TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1910 Arthur Knight patents the steel shaft for golf clubs.
1917 The National Hockey League is founded with Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators and Quebec Bulldogs.
1917 The National Hockey Association disbands.
1930 The first U.S. football game is broadcast to England (Harvard 13, Yale 0).
1945 Jim Benton, Cleveland Rams’ end, gains 303 yards an NFL record).
1950 Lowest NBA score, Fort Wayne Pistons beats Minneapolis Lakers, 19-18.
1956 The Games of the XVI Olympiad open in Melbourne, Australia.
1957 Mickey Mantle beats Ted Williams by one vote for baseball’s Most Valuable Player Award.
1959 The Boston Patriots enter the AFL.
1959 The New York Titans (AFL) make their first draft choice (George Izo, quarterback, Notre Dame).
1972 The Pittsburgh Penguins set an NHL record for scoring the fastest five goals (in two minutes and seven seconds).
1981 San Diego Chargers’ Dan Fouts passes for six touchdowns versus the Oakland Raiders in a 55-21 win.
1986 Mike Tyson wins his first world boxing title by defeating Trevor Berbick in Las Vegas.
1986 Wayne Gretzky, of the Edmonton Oilers, becomes the 13th NHL player to score 500 goals.
1989 Kirby Puckett signs a record $3-million US, three-year contract with the Minnesota Twins.
1999 Wayne Gretzky is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, his number 99 permanently retired by the NHL.
2003 England wins the 2003 Rugby World Cup, defeating Australia 20-17 after extra time.
2004 The recently relocated Washington National League baseball franchise announces its new name, the Nationals.