TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1653 A person from Croydon is reported to have run 20 miles (32 kilometres) from Saint Albans to London in less than 90 minutes. 1923 Grey Cup: Queen’s University beats the Regina Roughriders, 54-0, in Toronto. 1928 Grey Cup: The Tigers beat the Regina Roughriders, 30-0, in Hamilton. 1930 The NHL drops its 20-minute slashing-about-the-head penalty. 1945 Grey Cup: The Argonauts beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 35-0, in Toronto. 1953 Walter Alston is named manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers. 1956 Alain Mimoun wins the 13th Olympic marathon in 2:25:00.0. 1956 Frank Robinson (National League) and Luis Aparicio (American League) are voted Rookies of the Year. 1964 The Houston Colt .45s change their name to the Houston Astros. 1967 Pacific Northwest Sports is awarded one of two American League expansion franchise teams (Seattle). 1967 Wilt Chamberlain sets an NBA record of 22 free throw misses. 1970 The National Hockey League takes control of the Pittsburgh Penguins. 1971 The Chicago Cubs release Ernie Banks and sign him as a coach. 1973 Jack Nicklaus becomes the first golfer to earn $2 million in a year. 1974 Jacqueline Hansen runs a female world-record marathon in 2:43:54.5. 1980 South Carolina runner George Rogers wins the Heisman Trophy Award. 1984 Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie wins the Heisman Trophy Award. 1984 Greg Page knocks out Gerrie Coetzee in eight rounds for the WBA heavyweight boxing title. 1988 NBC bids a record $401 million US to win the rights to the 1992 Barcelona Games. 1990 Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer wins the Heisman Trophy Award. 1990 New York Knicks’ Patrick Ewing scores 50 points in beating the Charlotte Hornets, 113-96. 1996 Colin Montgomerie of Scotland wins the Million Dollar Challenge, the richest first prize in golf: $1 million. 1997 Golden State Warriors’ guard Latrell Sprewell attacks his coach, P.J. Carlesimo. 1998 Rafael Palmeiro signs a five-year $45-million deal with the Texas Rangers.