ON THIS DATE

1928 — Gordie Howe is born in Floral, Saskatchewan.

1931 — Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, 43, is one of eight people killed in a plane crash in Kansas.

1973— Muhammad Ali loses a split decision to Ken Norton in San Diego. (He also suffers a broken jaw.)

1973— Billie Jean King beats Margaret Court in a tournament in Indianapolis, ending Court’s 57-match winning streak.

1975— UCLA beats Kentucky 92-85for its 10th NCAA basketball championship under coach John Wooden.

1987– Keith Smart’s shot gives Indiana a 74-73victory over Syracuse in the NCAA tournament championship game.

1980— Jesse Owens, winner of four gold medals at the 1936Olympics in Berlin, dies of lung cancer at age 66.

1994 — Michael Jordan’s spring fling with baseball ends when the Chicago White Sox assign him to the minors.

1995— A judge ends a strike by Major League Baseball players after 232 days.

1998 — The Tampa Bay Rays (nee Devil Rays) and the Arizona Diamondbacks play their first Major League Baseball games.

2002 — Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team complete a 39-0season with an 82-70victory in the national championship game.

2003 — The Great American Ball Park opens as the new home of the Cincinnati Reds.

2013— Sixth-seeded Louisville beats defending champion Baylor 82-81, ending Brittney Griner’s career in the regional semifinals.

2017— UConn’s 111-game winning streak ends when Morgan William’s overtime buzzer beater gives Mississippi State a 66-64victory in the national semifinals.