11th

  • The first track and field meeting held by the New York Athletics club is held today in 1868 at the Empire Skating Raink in New York. The meeting was organised by William B Curtis, who had recently formed the club. He himself won the 75 yard dash in 9.0 seconds, he also introduced spiked shoes at this meeting.
  • On this day in 1889 the British Open, held at  Musselburgh Links was won by Willie Park Jr, his second Open title beating Andrew Kirkaldy by 5 in 36-hole playoff
  • Haruhiro Yamashita, Japanese gymnast, was born today in 1938. He competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals, in the vault and team combined exercises. After his marriage he changed his last name from Yamashita to Matsuda. In 1961, he graduated from Nippon Sport Science University, where in 1983 he became professor and later professor emeritus. In the early 1970s he was an assistant gymnastics coach under Roger Council at the Indiana State University. There he began his research on biorhythms. Yamashita also trained the national gymnastics team, at the 1976 Summer Olympics and at the Asian Games in 1990, and held senior positions with the Japan Gymnastics Association. In 2000 Yamashita was inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
  • Died on this day in 1962 aged 84 – American swimmer and water polo player Joseph Aloysius Ruddy, Sr.  He represented the United States at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri. Ruddy won a gold medal as a member of the winning U.S. team in the men’s 4×50-yard freestyle relay. He won a second gold medal as a member of the first-place U.S. water polo team. Ruddy was the father of 1928 Olympic swimmer Ray Ruddy.
  • The 6th Rugby League World Cup final saw Australia and Great Britain tie 10-10, today in 1972,  with scores still level and unchanged after extra time, Great Britain were awarded the cup on league placing.This was the last World Cup to be played under the four-tackle rule.
  • In 1986, Pakistan’s Jahangir Khan lost his first match since April 1981 when he went down to Ross Norman in the first round of the World Open Squash Championship.
  • Today in 1987,  striker Mark Hughes played for Wales and Bayern Munich in 2 countries on same day; he appeared for Wales in a 2-0 European Championship loss to Czechoslovakia in Prague, then jetted to Munich for a 3-2 Cup win over Borussia
  • In 1990, Monica Seles beat Gabriela Sabatini 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Virginia Slims Championship in New York. It was the first five-set match in a major women’s event since the 1901 US Championship doubles.
  • On this day in 2000 155 skiers and snowboarders died when a funicular railway caught fire in the  Gletscherbahn Kaprun alpine tunnel near Kaprun in Austria
  • Today in 2001, the Federation Cup was won by Belgium as Kim Clijsters beat Elena Dementieva 6-0, 6-4 to clinch Belgium’s first title with an  unassailable 2-0 lead, the final score being 2-1
  • On the same day a year later [2002] Kim Clijsters beat American Serena Williams 7–5, 6–3 to win the season-ending WTA Tour Championship at the Staples Center, Los Angeles
  • In 2007 Justine Henin of Belgium beat Russian Maria Sharapova 5–7, 7–5, 6–3 to win $1m winners cheque and her 2nd straight season-ending WTA Tour Championship
  • Joe Egan, English professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and coach of the 1950s and 1960s died on this day in 2012. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and England, and at club level for Wigan from 1938 to 1950, and Leigh, as a Hooker, or Second-row, during the era of contested scrums. Egan is a Wigan Hall of Fame inductee, and was a life member at Wigan

 

 

