Jan. 12
1951 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Lee Oma in the 10th round at Madison Square Garden in New York to retain the heavyweight title.
1958 — Dolph Schayes of the Syracuse Nationals sets an NBA record for career points in a 135-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Schayes scores 23 points to bring his career mark to 11,770, breaking the record of 11,764 held by George Mikan.
1958 — The NCAA rules committee makes the first change in football scoring rules since 1912 by adding the two-point conversion.
1960 — Syracuse’s Dolph Schayes becomes the first player in NBA history to score 15,000 career points.
1969 — New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath “guarantees” a victory before the game against the 17-point favorite Baltimore Colts, then leads the AFL to its first Super Bowl victory, a 16-7 triumph over a Baltimore team that had lost only once in 16 games all season.
1975 — The Pittsburgh Steelers totally shut down Minnesota’s offense, handing the Vikings their third Super Bowl defeat, 16-6. Franco Harris, the game’s MVP, sets a Super Bowl rushing record with 158 yards.
1986 — Chicago’s Denis Savard ties an NHL record for the fastest goal to start a period by scoring four seconds into the third period of the Blackhawks’ 4-2 victory over the Hartford Whalers.
1991 — Princeton beats Cornell 164-71 in an unusual swimming meet. The schools agree to compete by telephone due to a blizzard making transportation a problem to Ithaca, N.Y. Both teams swim in their owns pools and the results are exchanged by FAX.
2001 — Minnesota defenseman J.J. Daigneault ties an NHL record by playing for his 10th team when he appears in a 5-0 loss to the Avalanche.
2007 — Tadd Fujikawa, just shy of his 16th birthday, steals the show at the Sony Open. Fujikawa shoots a 4-under 66, making him the youngest player in 50 years to make the cut on the PGA Tour.
2008 — Tom Brady completes all but two of his 28 passes to lead New England to its second straight AFC championship game with a 31-20 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Patriots improve to 17-0, matching the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only team to go unbeaten from the first game of the season through the Super Bowl.
2008 — The Green Bay Packers beat the Seattle Seahawks 42-20 to reach the NFC championship game. Ryan Grant recovers from two fumbles that put the Packers down 14-0 after only four minutes. Grant sets a team postseason record by running for 201 yards, and scores three times.
2012 — Dwight Howard breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s nearly 50-year-old NBA record for most free throw attempts in a game, making 21 of 39 in the Orlando Magic’s 117-109 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Chamberlain shot 34 for the Philadelphia Warriors against St. Louis on Feb. 22, 1962.
2013 — Colin Kaepernick rushes for a quarterback playoff-record 181 yards and two touchdowns and throws two scoring passes to Michael Crabtree in San Francisco’s 45-31 win over Green Bay.
2013 — Joe Flacco throws a 70-yard game-tying touchdown to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds left in regulation, helping send it into overtime and Baltimore beats Denver in the second extra period, 38-35.
2014 — Jeremy Abbott wins his fourth U.S. figure skating title. Teenager Jason Brown finishes second and defending champion Max Aaron places third.
2015 — Ezekiel Elliott rushes for 246 yards and four touchdowns and Ohio State wins the first national title in college football’s playoff era, running over Oregon 42-20.
2017 Justin Thomas (23) becomes the youngest player to shoot a sub-60 round of 59 in the opening round of the Sony Open at Waialae CC in Hawaii; he also wins the tournament.
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Jan. 13
1962 — Wilt Chamberlain scores an NBA regulation-game record 73 points to lead the Philadelphia Warriors to a 135-117 triumph over the Chicago Packers.
1971 — Lenny Wilkens of the Seattle Supersonics, at 33, becomes the oldest All-Star MVP as he scores 21 points to give the West a 108-107 victory over the East.
1974 — The Miami Dolphins win their second straight Super Bowl in their third straight appearance with a 24-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Larry Csonka, the game’s MVP, gains 145 yards on 33 carries and scores a touchdown.
1986 — NCAA schools vote overwhelmingly in favor of adopting the controversial Proposition 48. The rule requires that incoming freshman maintain 2.0 grade point averages and score 700 or more on the Scholastic Aptitude Test or a 15 on the American College Testing program.
