TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1743 — Earliest boxing code of rules formulated in England (Jack Broughton).
1870 — Fred Goldsmith demonstrates that curve ball thrown in baseball isn’t an optical illusion. 1936 — Games of the XI Olympiad close in Berlin.
1954 — Sports Illustrated publishes its first issue.
1965 — AFL awards its first expansion franchise (Miami Dolphins). 1976 — St. Louis Cardinals beat San Diego Chargers 20-10 in Tokyo. 1981 — Highest score in World Cup soccer match when New Zealand beats Fiji 13-0.
1989 — Roger Kingdom of U.S. sets the 110 metre hurdle record (12.92) in Zurich.
2002 — The Major League Players’ Association announces a voting result of 57-0 to set an Aug. 30 strike date.
2006 — Home plate umpire Bruce Froemming is honoured during ceremony at Fenway Park for working his 5,000th major league game of his 36-year career, second only to Bill Klem who arbitrated 5,374 games from 1905-40.
2008 — At the Beijing Olympics, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt wins the men’s 100 metre dash in world record time of 9.69 seconds, American Michael Phelps ties Mark Spitz’s 36-year record of winning seven golds in one Games with his win in the 100 metre butterfly, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry wins the women’s 200 metre backstroke in a world record time and Britain’s Rebecca Adlington breaks a world record to take gold in the women’s 800 metre freestyle.
2009 — At the Athletics World Championships in Berlin, Bolt sets a new 100 metre world record with a time of 9.58 seconds.