12th

  • Jules Léotard, the French acrobat, performed the first flying trapeze act on record at the Cirque Napoléon in Paris today in 1859. He was the daring young man who ‘flies through the air with the greatest of ease’ in the music hall song. He also left his name to the leotard, the tight, sleeveless garment which he wore and which showed his muscular frame to advantage.
  • Lily Kronberger, Hungarian figure skater, was born today in 1890. She won a World bronze medal in 1906, at the first official World Championships to include a ladies’ event. She won bronze again in 1907, and four gold medals from 1908 to 1911.She was the first athlete to win a world championship gold for Hungary. In 1911, Kronberger became the first skater to use musical accompaniment during her entire free program, at the suggestion of Zoltán Kodály. She died in Budapest in 1974, at the age of 83.
  • On this day in 1892 – William “Pudge” Heffelfinger becomes the first professional American football player on record, participating in his first paid game for the Allegheny Athletic Association and receiving $500
  • Today in 1903, the Lebaudy Brothers of France set an air-travel distance record of 34 miles in a dirigible.
  • John Deere Cady, American golfer, died on this day in 1933. He competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was the grandson of John Deere, inventor and founder of the Deere agricultural machinery company and the great-grandson of Linus Yale, Sr, most famous for inventing locks. In 1904 he was part of the American team which won the silver medal. He finished 23rd in this competition. In the individual competition he finished 27th in the qualification and was eliminated in the first round of the match play.
  • Madame Lillian Evanti and Mary Cardwell Dawson establish the National Negro Opera Company on this day in 1941.
  •  In 1958 a team of rock climbers led by Warren Harding completes the first ascent of The Nose on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.
  • Romanian Gymnast Nadia Comaneci was born today in 1961. The first star of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, she became the first gymnast in history to score a maximum of 10 points in international competition. She followed that with six more maximums and, not surprisingly, won three golds, a silver and a bronze. She won two more golds at the 1980 Olympics and collected 11 World and European gold medals. She defected to the West in 1989 and was named one of the athletes of the century by Laureus World Sports Academy in 2000.
  • Today in 1975 at the final of the 7th Rugby League World Cup saw Australia beat England 25-0
  • In 1982 Zaheer Abbas get his 100th 100 in Test Cricket for Pakistan v India, goes to notch up 215.
  • Also today in 1982 Aaron Pryor scored a 14th round KO of Alexis Argüello in Miami to retain his WBA super lightweight boxing title in the first of 2 meetings between the Hall of Famers, this fight was dubbed The Ring’s ‘Fight of the Decade’
  • On this day in 1990, Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web. 
  • New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe plays in his last Test cricket match for his country this day in 1995.
  • On a busy day in the sporting world in 1995:  the New York Marathon won by Tegla Loroupe in 2:28:06 and German Silva clocking 2:10:00.  German Benetton driver Michael Schumacher crashed in the season-ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide but claimed his second straight F1 World Drivers Championship by 33 points from Damon Hill
  • In 2006 Belgian tennis star Justine Hénin-Hardenne won the WTA Tour Championship title decider in Madrid, Spain, beating the defending champion Amélie Mauresmo 6-4, 6-3
  • Staying with tennis and in 2012 Novak Đoković of Serbia won his second season-ending ATP World Tour title beating 6-time champion Roger Federer 7-6, 7-5 in the final in London.
  • Today in 2015, Marton Fulop, Hungarian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, died after a struggle with cancer. After playing in Hungary for MTK Budapest FC, BKV Előre SC and BFC Siófok, he signed for English club Tottenham Hotspur, who loaned him to Chesterfield and Coventry,then to Sunderland with whom he permanently signed in 2007. Further loans to Leicester City, Stoke City and Manchester City ended with a transfer to Ipswich Town. He ended his career with spells at West Bromwich Albion and Greece’s Asteras Tripoli. He also represented his country at under-21 and full international level, earning 24 senior caps from his debut in 2005.
  • Stan Lee, the American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer died aged 95 today in 2018.  Born on December 28, 1922 he rose through the ranks of a family-run business to become Marvel Comics’ primary creative leader for two decades, leading its expansion from a small division of a publishing house to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics industry.