1987 — Lewis Lloyd and Mitchell Wiggins of the Houston Rockets become the third and fourth National Basketball Association players to be banned from the league for using cocaine.
1991 — Phil Mickelson overcomes an 8 on the 14th hole to become the second amateur since 1954 to win a PGA Tour event as he posts a one-shot victory over Bob Tway and Tom Purtzer in the Northern Telecom Open.
1995 — America3, the first all-women’s team in the 144-year history of America’s Cup, wins the first race of the America’s Cup defender trials, beating Team Dennis Conner by 1 minute, 9 seconds.
1999 — Basketball superstar Michael Jordan announces his second retirement just prior to start of lockout-shortened 1998-99 NBA season; returns in 2001 with Washington.
2003 — Jennifer Capriati becomes the first women’s Australian Open defending champion to lose in the first round in the Open era. Capriati, seeded third, loses 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 to 90th-ranked Marlene Weingartner of Germany.
2006 — Larry Brown becomes the fourth coach in NBA history to win 1,000 regular-season games as New York beats Atlanta 105-94. Brown, 1,000-762 in 23 seasons in the NBA, joins Lenny Wilkens, Don Nelson and Pat Riley in the 1,000-win club.
2013 — Matt Bryant kicks a 49-yard field goal with 8 seconds left and the Atlanta Falcons bounce back after blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, defeating Seattle 30-28 in an NFC divisional playoff game. The Falcons lead 27-7 at the start of the final quarter before rookie quarterback Russell Wilson leads the Seahawks to three fourth-quarter touchdowns and a 28-27 lead with 31 seconds left.
2013 — Tom Brady becomes the winningest quarterback in postseason play, throwing for three touchdowns to beat Houston 41-28 and lift the New England Patriots into the AFC championship game. Brady gets his 17th victory, surpassing Joe Montana, by throwing for 344 yards.
2017 — Kelsey Plum scores 36 points to become the 12th player in women’s basketball history to top 3,000 career points and Washington routs Arizona 90-73.
2020 – Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow are fired by team owner Jim Crane for their roles in the sign-stealing scandal after MLB suspends both for one year
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Jan. 14
1943 — Montreal’s Alex Smart scores three goals in his first NHL game and leads the Canadiens to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Black Hawks.
1962 — Margaret Smith wins her third straight Australian Open with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Jan Lehane.
1968 — The Green Bay Packers win their second straight Super Bowl. The game draws the first $3 million gate in football history. Bart Starr, the game’s MVP, completes 13 of 24 passes for 202-yards.
1973 — The Miami Dolphins, who went 14-0 in the regular season and won two playoff games, beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 in the Super Bowl to become the only undefeated team in NFL history.
1990 — Joe Montana sets an NFL record when he tosses his 30th and 31st postseason touchdown passes as the San Francisco 49ers beat the Los Angeles Rams 30-3 in the NFC championship game. Terry Bradshaw had thrown 30.
1990 — John Elway passes for 385 yards and three touchdowns as the Denver Broncos advance to their fourth Super Bowl with a 37-21 victory over the Cleveland Browns in the AFC Championship.
2001 — Led by Kerry Collins’ five touchdown passes, the New York Giants reach their first Super Bowl in a decade with a 41-0 romp past the hapless Minnesota Vikings — the biggest rout in NFC championship history.
2006 — Johnny Weir win’s his third straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and Sasha Cohen takes the women’s division.
2007 — In Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Kildow captures the top two places in a World Cup super-combi and Resi Stiegler just misses making it an American sweep. The 1-2-4 finish is a first for American women in a World Cup alpine skiing event.
2012 — Tom Brady throws for a record-tying six touchdown passes, five in the first half and three to Rob Gronkowski, to lead the New England Patriots to a 45-10 win over Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos in the divisional playoffs.
2012 — Alex Smith completes a 14-yard touchdown pass to Vernon Davis with 9 seconds left just after Drew Brees put the high-powered Saints ahead, and the resurgent San Francisco 49ers capitalize on five New Orleans turnovers for a thrilling 36-32 playoff victory.
