TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1871 - British Rugby Union forms. 1913 - Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing as a professional. 1921 - Toronto St. Pat Corb Denneny scores 6 goals against the Hamilton Tigers. 1924 - Charles Jewtraw, 500 m skater from the United States, wins the first Winter Olympics gold medal. 1951 - Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. 1956 - 7th Winter Olympic games open in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. 1956 - Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. 1959 - 47th Australian Championships: Mary Carter Reitano beats Renee Schuurman Haygarth (6-2, 6-3). 1959 - 47th Australian Championships: Alex Olmedo beats Neale Fraser (6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3). 1960 - Oakland enters the American Football League. 1960 - Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot. 1963 - Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone. 1977 - Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai and Marine Tcherkasova are the first to perform a quadruple twist lift in competition. 1980 - New York Islanders and the Hartford Whalers play a penalty-free game. 1985 - Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season. 1986 - Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears beat NE Patriots, 46-10 in New Orleans. MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE. 1990 - Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as assistant GM (highest-ranking African American female in a majorleague front office). 1991 - Jan Stenerud becomes the first pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame. 1992 - Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Redskins beat Buffalo Bills, 37-24 in Minnesota. MVP: Mark Rypien, Washington, QB. 1992 - 80th Australian Open: Jim Courier beats Stefan Edberg (6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2). 1992 - 80th Australian Open: Monica Seles beats Mary Joe Fernandez (6-2, 6-3). 1997 - Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers beat the New England Patriots, 35-21 in New Orleans. 1997 - 85th Australian Open: Pete Sampras beats Carlos Moya (6-2, 6-3, 6-3). 1997 - 85th Australian Open: Martina Hingis beats Mary Pierce (6-2, 6-2). 2003 - Super Bowl XXXVII: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders, 48-21 at the Qualcomm Stadium. MVP: Dexter Jackson, Tampa Bay, S. 2003 - 91st Australian Open: Andre Agassi beats Rainer Schuttler (6-2, 6-2, 6-1). 2003 - 91st Australian Open: Serena Williams beats Venus Williams (7-6, 3-6, 6-4). 2013 - 101st Australian Open: Victoria Azarenka beats Li Na (4-6, 6-4, 6-3). 2014 - 102nd Australian Open: Stanislas Wawrinka beats Rafael Nadal (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3).