13th

  • Today in 1862, an entry in the diary of Lewis Carroll reads, ‘Began writing the fairy-tale of Alice – I hope to finish it by Christmas’. 
  • In 1907 French cyclist Paul Cornu flies the first twin-rotor helicopter.
  • On the day in 1940, Walt Disney’s Fantasia is first released.
  • In 1954, Great Britain defeated France to capture the first ever Rugby League World Cup in Paris in front of around 30,000 spectators.
  • Howard Wilkinson, English former footballer and manager was born on this day in 1943.
  • The United States won the first ever World Contract Bridge Championship in Bermuda in 1950. The competition, which is held every two years, comprises two events, one for men and the other for women. The winning national side in the men’s competition receives the Bermuda Bowl and the women the Venice Bowl.
  • Sporting Lisbon beat the Cyprus team Apoel Nicosia 16-1 in the first round of the European Cup-winners Cup in 1963. It is the biggest score recorded UEFA competition.
  • Born today in 1981 was François-Louis Tremblay, Canadian short track speed skater and five-time Olympic medallist who competed at the 2002, 2006, and 2010 Winter Olympics. François-Louis Tremblay is one of only two Canadian men to win 5 medals at the Winter Olympic Games, the other man being Marc Gagnon. At the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Tremblay was a member of Canada’s gold medal-winning 5,000-meter relay team. In Turin, Italy, at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, he won two silver medals. He won an individual medal by finishing second in the men’s 500-meter race and also took part in the men’s 5,000-meter relay that finished second behind the South Korean team. He added a bronze medal in the 500 m and gold medal in the 5000 m relay in 2010. Tremblay was the two-time world champion at 500 meters, having won back-to-back titles at the 2005 World Short Track Championships in Beijing and again at the 2006 World Short Track Championships in Minneapolis.
  • On this day in 1982, a boxing match held in Las Vagas end when Ray Mancini defeats Duk Koo Kim. Kim’s death 5 days later sparked a number of reforms in the sport aimed to better protect the health of fighters, including reducing the number of rounds in championship bouts from 15 to 12.
  • In 1988 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna finished 2nd in the season ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide to win his first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship,  by 3 points from Alain Prost
  • Evander Holyfield lost his world heavyweight title to Riddick Bowe in Las Vagas in 1992 after two years as champion.
  • On this day in 1994 title contenders Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill famously collided on lap 35 of the season ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, Schumacher won his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Hill
  • In 2005 French tennis star Amélie Mauresmo beat countrywoman Mary Pierce 5–7, 7–6, 6–4 to win the WTA Tour Championship at the Staples Center in Los Angeles
  • On this day in 2014 Rohit Sharma of India set a then record of 264 runs against Sri Lanka in an ODI innings
  • Henk Visser, a long jumper from the Netherlands died today in 2015, he was born in 1932. He competed at the 1952 and 1960 Summer Olympics and finished seventh in 1960. On 17th September 1956, during the international competitions in Bucharest, he jumped 7.98m, setting a national and European record. This was the longest jump in 1956 and one of the best jumps ever in Europe by that time. However, Visser could not take part at the 1956 Olympic Games due to their boycott by the Netherlands. Besides the long jump, he also competed in the high jump and sprint, with the best achievements of 10.5 s in 100m, 20.3 s in 200m and 1.82m in high jump. In the early 1959 Visser, who then worked as a clerk in a shipping company, left for the United States, where he obtained a study scholarship. He started at the San José College, but then moved to the Bakersfield College. At an athletic meet in Texas, he jumped 8.05m, but overstepped the mark, and the jump was discounted. Nevertheless, he did record a leap of 7.97m in April 1960 in Santa Barbara, California and was considered a candidate for a medal at the 1960 Olympics. However, he finished in seventh place with a humble result of 7.66m. He retired soon after the Games and later ran a sportswear and footwear export business from his home in Santa Barbara, returning to the Netherlands in the 1990s.
  • On this day in 2017, heartbreak for Italy as they fail to qualify for the 2018 Football World Cup (for the first time since 1958), after a play-off defeat against Sweden.
  • Also today in 2017 the first Barbie doll to wear a hijab, modeled on Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, was unveiled in New York

 

