Oct. 15
1933 — The Philadelphia Eagles play their first NFL game and suffers a 56-0 loss to the New York Giants.
1961 — Mickey Wright wins her third LPGA Championship with a rout, nine strokes ahead of Louise Suggs. Wright shoots a 3-over, 287 at the Stardust Country Club in Las Vegas for her third major title of the year and her tenth tour victory of the season.
1972 — Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks becomes the sixth NHL player with 1,000 career points. Mikita assists on Cliff Koroll’s goal in a 3-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues at Chicago Stadium.
1983 — The Chicago Black Hawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs score five goals in 1 minute, 24 seconds to set an NHL record for the fastest five goals by two teams. The Maple Leafs beat the Black Hawks 10-8.
1988 — Oklahoma rushes for an NCAA-record 768 yards, including 123 by quarterback Charles Thompson. Thompson scores three touchdowns and passes for one in the first period of a 70-24 rout of Kansas State.
1988 — Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scores eight points — two goals and six assists — in a 9-2 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
1989 — Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings passes Gordie Howe as the NHL’s all-time leading scorer in a during a 5-4 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers. Gretzky flips a backhand shot past Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford with 53 seconds remaining to tie the game and pass Howe with 1,851st point. Gretzky wins the game in overtime.
1995 — The Carolina Panthers beat the New York Jets 26-15 for their first NFL victory.
2005 — Michigan gives up a touchdown to Penn State with 53 seconds left, then marches down the field to score on a TD pass from Chad Henne to Mario Manningham with no time remaining for a 27-25 win over the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions.
2005 — Southern California’s Matt Leinart pushes and spins his way into the end zone with 3 seconds left to cap a chaotic finish to the top-ranked Trojans’ 28th straight victory, a back-and-forth 34-31 win over No. 9 Notre Dame.
2008 — Fabian Brunnstrom scores three goals in his NHL debut to match the league record in Dallas’ 6-4 victory over Nashville.
2009 — Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom becomes the first European defenseman and eighth overall to reach 1,000 points, assisting on two goals in the Red Wings 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings.
2012 — The Nets bring professional sports back to Brooklyn with a preseason victory, beating the Washington Wizards 98-88 in the first basketball game at the Barclays Center.
2015 — Carey Price makes 25 saves and the Montreal Canadiens make team history by starting a season with a five straight wins, the latest a 3-0 victory over the New York Rangers.
2017 — New England quarterback Tom Brady passes for 257 yards with two touchdowns in the Patriots’ 24-17 win at the New York Jets. Brady, who has 187 regular-season victories, surpasses Hall of Famer Brett Favre (186) and Peyton Manning (186) for the most regular-season victories by a starting quarterback in NFL history.
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Oct. 16
1897 — Michigan beats Ohio State 34-0 at Ann Arbor, the first meeting between theses storied rivals.
1909 — In his 4th title defense Jack Johnson KOs Stanley Ketchel in the 12th round at Mission St Arena, Colma, California to retain his heavyweight boxing crown.
1932 — After a 0-0 tie earlier in the season, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears 2-0.
1946 — Detroit’s Gordie Howe scores a goal and gets into two fights in his first NHL game. The Red Wings tie the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-3.
1964 — Babe Parilli of the Boston Patriots passes for 422 yards and four touchdowns in a 43-43 tie with the Oakland Raiders.
1968 — Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos give black power salutes during the medal ceremonies of the 200-meter race and are later banned for life from all Olympic competition by the IOC.
1971 — Norm Ullman of the Toronto Maple Leafs records his 1,000th point in a 5-3 loss to the New York Rangers. Ullman gets two assists to become the fourth NHL player to reach the milestone.
1976 — Tony Franklin of Texas A&M kicks two field goals over 60 yards for an NCAA record. The distances are 65 and 64 yards as the Aggies beat Baylor 24-0.
1977 — The Denver Broncos intercept seven passes off Ken Stabler of the Oakland Raiders in a 30-7 victory.
1977 — The Minnesota Vikings beat the Chicago Bears 16-10 in overtime with the only successful fake field goal in NFL overtime.
