Sports timeline

This page indexes the individual year in sports pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.

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2010s – 2000s – 1990s – 1980s – 1970s – 1960s – 1950s – 1940s – 1930s – 1920s – 1910s – 1900s – 1890s – 1880s – 1870s – 1860s – 1850s – Pre-1850s

2000s

*2009 in sports
*2008 in sports In Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giants upset the previously unbeaten New England Patriots. Marion Jones is stripped of her 2000 Olympics gold medals after admitting to using steroids. The Indian Premier League is created. Michael Phelps surpasses Mark Spitz with the most gold medals in the Olympics.
*2007 in sports – Australia wins record 4th Cricket World Cup. Barry Bonds hits his 756th career home run, surpassing Hank Aaron's record. Doping scandals devastate the Tour de France. Iraq surprise winner of football's Asian Cup. Roger Federer ties Björn Borg's modern record of 5 successive Wimbledon titles. AFL team the Geelong Cats breaks a 44 year premiership drought with a 119-point annihilation of Port Adelaide Power. South Africa win Rugby World Cup.
*2006 in sports – Italy wins the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, beating France on penalties. Japan wins inaugural World Baseball Classic. Michael Schumacher retires from Formula One with 91 career race wins, Fernando Alonso wins second title.
*2005 in sports – NHL cancels season due to labor dispute. Lance Armstrong wins a record 7th Tour de France. Another decades-long World Series drought ends, as the Chicago White Sox win their first since 1917. Liverpool win the Champions League after an epic comeback in the final against A.C. Milan. Wales win the Six Nations Grand Slam in rugby.
*2004 in sports – Brian Lara scores a test innings record 400 not out against England. Michael Schumacher wins his seventh and last Formula One Championship. The Boston Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918.
*2003 in sports – England win Rugby World Cup in extra time.
*2002 in sports – Brazil win record 5th World Cup in Korea and Japan. Real Madrid wins record 9th European Cup. Serena and Venus Williams dominate tennis winning 3 of major tournaments.
*2001 in sports – NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt is killed in a last lap crash at the Daytona 500. Tiger Woods becomes the first golfer to hold the four major professional titles at once. Colombia wins the Copa América for the first time ever. The Arizona Diamondbacks become the youngest franchise in baseball history to win a World Series (1998) with a game-winning hit by Luis Gonzalez against the New York Yankees, effectively ending their dynasty. The New England Patriots win their first Super Bowl.
*2000 in sports – Essendon completes the AFL season with a 24-1 win-loss record, the best in the history of the league. nrut|Italy is admitted to the Five Nations Championship in rugby union, creating the Six Nations.

1990s

*1999 in sports – In football, Manchester United win The Treble, capped off by a comeback in stoppage time of the Champions League final against Bayern Munich. Major League Lacrosse is founded. nrut|Australia win their second Rugby World Cup and second Cricket World Cup.
*1998 in sports – The Tour de France is rocked by the Festina doping scandal. France wins the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, beating Brazil. NHL players compete in Winter Olympic Games for the first time. The Super League war in Australian rugby league is settled, with the Australian Rugby League and Super League merging to form the National Rugby League. The BCS is created for college football.
*1997 in sports – Ken Doherty becomes the first player from the Republic of Ireland to win the world championship of snooker. WNBA debuts. Saeed Anwar's 194 not out against India becomes the highest total by a batsman in ODI History.
*1996 in sports – Sri Lanka wins the Cricket World Cup;Professional cyclists compete at Summer Olympic Games for the first time; Damon Hill wins Formula One championship; Major League Soccer debuts.
*1995 in sports – Miguel Indurain wins fifth consecutive Tour de France. Bosman ruling shakes European football to its foundations. Post-apartheid South Africa hosts the 1995 Rugby World Cup, with the Springboks defeating the All Blacks in the final. Shortly afterwards, rugby union opens itself to professionalism after a century of amateurism.
*1994 in sports – For the first time in the history of the modern Olympics, the Winter Games are held in a different year than the Summer Games. A.C. Milan go 58 games unbeaten, a record among major football leagues. Roland Ratzenberger dies during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at the Villeneuve corner and Ayrton Senna dies at the Tamburello corner during the race. Colombian international Andrés Escobar murdered having scored an own goal at the USA World Cup. A players' strike wipes out the entire Major League Baseball postseason for the first time in 90 years.
*1993 in sports – Julio César Chávez knocks Greg Haugen out for the WBC Light Welterweight Title at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, a fight attended by 132,247 spectators. Monica Seles is stabbed during a tennis tournament; Zambia national football team die in air crash.
*1992 in sports – Pakistan wins the Cricket World Cup. The top 22 clubs in English football resign from The Football League and form what is now known as the Premier League. The Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American team out to win the World Series in baseball. NBA players compete in the Summer Olympics for the first time, led by the USA's original "Dream Team". In the Summer Olympics, Vitaly Scherbo ties Eric Heiden's record of five individual gold medals at one Games.
*1991 in sports – Magic Johnson retires from basketball. First FIFA Women's World Cup, won by the USA. Australia wins Rugby world cup.
*1990 in sports – West Germany ties record and wins third World Cup at the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Martina Navratilova wins record 9th Wimbledon singles title. Inaugural Solheim Cup in women's golf.