14th

  • On this day in 1851 Herman Melville’s novel Moby Dick is published in New York (incidentally one of my favourite novels, nothing to do with anything but just thought I’d let you know!!).
  • England fast bowler Harold Larwood was born in 1904. He was the bowler at the centre of the famous ‘bodyline’ controversy during the 1932-33 series in Australia. The Australian captain Bill Woodfull accused the England side of ‘not playing cricket’ after he had been hit twice by bouncers from Larwood.
  • Born on this day in 1930, Shirley Crabtree Jr, better known as Big Daddy. An English professional wrestler with a record-breaking 64 inch chest. Initially a villain, he teamed with Giant Haystacks. He later became a fan favourite, working until the 1990s. Crabtree was a former rugby league player for league club Bradford Northern. His temper often forced him off the pitch early. He also had stints as a coal miner and with the British Army’s Coldstream Guards. His brother Brian was a wrestling referee and later MC, while his other brother Max was a booker for – and later proprietor of – Joint Promotions. His nephews Steve and Scott Crabtree also had wrestling careers – Steve wrestled in the 1980s and 1990s, billed as ‘Greg Valentine’ (named after the American wrestler of the same name) while Scott wrestled as Scott Valentine. Both worked as tag team partners for their uncle. Another nephew Eorl Crabtree, a Huddersfield and England international rugby league player announced his retirement in November 2016. In August 1987 at the Hippodrome circus in Great Yarmouth, Big Daddy performed in a tag team match pitting himself and nephew Steve Crabtree against King Kong Kirk and King Kendo. After Big Daddy had delivered a splash and pinned King Kong Kirk, rather than selling the impact of the finishing move, Kirk turned an unhealthy colour and was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead on arrival. Despite the fact that the inquest into Kirk’s death found that he had a serious heart condition and cleared Crabtree of any responsibility, Crabtree was devastated. Crabtree himself died of a stroke in December 1997 in Halifax General Hospital.
  • Leszek Cichy, Polish mountaineer, was born on this day in 1951. He is best known for making the first winter ascent of Mount Everest together with Krzysztof Wielicki in 1980, which established the winter ascent record of 8,848 meters. He was also the first Polish climber to complete the Seven Summits and a number of other prestigious climbs.
  • French cyclist Bernard Hinault was born in 1954. Hinault won the Tour de France five times between 1978 and 1985 to equal the records of Jaques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx.
  • Another top cyclist, Japan’s Koichi Nakano, who was born in 1955, shares Hinault’s birthday. Nakano won the world professional sprint title every year from 1977 to 1986.
  • Bobby Moore bowed out of international football on this day in 1973 with an appearance for England, his 108th, against Italy at Wembley. The home side lost 1-0.
  • In 1981 in the first world championship fight between 2 Puerto Ricans in boxing history, saw the WBC Super Welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez beat Carlos Santos in a 15-round unanimous decision at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas
  • The former Manchester United assistant manager Jimmy Murphy died in 1989 at the age of 79. Murphy took charge of the United team in the aftermath of the Munich air crash. He missed the game in Belgrade because he was on duty with Wales for a special World Cup qualifier against Israel. By rights the Welsh team, should not have been playing because they had been eliminated from the competition. Israel, however, had won their qualifying group by a walkover because of a political boycott by their opponents. FIFA ruled they could not go to the World Cup finals without playing a match. Consequently, the runners-up from the other groups, including Wales, were put into a draw to decide which of them should play Israel. Wales came out of the hat and Murphy was saved from experiencing the tragic crash at Munich. Wales won 2-0.
  • Tom Ferrier, British racing driver, was born in 1981. The highlight of his long karting career was winning the 1998 British Championship. He won the Star Cup of the Formula Renault championship a year later, before switching to saloon cars.
  • The 1993 New York Marathon was won by Uta Pippig in 2:26:24 and Andres Espinosa in 2:10:04
  • Today in 2010 German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel takes the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit to claim his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 4 points from Fernando Alonso, it was also Red Bull’s first Constructors title
  •  Grace Adelaide Jones, died on this day in 2013, a British super-centenarian, who was the oldest verified living person in the United Kingdom and the world’s seventh oldest living person until her death at the age of 113 years, 342 days She was the last known living British person to have been born in the 1800. Grace was born in Bermondsey, London on 7 December 1899, one of eight siblings. She never married, but was engaged, her fiancé, Albert Rees, was killed in World War I at 19. Grace said that she never married as she never found anyone as nice as Rees.

