ON THIS DATE
1903
— Jim Jeffries knocks out Jim Corbett in the 10th round to retain his world heavyweight title in San Francisco.
1936 — In Berlin, the U.S. wins the first Olympic basketball gold medal with a 19-8 victory over Canada. The game is played outdoors on a dirt court in a driving rain. Joe Fortenberry leads the U.S. with seven points. James Naismith, the inventor of the game, presents the medals.
1959 — The formation of the American Football League is announced in Chicago. Play will begin in 1960 with franchises in six cities, with the probability of adding two more teams.
1977 — Lanny Wadkins beats Gene Littler on the third hole of sudden death
to take the PGA Championship.
1977 — The Cosmos, led by Pelé, play before a Meadowlands crowd of 77,961 in East Rutherford, N.J., the most to see a soccer game in the U.S. The Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in an NASL quarterfinal playoff game.
1987 — Oakland’s Mark McGwire set a major league rookie record with his 39th homer of the season to help the A’s to a 7-6, 12-inning victory over the Angels.
1994 — Nick Price wins the PGA Championship, finishing at 11-under 269 for 72 holes, six strokes ahead of Corey Pavin. It is the lowest stroke total in an American major championship.
2003 — The New York blackout forces the evacuation of workers and players from Shea Stadium hours before the Mets-Giants game. It’s the only major league baseball game affected by the blackout, which stretches from the Northeast to Ohio and Michigan. Elsewhere, two WNBA games are postponed, and Yonkers (N.Y.) Raceway cancels its card.
2005 — The U.S. 4x400 relay team, anchored by Jeremy Wariner, races to a record 14th gold medal for the United States at the track and field world championships.
2009 — Felix Pie became the fourth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle and Baltimore tied club records for extra-base hits and doubles in a 16-6 rout of the Angels.
2011 — Albert Pujols hit the longest home run at 6-year-old Busch Stadium in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 6-2 win over Colorado. Pujols’ two-run drive in the first inning was estimated at 465 feet.
2011 — Keegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship after trailing by five shots with three holes left and then defeating Jason Dufner in a threehole playoff. Bradley becomes the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.
2013 — Alfonso Soriano homered twice for the second straight night and drove in a career-high seven runs, giving him 13 RBIs in two games while powering the New York Yankees to an 11-3 victory over the Angels.
2014 — Rob Manfred is elected baseball’s 10th commissioner, winning a three-man race to succeed Bud Selig.
2016 — South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s 17year-old world record in the 400-meter final in Rio de Janeiro. Usain Bolt becomes the first to capture three straight 100-meter titles at the Olympics. He finishes in 9.81 — 0.08 seconds ahead of Justin Gatlin.
2019 — Stephanie Frappart of France is the first woman to referee a major match in a European men’s tournament, UEFA Super Cup, Chelsea vs. Liverpool in Istanbul.
2021 — Arizona’s Tyler Gilbert became the fourth pitcher and first in 68 years to throw a no-hitter in his initial big league start, leading the Diamondbacks over the San Diego Padres 7-0 with the record-tying eighth no-hitter of the season.