Sports timeline

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

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

2000s

2005 in sports – NHL cancels season due to labor dispute
2004 in sports – Lance Armstrong wins a record 6th Tour de France, Brian Lara scores a test innings record 400 not out against England.
2003 in sports – Michael Schumacher wins record sixth Formula One Championship
2002 in sports – Canada wins double gold in ice hockey at the Olympics
2001 in sports – Tiger Woods becomes first golfer to hold all four major titles simultaneously
2000 in sports – Essendon completes the AFL season with a 24–1 win-loss record, the best in the history of the league

1990s

1999 in sports – Death of Joe DiMaggio; Lance Armstrong comes back from testicular cancer to win his first Tour de France
1998 in sports – NHL players compete in Winter Olympic Games for the first time
1997 in sports – Mike Tyson banned from boxing after biting a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear
1996 in sports – Professional cyclists compete at Summer Olympic Games for the first time
1995 in sports – Miguel Induráin wins fifth consecutive Tour de France
1994 in sports – World Series cancelled after player strike; 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.
1993 in sports – Monica Seles is stabbed during a tennis tournament
1992 in sports – Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American team to win the World Series
1991 in sports – Magic Johnson retires from basketball
1990 in sports – James "Buster" Douglas defeats Mike Tyson to become World Heavyweight Champion

1980s

1989 in sports – Pete Rose banned from baseball; Hillsborough disaster
1988 in sports – Ben Johnson breaks 100 metres record but tests positive for banned substances
1987 in sports – First Rugby Union World Cup
1986 in sports – Mike Tyson becomes the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion
1985 in sports – Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's major league record for career hits; Libby Riddles is the first woman to win the Iditarod; Bradford City and Heysel Stadium disasters
1984 in sports – First Breeders' Cup in thoroughbred racing and North America Cup of harness racing
1983 in sports – First World Athletics Championships
1982 in sports – Mary Decker sets six world records in Track and field
1981 in sports – First million dollar horse race; Major League Baseball season interrupted by player strike, causing cancellation of over 600 games
1980 in sports – "Miracle on Ice" as US ice hockey team beats Soviet Union

1970s

1979 in sports – Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first world boxing title
1978 in sports – First Ironman Triathlon
1977 in sports – Shirley Muldowney is the first woman to win the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
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
1973 in sports – Secretariat wins the Triple Crown of United States Thoroughbred Racing
1972 in sports – The 1972 Summit Series between the USSR and Canada
1971 in sports – Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Championship; Ibrox disaster
1970 in sports – Nijinsky II wins the Triple Crown of British Thoroughbred Racing

1960s

1969 in sports – 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.
1968 in sports – Jean-Claude Killy wins the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics
1967 in sports – First Super Bowl
1966 in sports – England wins its first and only FIFA Football World Cup
1965 in sports – 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
1962 in sports – Rod Laver wins the men's Grand Slam in tennis
1961 in sports – The World Figure Skating Championships canceled after the entire United States team dies in a plane crash
1960 in sports – First Paralympics

1950s

1959 in sports – First Daytona 500
1958 in sports – The lights go out permanently in Brooklyn as baseball's Dodgers move to Los Angeles; Munich air disaster devastates Man United
1957 in sports – Juan Manuel Fangio wins his fifth Formula One championship title
1956 in sports – Don Larsen pitches the first and only post-season no-hitter in Major League Baseball history (a perfect game, no less); first European Cup in football
1955 in sports – Calvin Rice wins the NHRA's inaugural "Top Fuel" championship
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
1952 in sports – Dick Button performs the first triple jump in figure skating in the Winter Olympic Games
1951 in sports – The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1950 in sports – First Formula One championship

1940s

1949 in sports – NHL goaltender Bill Durnan sets shutout record of 309:21 minutes
1948 in sports – Fanny Blankers-Koen wins four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London
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 unoffical Boat Race on the Great Ouse
1943 in sports –
1942 in sports –
1941 in sports – Ted Williams is the last batter in Major League Baseball to hit over .400
1940 in sports -

1930s

1939 in sports – First NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship; 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
1937 in sports – 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
1935 in sports – Babe Ruth retires from Major League Baseball; first Heisman Trophy awarded
1934 in sports – The Masters in golf first held
1933 in sports – England cricket team's Bodyline tour; first NFL championship game played
1932 in sports – India become the sixth Test cricketing nation.
1931 in sports – France are thrown out of the Rugby Union Five Nations Championship for professionalism.
1930 in sports – First Football World Cup