 

15th

  • Today in 1909 Rene Metrot takes off in a Voisin biplane from Algiers, making the first manned flight in Africa. 
  • In 1913 at the Australasian Tennis Championships, the Australian Ernie Parker beat his New Zealand namesake Harry Parker 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-2
  • Walter Leslie Handley born in Aston, Birmingham, known as Wal Handley died on this day in 1941, He was a champion British inter-war motorcycle racer with four wins at the Isle of Man TT Races in his career. Later he also raced cars in the 1930s, and died in a World War II aircraft accident while serving as pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary.
  • On this day in 1946 the 17th Paris Air Show opens at the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysees. It is the first show of this kind since World War II.
  • In 1952 goalkeeper Ted Sager played his 463rd and last League game for Everton against Plymouth Argyle. Sagar only ever played for the one club from the moment he signed from the junior leagues as a 19-year-old in March 1929, until he made his last appearance – a mammoth 463 League games later. That total was an Everton record which outlived him, surviving until eight years after his death when it was surpassed by Neville Southall in 1994.
  • Andrew Castle, English retired tennis professional, and now a television and radio presenter was born on this day in 1963. Castle was UK number 1 in singles tennis in 1986, reaching as high as World No. 80 in June 1988, and No. 45 in doubles in December 1988, with Tim Wilkison of the United States. He reached one Grand Slam final in his career in the 1987 Australian Open mixed doubles event with Anne Hobbs. He won three ATP titles in men’s doubles, as well as one title on the Challenger tour.
  • Ajax footballer Johan Cruijff makes his debut against GVAV in 1964. 
  • American golfer Mickey Wright shoots a 62, the lowest golf score for a woman pro at the time.
  • The Liverpool v West Ham game in 1969 was the first to be shown in colour on BBCs Match of the Day, Liverpool won 2-0.
  • The Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide formed a round of the world motor-racing championship for the first time in 1987. The race was won by Austria’s Gerhard Berger.
  • Also on this day in 1987, marathon runner Carla Beurskens runs a marathon in a Dutch female record of 2:26:34. She was one of Holland’s most prominent female long-distance runners from the second half of the 1970s until well into the 1990s, including all distances from 3000 metres to the marathon.
  • Nigel Martyn became the first £1 million goalkeeper in Britain when he moved from Bristol Rovers to Crystal Palace in 1989.
  • Sachin Tendulkar and Wagar Younis both made their Test cricket debuts on this day in 1989 at Karachi.
  • Catie Munnings, British rally driver and daughter of former rally driver Chris Munnings was born today in 1997. She competes in the European Rally Championship for the Saintéloc Junior Team, and won the FIA European Rally Championship Ladies Trophy in 2016, making her the first British person to win a title in European rallying for 49 years.o8
  • Today in 2004 saw Maria Sharapova become the first Russian to win the tennis season-ending WTA Tour Championship,  beating American Serena Williams 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles
  • Today in 2012 saw the death of Toulouse and Fiji rugby union player Maleli Kunavore at the age of 29. Kunavore enjoyed five successful seasons at Toulouse before leaving in 2010 following injuries to his arm, and perhaps more significantly, having to undergo heart surgery. A week prior to his death he reportedly had another heart operation, which is believed to have been related to his death a few days later. He played for Fiji seven times, including at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and made 80 appearances for French powerhouse Toulouse, which included winning the Top 14 title in 2008.

 

16th

  • David Livingstone becomes the first European to see the Victoria Falls in what is now present-day Zambia-Zimbabwe in 1855. 
  • On this day in 1909FC Eindhoven football team was formed under the name EVV Eindhoven.
  • In 1938 Tottenham’s Willie Hall scored three goals in 3½ minutes against Ireland in Manchester, a record in a ‘home international’ at that time. He scored two more goals in England’s 7-0 win.
  • Jockey Willie Carson was born in Scotland in 1942.  His first winner in Britain was Pinker’s Pond in a seven-furlong apprentice handicap at Catterick Bridge Racecourse on 19 July 1962. He was British Champion Jockey five times (1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983), won 17 British Classic Races, and passed 100 winners in a season 23 times for a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain. His best season as a jockey came in 1990 when he rode 187 winners. This included riding six winners at Newcastle Racecourse on 30 June, making Carson one of only four jockeys to ride six winners at one meeting during the 20th century. However, he came second in the 1990 jockeys’ championship to Pat Eddery (who rode 209 winners).
  • British heavyweight boxer Frank Bruno was born in 1961. He held the WBC and European heavyweight titles, and faced multiple world champions including Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis. He won the WBC title in 1995 after defeating Oliver McCall at a packed Wembley Stadium. Bruno was known for his excellent punching power: he won 40 of his 45 bouts and 38 by knockout, giving him a 95% knockout rate from the fights he won; his overall knockout percentage is 84.44%. Like Henry Cooper before him, Bruno has remained a popular celebrity with the British public following his retirement from boxing.
  • Today in 1969 US President Nixon became the first president to attend a season NFL game whilst in office, he saw the Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins 41-28
  • Today was a special day in 1992 for Eric Lawes, who while using a metal detector to search for a friend’s hammer near Hoxne in Suffolk, discovered the Hoxne Hoard. It is the largest hoard of Roman silver and gold ever found in Britain and the largest collect of 4th and 5th century coins found anywhere within the bounds of the former Roman Empire.
  • In 1997 American tennis player Pete Sampras won back-to-back ATP Tour World Championship titles with a 6–3, 6–2, 6–2 over Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov in Hanover
  • Lionel Messi makes his official debut for FC Barcelona in a friendly against Porto on this day in 2003
  • Today in 2013 Sachin Tendulkar played his very last cricket match before retiring in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium against the West Indies

