THIS DAY IN HISTORY

1876: Englishman Marshall Brooks becomes the first man to clear six feet in high jump as he goes 1.83m in competition in Oxford. The world record is now 2.45m, held by Cuban Javier Sotomayor from 1993.

1877: Australia’s Bill Midwinter gets a first five-haul in Test cricket as he takes 5-78 against England in cricket’s first-ever Test, which Australia won by 45 runs.

1897: Bob Fitzsimmons becomes the first Englishman to win the world heavyweight crown when he knocks out “Gentleman” Jim Corbett in the 14th round.

1996: Aravinda de Silva scores an unbeaten 107 as Sri Lanka beat Australia by seven wickets to lift the World Cup trophy in Lahore. Man of the match De Silva had taken 3/42 to help restrict Australia to 241/7. As a batsman he came in at No 4 with Sri Lanka potentially in trouble at 23/2, but he and Asanka Gurusinha (65) and then captain Arjuna Ranatunga (47 not out) got Sri Lanka home.

1997: Australia beat the Proteas by two wickets in Port Elizabeth to hand them their first Test series defeat on home soil since 1965. The win gave Australia an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.