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.
1927 in sports – First Ryder Cup of golf
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
1925 in sports – French Open in tennis opened to non-French players for the first time
1924 in sports – First Winter Olympic 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; Babe Ruth sold to New York Yankees; 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 -
1917 in sports –
1916 in sports – First PGA Championship
1915 in sports –
1914 in sports – Babe Ruth makes his major league debut; Honus Wagner breaks Cap Anson's major league record for career hits
1913 in sports – Emily Davison throws herself in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby horse race
1912 in sports – Electronic timers introduced for the first time at the Stockholm Olympic Games
1911 in sports – First Indianapolis 500
1910 in sports – The rugby union Home Championship admits France, creating the Five Nations (now Six Nations)

1900s

1909 in sports – Imperial Cricket Conference formed to administrate world cricket
1908 in sports – First women compete in the modern Olympic Games
1907 in sports – Norman Brookes becomes the first overseas men's singles tennis Wimbledon champion
1906 in sports – First Grand Prix motor racing; National Collegiate Athletic Association formed
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 World Series
1902 in sports – First Rose Bowl, American college football game – Michigan defeated Stanford 49–0
1901 in sports – The American League arrives as a rival to baseball's National League
1900 in sports – For the first time, women are allowed to compete in the Olympic Games

1890s

1899 in sports -
1898 in sports -
1897 in sports – Victorian Football League is formed
1896 in sports – First modern Olympic Games
1895 in sports – First US Open of golf; game of volleyball invented
1894 in sports – First auto race
1893 in sports – Stanley Cup first awarded in ice hockey
1892 in sports – First official game of basketball
1891 in sports – First French Open of tennis
1890 in sports – First World Figure Skating Championships

1880s

1889 in sports – Handsome Dan, a bulldog, becomes Yale University's mascot, the first animal to hold such a position in American sports
1888 in sports – The Football League founded
1887 in sports -
1886 in sports – Workers at Royal Woolwich form Dial Square football team, later known as Arsenal F.C.
1885 in sports -
1884 in sports – First baseball World Series occurs between National League and American Association
1883 in sports – First luge competition; first Home Championship in rugby union (predecessor to the modern Six Nations)
1882 in sports – First time Australia beat England in Test cricket in England, beginning The Ashes legend.
1881 in sports –
1880 in sports -

1870s

1879 in sports -
1878 in sports -
1877 in sports – First cricket Test match; first Wimbledon Championships
1876 in sports – First season of Major League Baseball, with the debut of the National League
1875 in sports – First running of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks horse race
1874 in sports -
1873 in sports – First running of the Preakness Stakes horse race
1872 in sports – First football FA Cup final
1871 in sports – The National Association, baseball's first professional league, debuts
1870 in sports -

1860s

1869 in sports – The original Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first openly all-professional team, was founded.
1868 in sports -
1867 in sports – Marquess of Queensberry boxing rules published; First running of the Belmont Stakes horse race
1866 in sports – The Amateur Athletic Club introduce the definition of an 'amateur' into sport and hosting the first United Kingdom national championships.
1865 in sports -
1864 in sports – Overarm bowling becomes legal in cricket
1863 in sports – The Football Association formed to oversee football.
1862 in sports – First ski jumping competition
1861 in sports – First running of the Melbourne Cup horse race
1860 in sports – First Open Championship of golf

1850s

1859 in sports – The Queen's Plate horse race is organized
1858 in sports – Australian Rules Football codified
1857 in sports -
1856 in sports -
1855 in sports -
1854 in sports -
1853 in sports –
1852 in sports –
1851 in sports – Birth of the America's Cup
1850 in sports -

Pre 1850s

1840s in sports – First codification of rules of baseball by Alexander Cartwright
1830s in sports – First Aintree Grand National
1820s in sports – First Oxford and Cambridge boat race
1810s in sports – English champion Tom Cribb narrowly defeats ex-slave Tom Molineaux at boxing; First One Thousand Guineas Stakes
1800s in sports – First Two Thousand Guineas Stakes
1790s in sports -
1780s in sports – First Epsom Derby
1770s in sports – First St. Leger Stakes, Epsom Oaks
1760s in sports -
1750s in sports -
Early 18th century in sports – First codification of the Laws of Cricket
17th century in sports -
Pre 17th century in sports -

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