ON THIS DATE

1896 — The first modern Olympic Games begin in Athens, Greece. James B. Connelly wins the first event — the hop, step and jump.

1936 — Horton Smith edges Harry Cooper by one stroke to win the Masters.

1941 — Craig Wood beats Byron Nelson by three strokes to win the Masters.

1947 — Jimmy Demaret wins the Masters for the second time with two-stroke victory over Byron Nelson and Frank Stranahan.

1952 — Sam Snead wins his second Masters, beating Jack Burke Jr. by four shots.

1972 — For the first time in history, the major leagues failed to open on schedule because of a player strike, which started on April 1. The traditional season opener between Houston and Cincinnati was canceled and a total of 86 games were lost before the strike was settled.

1973 — Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees became the first major league designated hitter. With the bases loaded in the first inning, he was walked by pitcher Luis Tiant, but the Red Sox won 15-5.

1974 — Due to renovations at Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees’ home opener took place at Shea Stadium. It was their first home game outside Yankee Stadium since 1922.

1977 — The Seattle Mariners played their first regular-season game and lost 7-0 to the California Angels at the Kingdome.

1982 — A freak storm that brought subfreezing temperatures and dumped heavy snow from the Northeast to the Midwest forced the postponement of American League openers in New York, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Milwaukee, and National League openers in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

1987 — Sugar Ray Leonard returns to the ring after a three-year layoff to upset Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a 12-round split decision for the middleweight title, becoming boxing’s 10th triple champion.

1992 — Duke becomes the first team in 19 years to repeat as NCAA champion with a 71-51 victory over Michigan’s Fab Five freshmen, the youngest team to vie for the title.

2004 — Connecticut’s championship sweep is complete. Led by Diana Taurasi, UConn beats Tennessee 70-61. The victory by the women — their third straight and fourth in five years, makes Connecticut the first Division I basketball school to sweep both men’s and women’s titles.

2005 — Brad Wilkerson hit for the cycle to lead Washington over Philadelphia 7-3.

2008 — Lorena Ochoa continues her dominance of women’s golf with a fiveshot victory in the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

2008 — Teenager Graham Rahal, making first IRL IndyCar Series start in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, holds off veteran Helio Castroneves to become the youngest winner in major open-wheel history. At 19 years, 93 days, Rahal breaks the age record set two years ago in Sonoma, Calif., by Marco Andretti, who was 19 years, 167 days old.

2008 — Keith Tkachuk becomes the 41st player in NHL history to score 500 goals, and adds an assist to help the St. Louis Blues beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 in the season finale.

2009 — Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez each homered from both sides of the plate to lead Arizona to a 9-8 victory over Colorado.

2009 — Emilio Bonifacio hit the majors’ first inside-the-park homer on opening day since 1968, swiped three bases and had four hits in Florida’s 12-6 victory over Washington.

2009 — Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina win a national championship, ending Michigan State’s inspirational run with a 89-72 rout.

2010 — New Jersey’s Martin Brodeur gets his 600th career win with his second straight shutout in a 3-0 win over Atlanta.

2010 — Maya Moore scores 23 points to help Connecticut rally from a horrible first half to beat Stanford 53-47 for its second straight undefeated championship season and its seventh national title. UConn (39-0) won its 78th straight, extending its women’s NCAA record for consecutive victories, although this one is the closest. All of the Huskies’ previous wins in the streak were by double digits.

2012 — Adam Dunn tied a major league record with his eighth opening-day home run. He led off the sixth inning for the Chicago White Sox when he pulled a ball into the second deck of seats in right field off Texas starter Colby Lewis. Frank Robinson and Ken Griffey Jr. are the other major leaguers who have eight homers in openers.

2015 — Duke’s talented group of freshman — Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen and Jahlil Okafor — turn a one-time ninepoint deficit into an eight-point lead with 1:22 left to grit out a 68-63 victory over Wisconsin for the program’s fifth national title. Allen, the most unheralded of coach Mike Krzyzewski’s first-year players, steps up and scores 16 points to keep Duke in it when Wisconsin looked like it was about to run away.

2016 — Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda homered in the second at-bat of his major league debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers and beat the Padres 7-0, making San Diego the first team in major league history to be shut out in its first three games. The Padres were outscored 25-0 in the opening three games by their biggest rivals and set MLB marks for futility.

2016 — Rookie Trevor Story made baseball history by hitting a home run in each of his first three major league games and Colorado beat Arizona 4-3. Story also became the first player in baseball history to hit a home run for each of his first four hits.

2017 — Charley Hoffman finishes with the largest first-round lead at Augusta National in 62 years. Hoffman shoots a 7-under 65 to have a four-shot edge over William McGirt.