Sports History

Lacrosse is older than the printing press. Golf was invented before Abraham Lincoln was born, but basketball didn’t exist until decades after his death. The first book on figure skating was published before the Declaration of Independence. Sports are as enduring and ever-evolving ...read more

After Jackie Robinson started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947, ending a six-decade ban on Black players in Major League Baseball, opportunities slowly began to expand for athletes of color. Robinson’s historic achievement—a formative moment of the postwar ...read more

The ancient Greeks, who staged the first formal Olympic Games in 776 B.C., gave the world the idea of organized big-time sports events as entertainment for arenas full of spectators. More than that, they were the first culture in which people idolized their favorite athletic ...read more

In ancient Rome, a city known for its spectacular and violent entertainment, there was one sport that was even more popular than gladiator fights. Chariot racing, staged at the massive Circus Maximus arena located between the Aventine and Palatine hills, gave spectators an ...read more

There are two essentials for staging a Winter Olympics—snow and ice. Old Man Winter can be fickle, however, and mild temperatures and a lack of snow have threatened to derail the Winter Games multiple times, particularly before the advent of climate-controlled arenas and ...read more

During Abraham Lincoln’s final year in Springfield, Illinois, in 1860, before he was elected America's 16th president, folks would sometimes observe him in shirtsleeves, engaged in a fast-paced game of “Fives” with other young men in a vacant lot just off the public square. The ...read more

The day after a Black woman refused to yield her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, America’s latest battle over civil rights garnered front-page headlines. The news stories capturing the country’s attention in early December 1955 did not concern Rosa Parks, however, but University ...read more

The Winter Olympics have been marked by controversy and scandal since the first Games in 1924. From cheating by East German lugers to the sordid Tonya Harding figure skating fiasco, here are six events that made headlines: 1. 1924: Timing Controversy in Speedskating Event at ...read more

With football now dominated by rocket-armed quarterbacks and fleet-footed receivers, it’s hard to imagine the sport without the forward pass. The play, however, was illegal for nearly four decades after the sport’s inception. When passing was finally permitted in 1906, to improve ...read more

William Hoy was not Major League Baseball’s first deaf player, but he was the game's most successful. He finished his career, which spanned from 1888-1902, with 2,048 hits, 596 stolen bases and 725 runs batted in. In the 21st century, Hoy received consideration by the Veterans ...read more

With a national championship on the line, heavy favorites Arkansas (1966), Texas (1971) and Miami (1986 and 1993) flopped. Here's a look at seven of the most stunning upsets in college football bowl game history:  1. 1949 Rose Bowl: Northwestern 20, California 14 What made it ...read more

Tailgating before college and professional football games is an American tradition. Starting in late summer and continuing through early winter, temporary tent cities pop up in stadium parking lots across the country. A haze of charcoal smoke fills the air along with laughter, ...read more

Few football games have been played in as bizarre conditions as the “Blizzard Bowl,” the Chicago Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles NFL Championship Game on December 19, 1948. Stunned by an early morning storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on the Philadelphia area, neither team ...read more

The Heisman Trophy is awarded annually by the Downtown Athletic Club to the top player in college football’s highest division. While many of those who have hoisted the trophy named for football coach and pioneer John Heisman initially pursued careers in the NFL, the lives of ...read more

Some college football coaching hires have shifted the balance of power in the sport. Others have made major headlines and captured the public's attention but ultimately fizzled. Here are seven hires that shaped the game: 1. 1951: Woody Hayes leaves Miami (Ohio) for Ohio State ...read more

Duke Fields was only 19 in 1967 when he played in the halftime show at Super Bowl I between the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. A veteran of big shows with Grambling State University's renowned marching band, he remembers looking into the stands at Los Angeles Coliseum ...read more

Women's singles figure skating was first held at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Games, four years before the inaugural Winter Games in 1924. The sport is considered the most glamorous and popular at the Games, which have served as a launching pad for post-Olympics careers for ...read more

On December 18, 1932, with waist-deep snow and frigid weather plaguing Chicago, the Bears moved their NFL championship game against the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans from Wrigley Field to the indoor arena of the city's NHL team. The league's  first playoff game—and first contest ...read more

Seven years after battling Rutgers in what is considered the first college football game, Princeton met Yale on November 30, 1876, in the first college game played on Thanksgiving. Fewer than 1,000 fans—mostly alumni and students—watched Yale win, 2-0, in Hoboken, New Jersey, in ...read more

Lacrosse, America's oldest team sport, dates to 1100 A.D., when it was played by the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois people, in what now is New York and areas in Canada bordering the state. The early versions of lacrosse matches played by Native American nations included 100 to 1,000 ...read more

In the decades before 22-year-old rookie Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception—considered the greatest play in NFL history—the Pittsburgh Steelers were mostly awful. From its inception in 1933 to 1971, the team posted seven winning records and no playoff victories.  "They were a ...read more

Cumberland Posey, the only person in the Baseball and Basketball Halls of Fame, was not only an excellent athlete. He also was one of the shrewdest businessmen and talent evaluators in the Negro Leagues, a fierce advocate for Black baseball and a sports pioneer. Early in the 20th ...read more

Decades before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders starred in baseball and football, Jim Thorpe was America’s original multi-sport athlete. A two-time college football All-American and charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Thorpe played six seasons of Major League Baseball ...read more

Shortly after the invention of basketball in 1891, the college version of the game became integral to American sports. At its highest levels, college basketball has produced transformative and innovative men's and women's coaches. Here are eight who significantly impacted the ...read more

On September 1, 1964, San Francisco Giants pitcher Masanori “Mashi” Murakami became the first Japanese-born player to play in a Major League Baseball game. But a dispute between the trailblazer's Japanese team and the Giants following his historic season effectively shut the door ...read more