1980s

*1989 in sports – Hillsborough disaster. Pete Rose banned from Major League Baseball after allegations of betting on games. In the closest finish in Tour de France history, Greg LeMond edges out Laurent Fignon for the Tour win by 8 seconds.
*1988 in sports – Ben Johnson breaks 100 metres record but tests positive for banned substances; Steffi Graf wins a "Golden Grand Slam" (Grand Slam and Olympic Gold)
*1987 in sports – New Zealand win the first Rugby World Cup; Arena Football League and National Lacrosse League begin operations.
*1986 in sports – Mike Tyson becomes the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion; Diego Maradona confirms status as world's best soccer player with incredible performance over the tournament as Argentina wins the 1986 FIFA World Cup
*1985 in sports – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's major league record for career hits; Sergey Bubka breaks the 6 metre barrier in the pole vault; Bradford City and Heysel Stadium disasters
*1984 in sports – First Breeders' Cup in thoroughbred racing; Michel Platini scores 9 goals including two perfect hat tricks as France win the European Championship
*1983 in sports – First World Athletics Championships
*1982 in sports – Mary Decker sets 6 world records in athletics. First NCAA women's basketball tournament.
*1981 in sports – First million dollar horse race, the Arlington Million. Massively controversial 1981 Springbok Tour.
*1980 in sports – "Miracle on Ice" as US ice hockey team beats Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Olympics, overshadowing Eric Heiden's sweep of all five individual men's speed skating gold medals at the same Games. More than 60 nations, led by the USA, boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics. The Senior PGA Tour, today the Champions Tour, is established.

1970s

*1979 in sports – Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first world boxing title
*1978 in sports – First Ironman Triathlon. Johan Cruyff pulls out of the World Cup for political reasons. Affirmed becomes the last thoroughbred to date to win the U.S. Triple Crown.
*1977 in sports – Pelé plays the last game of his professional career in a friendly between the New York Cosmos and Santos FC. Red Rum wins a record third Grand National.
*1976 in sports – Nadia Comaneci earns the first perfect score in the history of Olympic gymnastics
*1975 in sports – First Cricket World Cup
*1974 in sports – "The Rumble in the Jungle" boxing match; Gerd "der Bomber" Müller scores his 14th World Cup goal, a then record, as West Germany win the World Cup; Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth's career home run record
*1973 in sports – Ajax win third consecutive European Cup; Secretariat wins the Triple Crown of United States Thoroughbred Racing
*1972 in sports – Establishment of golf's PGA European Tour. USSR beat USA in last second of the Olympic basketball final; Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the same Olympics. Canada defeats U.S.S.R. in Summit Series - Paul Henderson scores winning goal.
*1971 in sports – The first FIFA-recognised women's football international match is played. Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Championship. An Old Firm match is overshadowed by the second Ibrox disaster. 1971 Springbok tour causes protest all over Australia; British and Irish Lions defeat All Blacks for the first time in a series.
*1970 in sports – Nijinsky II becomes the last horse to date to win the Triple Crown of British Thoroughbred Racing. The Marshall University football team is killed in a plane crash. The National and American Football Leagues merge to become one 26-team mega-league..