1987 — Mike Tyson retains his undisputed heavyweight title with a seven-round knockout of Tyrell Biggs in Atlantic City, N.J.
1999 — Fourth-ranked Virginia Tech hangs a record-setting 62-0 loss on No. 16 Syracuse. It’s the worst shutout loss by a ranked team in the history of The Associated Press poll.
1999 — Mount Union beats Otterbein 44-20 for its 48th consecutive victory, surpassing Oklahoma’s 42-year-old all-division mark of 47 in a row.
2004 — 17-year old Lionel Messi makes his league debut for FC Barcelona in a 1-0 win against cross-town rivals Espanyol.
2004 — Mount Union beats Marietta 57-0 for its 100th consecutive regular-season victory. The Purple Raiders’ last regular-season loss was on Oct. 15, 1994, at home against Baldwin-Wallace.
2011 — Danell Leyva becomes the first American man gymnast to win a gold medal at the World Championships since 2003. Leyva wins the parallel bars title to become the first gold medalist for the U.S. since Paul Hamm claimed the floor exercise and all-around titles in 2003.
2011 — Dan Wheldon, 33, dies in a fiery 15-car wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his car flew over another on Lap 13 and smashes into the wall just outside turn 2.
2017 — Louisville’s Athletic Association officially fires coach Rick Pitino nearly three weeks after the school acknowledged that its men’s basketball program is being investigated as part of a federal corruption probe. The association, which oversees Louisville’s sports programs and is composed of trustees, faculty, students and administrators, vote unanimously to oust the longtime Cardinals coach following a board meeting.
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Oct. 17
1948 — The Green Bay Packers intercept seven passes off Bob Waterfield in a 16-0 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
1954 — Adrian Burk of the Philadelphia Eagles passes for seven touchdowns in a 49-21 victory over the Washington Redskins. Burk completes 19 of 27 passes for 232 yards and his longest touchdown pass is 26 yards.
1960 — The National League formally awards franchises to the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club Inc. headed by Joan Payson and a Houston, Texas, group headed by Judge Roy Hofheinz, Craig Cullinan and R.E. Smith.
1964 — Quarterback Jerry Rhome is responsible for 56 of Tulsa’s 58 points with seven touchdown passes, two rushing touchdowns and a 2-point conversion in a 58-0 shutout of Louisville.
1974 — The Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Black Hawks 4-3 at the Capital Centre to earn the first victory in franchise history.
1989 — The Calgary Flames tie an NHL record by scoring two goals, both short-handed, in 4 seconds and also three goals in a 27-second span during the third period to pull into an 8-8 tie with the Quebec Nordiques.
1991 — Paul Coffey of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history. Coffey gets two assists in an 8-5 victory against the New York Islanders at the Civic Arena, giving him 1,053 career points (309 goals and 744 assists). Coffey passes longtime Islanders star Denis Potvin.
1991 — Angel Cordero Jr. becomes the 3rd jockey to win 7,000 races.
1992 — Jari Kurri of the Los Angeles Kings scores his 500th goal in an 8-6 win over the Boston Bruins. Kurri becomes the first European-trained player and 18th player overall to reach the mark.
2000 — Patrick Roy sets an NHL record with his 448th career victory as Colorado beats Washington 4-3 in overtime. Roy snaps a tie with Terry Sawchuk, who held the mark since 1970. Sawchuk earned his 447th victory in his 968th game, while Roy wins No. 448 in his 847th game.
2015 — Star forward Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer across all competitions, overtaking club legend Raul with his 324th goal in a 3-0 win over Levante.
2015 — Jalen Watts-Jackson scoops up a flubbed punt attempt and lumbers 38 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the game, giving No. 7 Michigan State a shocking 27-23 win over No. 12 Michigan at the Big House.
2017 — Boston’s Gordon Hayward breaks his left ankle just five minutes into the season, a grisly injury that overshadows Kyrie Irving’s return to Cleveland and the Cavaliers’ 102-99 win over the shocked Celtics.
2021 — The Chicago Sky defeat the Phoenix Mercury 81-74 to win their first WNBA Championship three games to one. The Sky’s Kahleah Copper is named Finals MVP.
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