ON THIS DATE

1900: The second modern Olympic Games open in Paris — and it’s such a mess they go on for five months.

1919: Twenty-four-year-old Boston Red Sox pitcher Babe Ruth helps his cause by hitting the first grand slam of his career.

1927: Happy 93rd birthday to longtime Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant, a native of Superior, Wis., who grew up to be a thorn in the side of the Green Bay Packers.

1940: Hockey Hall of Famer Stan Mikita is born in Sokolče, Slovak Republic (d. 2018).

1953: In the 13th game of the season, the Milwaukee Braves surpassed their 1952 attendance of 281,278, when they were in Boston.

1959: The Yankees fall into last place for the first time in 19 years.

1963: Happy 57th to former Yankees pitcher David Wells. (Imagine the party.)

1964: Buster Mathis defeats Joe Frazier to qualify for US Olympic team. (Weeks later, Mathis breaks a thumb, Frazier replaces him and wins the gold.

1971: Race car driver Tony Stewart is born in Columbus, Ind.

1972: Bee Bee Bee, a 19-1 long shot ridden by Eldon Nelson, wins the Preakness Stakes.

1978: Alameda’s Willie Stargell hits a 535-foot homer, the longest ever at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, to join Duke Snider on the all-time list with 407.

1983: Phillies left-hander Steve Carlton passes Walter Johnson for No. 2 on the all-time list for strikeouts.

1984: Roger Clemens, 21, gets his first major league victory.

1990: Monica Seles ends Steffi Graf’s 66-match winning streak — second only to Martina Navratilova’s 74 — at the German Open.

1991: Jeff Reardon gets his 300th save.

1991: Michael Jordan wins the second of his five NBA MVP awards.

1999: Robin Ventura of the New York Mets becomes the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader.

2006: Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro breaks down at the start of the Preakness, galloping a few hundred yards while his eight rivals pass him.

2007: Roger Federer ends Rafael Nadal’s 81-match winning streak on clay with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 win in the final of the Hamburg Masters.

2018: Hall of Fame golfer Carol Mann dies at 77.

2018: Billy Cannon, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner at LSU, dies at 80.