1960s

*1969 in sports – Rod Laver wins his second tennis Grand Slam. The New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, the first Super Bowl victory by an American Football League team; New York Mets win an upset victory in the World Series over the Baltimore Orioles
*1968 in sports – Jean-Claude Killy wins the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics; the Open Era in tennis begins. 1968 Summer Olympics take place in México City. Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi win the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
*1967 in sports – First Super Bowl; Celtic FC's "Lisbon Lions" win the European Cup, beating the much fancied Inter; the National Hockey League doubles in size
*1966 in sports – England wins its first and only World Cup
*1965 in sports – The Imperial Cricket Conference becomes the International Cricket Council, and opens its membership to nations outside the Commonwealth. Bret Hanover wins the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers.
*1964 in sports – Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, wins the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship
*1963 in sports – Craig Breedlove breaks through the 400 mph barrier in setting a new Land speed record; football Bundesliga formed in Germany
*1962 in sports – Rod Laver wins the men's Grand Slam in tennis.
*1961 in sports – The World Figure Skating Championships are canceled after the entire United States team is killed in a plane crash; Benfica become first team other than Real Madrid to win the European Cup
*1960 in sports – First Paralympics; USSR win first European Football Championship; American Football League is formed. Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Yankees in 7 games to win the World Series behind Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in Game 7. Joe Frazier becomes Olympic Champion.

port in the 1950s

*1959 in sports – First Daytona 500; In this season, Real Madrid win the greatest ever final of the European Cup, 7-3, in Hampden Park, Glasgow, vs Eintracht Frankfurt
*1958 in sports – The lights go out permanently in Brooklyn as baseball's Dodgers move to Los Angeles; Munich air disaster devastates Manchester United F.C.
*1957 in sports – Juan Manuel Fangio wins his fifth Formula One championship title
*1956 in sports – Real Madrid win the first European Cup in football. In Game 5 of the World Series, Don Larsen pitches the first (and, through 2007, the only) perfect game in postseason baseball history.
*1955 in sports – Over 80 spectators and driver Pierre Levegh are killed in a crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Brooklyn Dodgers win their only World Series in that city.
*1954 in sports – Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four-minute mile
*1953 in sports – Maureen Connolly is the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis; first Four Hills Tournament; first FIBA World Championship for Women (basketball)
*1952 in sports – Dick Button performs the first triple jump in figure skating in the Winter Olympic Games. Emil Zátopek wins the 5,000m, 10,000m and the Marathon in the Summer Olympic Games.
*1951 in sports – The National Football League has its first Pro Bowl Game (Los Angeles, California).
*1950 in sports – First Formula One championship. Japan reorganizes its professional baseball setup, creating Nippon Professional Baseball and inaugurating the Japan Series. First FIBA World Championship (men's basketball). Formation of the LPGA, which would eventually operate the world's dominant tour in women's professional golf.

1940s

*1949 in sports – NHL goaltender Bill Durnan sets shutout record of 309:21 minutes; the Torino F.C. squad is all but wiped out in the Superga air disaster
*1948 in sports – Fanny Blankers-Koen wins four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. Donald Bradman retires from cricket at the end of Australia's triumphant tour of England.
*1947 in sports – Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier; first College World Series
*1946 in sports – NBA founded (originally known as Basketball Association of America)
*1945 in sports – Maurice Richard is the first NHL player to score 50 goals in one season
*1944 in sports – Oxford beat Cambridge in an unofficial Boat Race on the Great Ouse
*1943 in sports – First women's professional baseball league is formed, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
*1942 in sports – The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup after losing the first three games of the best-of-seven final series
*1941 in sports – Ted Williams is the last batter in Major League Baseball to hit over .400, and Joe DiMaggio puts together a record 56-game hitting streak.
*1940 in sports – Seabiscuit becomes the top money-earner in horse racing of all time

1930s

*1939 in sports – Lithuania wins Europe basketball championship; first NCAA basketball tournament. The Baseball Hall of Fame opens; Lou Gehrig retires from baseball
*1938 in sports – Don Budge becomes the first person to win the Grand Slam in tennis. Italy win the third FIFA World Cup at the 1938 FIFA World Cup
*1937 in sports – Lithuania wins Europe basketball championship. Joe Louis becomes world heavyweight champion
*1936 in sports – To the consternation of Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin; Japan's first professional baseball league formed
*1935 in sports – Babe Ruth retires from Major League Baseball. First European Basketball Championship is won by Latvia in Switzerland.
*1934 in sports – The Masters in golf first held. Italy win the second FIFA World Cup at the 1934 FIFA World Cup
*1933 in sports – England cricket team's Bodyline tour; first NFL championship game played
*1932 in sports – India becomes the sixth Test cricketing nation.
*1931 in sports – France are expelled from the rugby union Five Nations Championship for professionalism.
*1930 in sports – Uruguay win the first FIFA World Cup at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. The inaugural British Empire Games, today known as the Commonwealth Games, are held.