2017 — Top-ranked UConn breaks its own NCAA record with its 91st consecutive victory, scoring the first 21 points and romping past SMU 88-48. Coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies (16-0) surpass the record of 90 that his team first accomplished more than six years ago. The four-time defending national champion Huskies haven’t lost a game since falling in overtime at sixth-ranked Stanford on Nov. 17, 2014.
2017 — New England’s Dion Lewis becomes the first in NFL postseason history to have a rushing TD, receiving TD and kickoff return for a TD in a single game, which led to the Patriots’ 34-16 division playoff win over Houston.
2020 – Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is fired amid Major League Baseball’s investigation into sign-stealing by the Houston Astros; Cora was the Astros’ bench coach before moving to Boston
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Jan. 15
1965 — In one of the most notable trades in NBA history, the San Francisco Warriors deal Wilt Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and cash.
1967 — The NFL’s Green Bay Packers open the Super Bowl series by defeating the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL, 35-10.
1978 — The Dallas Cowboys take advantage of eight Denver turnovers en route to a 27-10 victory over the Broncos in the Super Bowl. Butch Johnson’s diving catch in the end zone completes a 45-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach and puts the Cowboys ahead 20-3 in the third quarter.
1994 — Ricky Watters of San Francisco scores an NFL postseason-record five touchdowns as the 49ers beat the New York Giants 44-3.
1994 — Lawrence Taylor announces his retirement from the NFL.
1995 — San Diego linebacker Dennis Gibson twice knocks down passes in the end zone — the last one on fourth down — to preserve the Chargers’ biggest NFL victory, a 17-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC championship.
1997 — Patrick Lalime becomes the first goalie since NHL expansion in 1967 to open his career with a 15-game unbeaten streak as Pittsburgh beats Hartford 3-0.
2000 — The Jacksonville Jaguars steamroll their way into the history books and the AFC championship game. In the second-most overpowering playoff performance ever, the Jaguars rout the Miami Dolphins 62-7. The 55-point margin is the second-largest in playoff history.
2001 — Peace College beats Bennett College 98-3 in women’s college basketball as Bennett sets an NCAA Division III women’s record for fewest points scored.
2004 — Michelle Wie shoots a respectable round of 2-over 72, leaving her nine strokes behind the leader after one round at the PGA Sony Open in Honolulu. Wie, 14, is believed to be the youngest player ever on the PGA Tour.
2005 — Michelle Kwan wins her ninth title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, tying Maribel Vinson for the all-time record.
2011 — Kyle Kuric’s lay-up with 4 seconds remaining caps a furious rally by No. 18 Louisville and the Cardinals stun Marquette 71-70. Louisville trails by 18 with 5:44 to go but close the game on a 24-5 run fueled by guard Preston Knowles.
2011 — Sixth-seeded Green Bay routs the Falcons 48-21 in Atlanta as Aaron Rodgers throws for three touchdowns and runs for one. The 48 points are the most for the Packers in a postseason game.
2012 — New York’s Eli Manning throws three touchdown passes and the Giants shock the Green Bay Packers 37-20 in an NFC divisional playoff game. The Packers, 15-1 in the regular season, become the seventh consecutive Super Bowl champ not to advance to the Super Bowl the next year.
2017 — Justin Thomas wins the Sony Open with the lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history. Thomas caps off his wonderful week at Waialae that began with a 59 with his second straight victory. He two-putts a birdie from 60 feet on the par-5 18th and closes with a 5-under 65 to set the record at 253. Tommy Armour III shot 254 at the 2003 Texas Open.
2017 — Aaron Rodgers throws a 36-yard pass to a toe-dragging Jared Cook on the sideline, and Mason Crosby kicks a 51-yard field goal on the next play as time expires, sending Green Bay to the NFC championship game with its eighth straight win while thwarting a Dallas rally in a 34-31 victory in the divisional round of the playoffs.
2018 – US Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles says she is one of more than 130 women sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar.
2023 — Lakers LeBron James surpasses 38,000 NBA career points, joining only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, in 113-112 loss to Philadelphia 76ers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
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