ON THIS DATE

Feb. 4

1924 – The first Winter Olympics close in Chamonix, France. Sixteen countries competed in 17 events from seven sports.

1932 – The Winter Olympics open in Lake Placid, N.Y., the first Winter Games in the United States.

1957 – Joe McCarthy and Sam Crawford are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1969 – The 24 major league owners unanimously select Bowie Kuhn as commissioner for a one-year term at a salary of $100,000.

1971 – The Baseball Hall of Fame establishes a separate section for players from the old Negro Leagues. In July, commissioner Bowie Kuhn, along with Hall president Paul Kirk, announce a change of heart and scrap plans for the separate section.

1976 – U.S. District Court Judge John W. Oliver upholds the ruling of arbitrator Peter Seitz that declared Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally free agents.

1977 – Rick Martin scores two goals in the third period, including the game-winning goal with under two minutes to play, to lead the Wales Conference to a 4-3 win over the Campbell conference in the NHL All-Star game at Vancouver.

1979 – Denver's David Thompson scores 25 points on 11-of-17 shooting to lead the West Conference to a 134-129 victory over the East at the 1979 NBA All-Star Game in Detroit. Thompson also grabs five rebounds and is named the games MVP. Philadelphia's Julius Erving leads all scorers with 29 points and san Antonio's George Gervin adds 26 for the East.

1987 – The Sacramento Kings have the worst first quarter since the inception of the shot clock in 1954. The Kings set the NBA record with only four points in the opening quarter of a 128-92 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

1987 – Stars & Stripes, skippered by Dennis Conner, sweeps Kookaburra III 4-0 at Fremantle, Australia, to bring sailing's America's Cup back to the United States.

1991 – The doors of Cooperstown are slammed shut on Pete Rose when the Hall of Fame's board of directors votes 12-0 to bar players on the permanently ineligible list from consideration.

1997 – Mario Lemieux scores his 600th goal, an empty netter, to help the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-4 win against the Vancouver Canucks. Lemieux is the first player to score 600 goals while spending his NHL career with one team.

2003 – Jaromir Jagr scores three goals, including his 500th, for his 11th career hat trick as Washington beat Tampa Bay 5-1.

2007 – Peyton Manning is 25-of-38 for 247 yards and a touchdown as he rallies Indianapolis to a 29-17 Super Bowl victory over Chicago in the South Florida rain. Tony Dungy becomes the first black coach to win the championship, beating good friend and protege Lovie Smith in a game that featured the first two black coaches in the Super Bowl.

2012 – Lindsey Vonn captures her 50th World Cup victory, winning the downhill with temperatures plunging to minus 13 on the demanding Kandahar course in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

2017 – Gregg Popovich becomes the winningest coach with a single franchise in NBA history, leading the San Antonio Spurs to a 121-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Popovich earns his 1,128th victory to pass former Utah coach Jerry Sloan for the mark.

2022 – XXIV Olympic Winter Games open in Beijing, China.