TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1897 Michael Eagan wins first U.S. national amateur handball championship.
1902 The first national bowling championship is held in Chicago.
1931 The Philadelphia Quakers set an NHL record of 15 straight losses.
1947 Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Howie Meeker scores five goals in a game.
1953 The Cleveland Indians bar night games with Cleveland Browns (who refuse to share TV receipts).
1955 Furman sets the NCAA basketball single-game scoring record with 154 points.
1955 Georgia Tech ends Kentucky’s 130-game home basketball win streak.
1955 Louise Sugg wins LPGA Los Angeles Golf Open.
1962 Golfer Jack Nicklaus makes his first professional appearance at age 21, finishes 50th.
1972 The NCAA announces freshman can play on teams starting in the fall.
1980 The NCAA decides to sponsor women’s championships in five sports.
1980 New York Islanders’ Glenn Resch earns his 20th career shutout in a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
1981 The Cincinnati Reds become the last team to sign a free agent (Larry Biittner).
1984 Washington Capitals’ Bengt Gustafsson scores five goals.
1984 The NCAA announces that its basketball tournament will have 64 teams.
1986 Willie McCovey is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
1988 The ninth-largest NBA crowd (38,873) is on hand for a game in Detroit between the Chicago Bulls and the Pistons.
1988 Debi Thomas wins the U.S. female figure skating championship.
1991 Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins and Rod Carew are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1991 Tamas Darnyi swims a world record 400-metre medley (4:12.36).
1993 Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan scores his 20,000th career point.
1994 Rintje Ritsma skates a world-record 1,500 metres (1:51.60).
1994 Scott Davis wins the U.S. male figure skating championship.
1995 Mike Schmidt is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1998 New York Giants general manager George Young resigns to accept a National Football League position.
2002 Juan Gonzalez agrees to a $24-million, two-year deal with the Texas Rangers.
2010 The Togo national football team is involved in an attack in Angola and, as a result, withdraws from the Africa Cup of Nations.