17th

  • The Suez Canal opened in Egypt today in 1869, linking the Mediterranean and the Red seas.
  • One of the first greats of women’s golf, Joyce Wethered, was born in 1901. She won five consecutive English Championships (1920-24) and the British Open four times between 1922 and 1929. Bobby Jones, the American Champion, once described her swing as ‘one of the best ever’. She became Lady Heathcoate-Amory on her marriage to Sir John Amory.
  • Austrian skier Toni Sailer was born in 1935. He was the first man to scoop all three golds in his sport at one Olympics, the 1956 Winter Games in Cortina, where he won the downhill, slalom and giant slalom.
  • On this day in 1940, the Green Bay Packers became the first NFL team to travel by plane.
  • The top East German swimmer Roland Matthes was born in 1950. He won the 100 and 200m backstroke at both the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and set 17 backstroke world records between 1967 and 1972.
  • The Russian figure skating coach and former competitor Alexei Yevgenyevich Urmanov was born on this day in 1973. He was the 1994 Olympic champion, the 1993 World bronze medallist, the 1997 European champion, the 1995–96 Champions Series Final champion, a four-time Russian national champion, and the 1992 Soviet national champion.
  • Australian born rugby league player Lionel Cooper scored a then British record ten tries for Huddersfield against Keighley in 1951. 
  • Kinga Baranowska Polish mountaineer was born today in 1975. Kinga summited her first eight-thousander, Cho Oyu, in 2003. On 18 May 2009, she became the first Polish woman as part of the Alpinus Expedition Team, to summit Kangchenjunga (8586 m), which is located on the India-Nepal border. Kinga is the first Polish female climber to reach the collective summits of Dhaulagiri, Manaslu and Kangchenjunga. She climbs without the use of supplemental oxygen.
  • Ryk Neethling , South African swimmer, was born today in 1977. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He is the former joint owner of the 4×100 m freestyle relay world record and holds several South African records. He also is the first South African to compete four successive Olympic Games.
  • Born today in 1986  Greg Rutherford, British long-jumper. Greg won the long jump gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2014 and 2016 European Athletics Championships and 2015 World Athletics Championships, and topped the 2015 IAAF Diamond League rankings in the event. From 4 September 2015, when his Diamond League victory was confirmed with a fourth event win in Zürich, until his withdrawal from the British Athletics Championships in June 2016, Rutherford held every available elite outdoor title, including his national title. Rutherford is the current British record holder, both outdoors and indoors.
  • Pete Sampras beat Jim Courier to win the 1991 ATP Championship in Frankfurt for the second successive year and collect a cheque for $625,000.
  • Died on this day in 1998, Cornelia “Kea” Bouman, female tennis player from the Netherlands. She won the singles title at the 1927 French Championships, beating Irene Bowder Peacock of South Africa in the final. Bouman was the first, and so far the only, Dutch woman to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. In 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1926 she won the singles title at the Dutch Championships. Born in Almelo, Bouman is also the first female Dutch athlete to win an Olympic medal, when she teamed with Hendrik Timmer to win bronze in mixed doubles at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.
  • Today in 2013 German Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won a record 8th consecutive Formula 1 race with a victory in United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas