from the sport she has worked as television presenter.
  • Manchester United and Wales striker Mark Hughes was born in 1963. A prolific goal scorer, Hughes played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich before making a much welcomed return to Old Trafford in 1988.
  • At the 1987 New York City Marathon, Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya won the men’s race in 2:11:01 and English runner Priscilla Welch became the women’s champion, recording a 2:30:17
  • Born today in 1991 was Eyþór Arnarson, Icelandic Alpine skier. He has won multiple awards in various Icelandic youth skiing competitions and is widely considered the most prominent young Icelandic skier. Being a natural athlete Eyþór could have gone pro in both skiing and floorball, but chose skiing to make his father proud. In 2004, he won the regional youth chess championship in Akureyri. Eyþór played in a lower league football team called Refirnir in the 2011 season. He even scored a goal, but it was disallowed.
  • On this day in 1998 Finnish McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen won the season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka to claim his first F1 World Drivers Championship; winning the title by 14 points from Michael Schumacher
  • Today in 2001, in  the Wallabies’ 400th rugby union Test match, theAustralia rout Spain 92-10 (an Australian record score) in Madrid with Matt Burke kicking an Australian record 10 conversions
  • In 2007 5-time Grand Slam tennis winner Martina Hingis admitted  testing positive for cocaine during Wimbledon, she maintained her innocence and retired from tennis, having no desire for a fight with the anti-doping authorities

2nd

  • On this day in 1898 Cheerleading is started when Johnny Campbell led the crowd in cheering the University of Minnesota football team.
  • Australian tennis player Ken Rosewall was born in 1934. He won the Australian, French and US titles but never Wimbledon, despite contesting four finals there between 1954 and 1974. In the 1974 final he was soundly beaten 6-1, 6-1, 6-4 by Jimmy Connors, who was only two years old when Rosewall appeared in his first Wimbledon final.
  • On this day in 1936 the first high-definition public television transmissions began from Alexandra Palace by the BBC. 
  • The first post WWII Ryder Cup competition came to a close today in 1947 at the Portland Golf Club.  US won  11-1 with Ben Hogan the American captain and Henry Cotton the GB skipper
  • Moroccan long-distance runner Said Aouita was born in 1959. In 1983 he held world records at four recognised IAAF distances: 1000, 2000, 3000 and 5000m. He won the 5000m at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 and at the World Championships in 1987.
  • In 1960 a British jury determines that Lady Chatterley’s Lover, a novel by D H Lawrence was not obscene.
  • On this day in 1986 German tennis player Boris Becker won his third tournament in 3 weeks in different continents; beating Sergio Casal of Spain 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in the final of the Paris Open after victories in Japan and Australia
  • Today in 1991 Australia beat England, 12-6 at the 2nd World Rugby Cup final at Twickenham, with Wallabies fly-half Michael Lynagh landing 2 penalties and a conversion
  • Igor Moiseyev, the master choreographer who created a new form of theatrical folk dance in Russia and whose troupe was one of the most popular dance companies of the 20th century, died this day in 2007 in Moscow. He was 101.
  • On this day in 2013 Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina claimed the ASP World Junior Title by beating Ramzi Boukhiam of Morocco in a high-scoring final at Joaquina Beach in Florianopolis, Brazil

 

3rd

  • On this day in 1507, Leonardo da Vinci is commissioned to paint Lisa Gherardini-   ‘Mona Lisa’.
  • James J Jeffries beats Tom Sharkey in 25 rounds for the heavyweight boxing title today in 1899. 
  • Kitei Son runs a then world record marathon time of 2:26:42 in 1935. 
  • Australian tennis player Roy Emerson was born in 1936. He won the Wimbledon final twice in 1964 and 1965.
  • Gerd Muller, West German footballer, was born on this day in 1945. At international level with West Germany, he scored 68 goals in 62 appearances, and at club level, after 15 years with Bayern Munich, he scored a record 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga games and an international record of 66 goals in 74 European club games. Averaging more than a goal a game with West Germany
  • Boxer Larry Holmes was born in 1949. He won the world heavyweight title in 1978, beating Ken Norton on points over 15 rounds. He made 20 successful defences before losing to Michael Spinks in 1985 and suffering his first defeat in 49 professional fights; had he won Holmes would have equalled Rocky Marciano’s record.
  • Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright was born in 1963. 
  • Today in 1968 English Lotus driver Graham Hill won his 2nd Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by taking out the Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, taking the title by 12 points from Scotsman Jackie Stewart
  • Chris Evert became the first tennis player to achieve the No. 1 ranking as the WTA Tour rankings debut today in 1975.  Evert holds the top-spot for the first 26 weeks
  • On this day in 1985 French McLaren driver Alain Prost won his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship, finishing 4th in the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; winning the title by 20 points from Italian Michele Alboreto
  • Joseph “Joe” Clarke, British slalom canoeist was born in 1992. He has competed since 2009 in individual and team K-1 events. He is the 2016 Olympic champion in the men’s slalom K-1, and has won medals in team events at World and European Championships.
  • At the 1996 New York City Marathon: Giacomo Leone of Italy became the man’s champion in 2:09:54 and Anuta Catuna of Romania took the women’s title in 2:28:18
  • In the 2002 Federation Cup Janette Husárová beat Spaniard Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 6-0, 6-2 to give Slovakia their first title, 3-1
  • Thomas “Tommy” Godwin, British track cyclist, active during the 1940s and 50s died on this day 2012. He held national records and raced abroad. He later became a coach, manager and administrator. In 2010 he was selected as an ambassador for the 2012 London Olympics. Earlier in the year of his death, aged 91, he was selected to take part in the Olympic torch relay, carrying it through Solihull.
  • Today in 2013 the New York City Marathon was won by Geoffrey Mutai, the first repeat winner in 15 years and fellow Kenyan Priscah Jeptoo