By the 1930s, leather helmets were a standard part of football uniforms—except for Dick Plasman. The Chicago Bears' receiver never liked hats, and he particularly despised the era’s uncomfortable football helmets that constantly dropped over his eyes and obscured his vision while ...read more

With football fields viewed as proving grounds, the military fielded teams that competed against top college programs during World War II. The Fort Knox Armoraiders, Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks and other service teams played the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State. Military ...read more

Thanksgiving football dates to at least 1876, when Yale defeated Princeton, 2-0, on a cold, bleak afternoon in Hoboken, New Jersey. By the 1890s, many college and high school teams played on the holiday. But the tradition didn't become a bonafide institution in professional ...read more

Thanksgiving Day professional football games date to 1920. But the modern iteration of the tradition dates to 1934, when Detroit Lions owner George Richards made the holiday game a bonafide institution. Richards, a radio executive, helped line up a 94-station radio network to ...read more

Two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the Dallas Cowboys played the Browns in front of angry, anguished and hostile fans in Cleveland. Many blamed Dallas, a hotbed of far-right extremism in the early 1960s, for JFK's ...read more

The Boston Celtics dominated the 1960s, winning nine titles in 10 seasons, including seven in a row from 1960 to 1966—a near-perfect decade that has never been replicated in major North American professional sports. The only year in the 1960s that Boston did not win a title was ...read more

Superstitions and sports are as inseparable as Halloween and candy, but a few sports franchises and athletes have endured runs of such poor fortune that they seemingly can only be explained by the supernatural. Hexes such as the Curse of the Bambino and Curse of the Billy Goat ...read more

Until Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color line in 1947, Black Americans' professional baseball opportunities were limited primarily to the Negro Leagues. These leagues showcased impressive talent, from power hitters Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson to pitchers ...read more

The greatest—and most shocking—trades in basketball history have catapulted teams to championships and long-term success. Here are seven of the biggest deals in NBA history: 1. April 30, 1956: St. Louis Hawks Trade Bill Russell to Boston Celtics The Rochester Royals passed over ...read more

March Madness is the name commonly used for the NCAA Tournament, held annually in March and April to determine the national champion in Division I men's and women's college basketball. The tournament is also called "The Big Dance." In 1939, the first March Madness featured eight ...read more

Babe Ruth’s called shot in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series remains one of the most famous home runs in baseball history. What’s much less known, however, is that Ruth’s blast would likely never have occurred except for a remarkable chain of events that started with three ...read more

Cleveland Browns quarterback Otto Graham dominated professional football in the pre-Super Bowl era. From 1946-55, "Automatic Otto" led the Browns to 10 straight championship games—an achievement no other player in the sport can match. Starting every Browns game during that time ...read more

The World Series has been a stage for some of Major League Baseball's greatest plays as well as its most ignominious moments. From dropped balls to a blown umpire call, here are 10 of the Fall Classic’s most noteworthy blunders. 1. New York Giants' Fred Snodgrass, Game 8, 1912 ...read more

Major League Baseball history is filled with memorable World Series, from the first in 1903 to the 21st century. The New York Yankees, who have won more titles (27) than any other big-league team, have played in many World Series that have captured the imaginations of sports fans ...read more

The World Series—or Fall Classic—annually pits the pennant winners of the American and National leagues in a best-of-seven series for the Major League Baseball championship.  The New York Yankees have won 27 World Series titles, by far the most by any team. The St. Louis ...read more

In the depths of the Depression, Joe Engel, the "Baron of Baloney," would do almost anything to promote his minor league baseball team. The owner of the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Lookouts traded a shortstop for a 25-pound turkey, placed singing canaries in grandstands, and featured ...read more

The first baseball player from Latin America to collect 3,000 hits, Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente won four batting crowns, 12 Gold Glove Awards and the 1966 National League Most Valuable Player Award during his iconic career. A 15-time All-Star, the Puerto Rico native led the ...read more

The Hail Mary is one of the most dramatic plays in sports, an all-or-nothing proposition that can stun a crowd into silence or bring it to its feet. The play didn’t acquire a nickname that stuck until December 28, 1975, when Dallas' Roger Staubach connected with Drew Pearson for ...read more

Women's sports were widely condemned in the 1890s. Modern Olympics Games founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin called the activities "indecent," and even bicycle riding by women was decried as "vicious" by The Atlantic, a prestigious magazine. But the norms of the era didn't deter a ...read more

On Christmas Eve 1950, in wind chill that made the temperature feel close to zero, one of the greatest football games in NFL history was played between the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns. The nearly forgotten championship featured two revolutionary offenses, 12 future Hall ...read more

The World Series has produced many moments of incredible drama, but only in 1960 has the Fall Classic ended with a Game 7 home run. That World Series was among the wildest in baseball history as the New York Yankees outscored the Pittsburgh Pirates, 55-27, and second baseman ...read more

The seventh-inning stretch, when fans rise from their seats for a brief break after the top of that inning is complete, is as much a part of Major League Baseball as beer at ballparks and booing umpires. But the origins of the American tradition, which may date to 1869, are as ...read more

Before gaining his greatest fame with the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth was a star with the rival Boston Red Sox. As an ace pitcher and slugging outfielder, Ruth helped Boston win three World Series titles in his first six seasons with the team. Then, after the 1919 season, Red Sox ...read more

Most rivalries in professional sports don't have the intensity or tradition of historical college matchups, many of which date to the late 19th century. Nearly every college has a rivalry game, but these seven football games stand above the rest. 1. Michigan vs. Ohio State ...read more

John Heisman may be best known for the college football trophy that bears his name. But the Ohio-born man's impact on the game went far beyond the award given annually to the top player in college football's highest division. In the sport’s earliest days, Heisman was a successful ...read more