TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1875 Matthew Webb becomes first to swim the English Channel, taking 21 hours and 45 minutes. 1886 First international polo meet (USA vs. England). 1888 Henry Slocum wins U.S. Lawn Tennis Association singles title. 1904 Jim Jefferies knocks out Jack Munroe and retains heavyweight boxing title. 1921 New York Yankees pitcher Harry Harper hits three batters in an inning, tying the record. 1922 Chicago Cubs beat Philadelphia Phillies 26-23 in the highest-scoring Major League Baseball game. 1924 Washington Senators’ Walter Johnson’s second no-hitter beats St. Louis Browns, 2-0 in 7 innings. 1925 Helen Willis wins her third straight U.S. Lawn Tennis Open. 1936 Three Boston Braves’ players hit twice in an inning getting two hits each. 1946 Ben Hogan wins the PGA Championship. 1950 Sugar Ray Robinson knocks out Jose Basora to win the middleweight boxing title. 1952 Detroit Tigers’ Virgil Trucks’ second no-hitter of the year, beats the New York Yankees, 1-0. 1960 The Games of the XVII Olympiad open in Rome, Italy, running until Sept. 11. 1960 AFL begins placing players’ names on the back of their jerseys. 1967 Minnesota Twins’ Dean Chance’s second no-hitter of the month beats the Cleveland Indians, 2-1. 1969 Detroit Lions beat Boston Patriots, 22-9, in Montreal (NFL expo). 1974 Los Angeles Aztecs defeat Miami Toros to win NASL cup. 1979 California Angels trounce the Toronto Blue Jays, 24-2. 1983 Triple A baseball’s Louisville breaks one-million-fan mark. 1985 New York Mets’ Dwight Gooden becomes youngest pitcher to win 20 games, at age 20 years, 9 months, 9 days). 1986 At Tiger Stadium, Oakland Athletics’ rookie Mark McGwire hits his first major-league home run off of Walt Terrell. 1990 Li Hui Rong of China sets the triple jump women’s record at 47 feet and 8.5 inches. 1991 Carl Lewis runs 100 metres in 9.86 seconds. 2005 St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa wins his 2,195th career game, moving into third place in all-time major-league history.