ON THIS DATE
1907 — Jim Thorpe makes his debut for Carlisle (Pa.) Indian Industrial School, dazzling a crowd of 22,800 in a 26-6 defeat of a fourth-ranked University of Pennsylvania team at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field. Thorpe rushes, returns kicks and does all the kicking in putting on a one-man show.
1951 — Joe Louis, 37, loses his last fight, an eighth-round technical knockout by Rocky Marciano at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Marciano, 28, knocks down Louis with a left hook in the eighth round. Louis gets to one knee at the count of three and takes an eight-count before getting up. Marciano ends the fight with a right that sends Louis through the ropes and onto the ring apron. Louis’ career record is 66-3 with 52 knockouts.
1968 — Brooks Dawson of Texas El Paso completes 17 of 24 passes for 304 yards in the final 10:21 of the fourth quarter as the Miners beat Brigham Young 31-25.
1968 — Boxer George Foreman beats Ionas Chepulis of the Soviet Union for the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the Mexico Olympic Games.
1970 — Muhammad Ali returns to the ring after a 2 1⁄2-year layoff, because of his refusal to be drafted into the United States Army. Fighting in Atlanta, Ali opens a cut over Jerry Quarry’s left eye with a right hand in the third round, causing the fight to be stopped before the start of the fourth.
1980 — The St. Louis Cardinals sack Baltimore quarterback Bert Jones 12 times in a 17-10 victory.
1982 — Philadelphia Phillies ace Steve Carlton becomes the first pitcher to win four Cy Young awards
1990 — Wayne Gretzky becomes the NHL first player to reach 2,000 points when he helps set up a goal by Tomas Sandstrom at 14:32 of the first period of the Kings’ game at Winnipeg.
2000 — The New York Yankees become the first team in more than a quartercentury to win three straight World Series championships, beating the New York Mets 4-2. The Yankees match the Oakland Athletics’ three in a row from 1972 to 1974 and win their fourth title in five years.
2012 — The NHL cancels all games through the end of November because of a labor dispute
2014 — Serena Williams wins the WTA Tour Finals for the third straight year and fifth time, beating Simona Halep 6-3, 6-0. Williams joins Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only players to win five titles in the season-ending championship.
2014 — Ben Roethlisberger is 40 for 49 for 522 yards and six touchdowns in Pittsburgh’s 51-34 win over Indianapolis. Roethlisberger became the first player in NFL history with two 500-yard passing games — he also had 503 yards against Green Bay on Dec. 20, 2009.
2014 — Abby Wambach scores four goals and the World Cup-bound United States beats Costa Rica 6-0 for its fifth CONCACAF women’s championship.
2018 — In the longest World Series game by both innings and time, the Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 in the 18th inning (7 hours, 20 minutes) in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium with a Max Muncy walk-off home run.