1920s

*1929 in sports – Wally Hammond scores 905 runs at an average of 113.12 as England defeat Australia in The Ashes
*1928 in sports – Women's Olympic athletics and gymnastics are held for the first time at the 1928 Summer Olympics; "Dixie" Dean scores 60 league goals in 39 matches as Everton F.C. win the Football League
*1927 in sports – First Ryder Cup of golf. The heavyweight boxing title rematch between Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey enters boxing lore as The Long Count Fight.
*1926 in sports – Jack Dempsey loses his world heavyweight boxing title to Gene Tunney. Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English Channel. The National Hockey League takes "de facto" control of the Stanley Cup.
*1925 in sports – French Open in tennis opened to non-French players for the first time; first handball international between Germany and Belgium
*1924 in sports – First Winter Olympic Games; in the Summer Olympics, Paavo Nurmi wins 5 golds in Athletics (track and field);New Zealand's All Blacks Invincibles team tour the home nations, playing 32 and winning 32. First Deaflympics Games
*1923 in sports – First 24 hours of Le Mans race; Ty Cobb breaks Honus Wagner's major league record for career hits
*1922 in sports – First sub-one minute 100m freestyle swim
*1921 in sports – The schooner Bluenose begins her undefeated career in racing, winning the International Fishermen's Trophy
*1920 in sports – National Football League formed; baseball's Negro National League formed; Babe Ruth sold to New York Yankees and hits 54 home runs, signalling the arrival of the live-ball era in baseball; Cleveland Indians' shortstop Ray Chapman is killed by a Carl Mays pitch; the Grand Prix de Paris horse race changes its name to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

1910s

*1919 in sports – Black Sox scandal in baseball
*1918 in sports – The Boston Red Sox win the 1918 World Series with Babe Ruth pitching
*1917 in sports – Debut of the National Hockey League
*1916 in sports – First PGA Championship of golf
*1915 in sports – No football anywhere in Europe, thanks to World War I
*1914 in sports – Babe Ruth makes his professional baseball debut. German and UK soldiers celebrate Christmas with a football match
*1913 in sports – Emily Davison throws herself in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby
*1912 in sports – Electronic timers introduced at the Stockholm Olympic Games
*1911 in sports – First Indianapolis 500 auto race
*1910 in sports – The rugby union Home Championship admits France, creating the Five Nations (now Six Nations)

1900s

*1909 in sports – Imperial Cricket Conference founded to administer world cricket
*1908 in sports – Great Britain wins the first Olympic football title; rugby league is introduced to Australia
*1907 in sports – Norman Brookes wins men's singles at Wimbledon, the first overseas champion in that event
*1906 in sports – First Grand Prix motor racing. National Collegiate Athletic Association formed. First legal forward pass in American college football history: St. Louis University's Bradbury Robinson passes to Jack Schneider for a touchdown in a 22-0 victory over Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin.
*1905 in sports – New Zealand's first All Blacks Rugby Union tour of Britain ("The Originals"), winning 31 matches and losing one to a controversial refereeing decision
*1904 in sports – Louis Rigolly breaks through the 100 mph barrier in setting a new land speed record
*1903 in sports – First Tour de France. First modern baseball World Series.
*1902 in sports – First Rose Bowl, American college football game (Michigan defeats Stanford 49-0)
*1901 in sports – The American League War in baseball as the AL openly competes with the National League
*1900 in sports – First women athletes in the Olympic Games: Charlotte Cooper becomes first Olympic champion winning gold in tennis. Baseball's Cuban League is integrated by one all-black team.

1890s

*1899 in sports – FC Barcelona is founded by Joan Gamper. A tennis tournament called the Cincinnati Open begins; today, it is known as the Cincinnati Masters & Women's Open, and is the oldest tournament in the U.S. played in its original city.
*1898 in sports – First Serie A Championship held. Standardization of the rules of handball
*1897 in sports – Victorian Football League founded in Australia. Juventus F.C. founded by high school students.
*1896 in sports – First modern Olympic Games
*1895 in sports – First US Open of golf. Volleyball invented. Northern clubs split from the Rugby Football Union and establish rugby league.
*1894 in sports – First auto race. Julianne Weinman introduces football and rugby to Brazil.
*1893 in sports – Stanley Cup first contested in ice hockey
*1891 in sports – First French Open of [tennis] ; basketball is invented in Springfield, Massachusetts.
*1890 in sports – The Brotherhood War in baseball as the players union establishes the one-year Players League

1880s

*1889 in sports – Preston North End win the first double in English football, going undefeated in the league
*1888 in sports – The Football League founded
*1887 in sports – Celtic Football Club founded by Brother Walfrid in Glasgow. Gaelic football codified. Tipperary beat Galway in the first hurling All-Ireland Championship
*1886 in sports – Workers at Royal Woolwich form Dial Square football team, later known as Arsenal F.C.
*1885 in sports –
*1884 in sports – Gaelic Athletic Association founded. First baseball World Series matches National League and American Association champions
*1883 in sports – First luge competition. First Home Championship in rugby union (predecessor to the modern Six Nations).
*1882 in sports – First Australia win over England in Test cricket in England, beginning The Ashes. John L. Sullivan becomes the first heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
*1881 in sports –
*1880 in sports –

1870s

*1879 in sports – Debut of reserve lists in baseball: the National League agrees that no one else will hire any of five players listed by each club.
*1878 in sports – First football game played at Deepdale in Preston, the oldest continuously used ground in English League Football. Debut of baseball's Cuban League, the first league outside the United States. Everton FC were formed
*1877 in sports – First cricket Test match. First Wimbledon Championships (lawn tennis). First intercollegiate lacrosse game.
*1876 in sports – Debut of baseball's National League
*1875 in sports – First running of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horse races
*1874 in sports – First documented baseball game in Cuba
*1873 in sports – First running of the Preakness Stakes horse race
*1872 in sports – First football FA Cup final. England draw 0-0 against Scotland in the first official international football match.
*1871 in sports – Debut of the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players (NA), baseball's first professional league. Scotland defeat England 4-1 in the first rugby union international.
*1870 in sports – the Cincinnati Red Stockings suffered their first baseball defeat in two years.

1860s

*1869 in sports – The original Cincinnati Red Stockings field the first fully professional baseball team and tour coast-to-coast. The sport of football is invented in New Jersey.
*1868 in sports –
*1867 in sports – Marquess of Queensberry rules of boxing published; first running of the Belmont Stakes horse race
*1866 in sports – The Amateur Athletic Club introduces the definition of 'amateur' into sport and hosts the first United Kingdom national championships
*1865 in sports – The champion Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn wins every game, undefeated since 1863
*1864 in sports – Overarm bowling is finally permitted in cricket; First running of the Travers Stakes horse race
*1863 in sports – The Football Association founded to unify rules (soccer) and oversee football
*1862 in sports – First ski jumping competition, Norway; Notts County F.C. founded, now the world's oldest professional football club
*1861 in sports – First running of the Melbourne Cup horse race; The Open Championship of golf is "opened"
*1861 in sports – The Montevideo Cricket Club is founded in Uruguay (July 18th. 1861)
*1860 in sports – First Open Championship of golf

1850s

*1859 in sports – The Queen's Plate horse race organized
*1858 in sports – Australian rules football codified 1858-1859. The Melbourne Football Club is also established.
*1857 in sports – Sheffield F.C. founded, the oldest football (soccer) club in the world; NABBP founded, the first baseball association
*1856 in sports – Montreal Lacrosse Club founded, the first organized lacrosse team
*1855 in sports – Knicks, Gothams, and Eagles of New York play three baseball matches round-robin style in June
*1854 in sports – Dublin University Football Club founded, the oldest documented football club of any code (now rugby union)
*1853 in sports – West Australian establishes the Triple Crown by winning three main horse races in England. Land is set aside for the Melbourne Cricket Club eventually to become the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
*1852 in sports – First Harvard-Yale Regatta (rowing), a single race on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
*1851 in sports – Birth of the America's Cup (sailing) in a race around the Isle of Wight, English Channel
*1850 in sports – Students at the University of Oxford organize the first universities Athletics Sports meeting.

Pre-1850s

*Pre-1850s in sports – The ancient Games. Military training. English sport prospers with aristocratic gaming and suffers under Puritan power. Professional competition develops in cricket, boxing, and horse racing. Around 1850, walking races and river races become "the new thing" and attract betting by rich and poor alike. Walking races cover anything up to 3 days or 250 miles. Both river races and walking races attract enormous crowds; this lasts until after the turn of the century.