July 18
1896 — James Foulis wins the U.S. Men’s Open golf championship at Shinnecock Hills, Southampton, N.Y.
1921 — Babe Ruth achieves 139 home runs and becomes the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball, taking the title from Roger Connor.
1927 — Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia Athletics doubles off the glove of Harry Heilmann for his 4,000th hit.
1951 — Jersey Joe Walcott, at 37, becomes the oldest fighter to win the world heavyweight title with a seventh-round knockout of Ezzard Charles at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
1970 — San Francisco’s Willie Mays gets career hit number 3,000 off Montreal’s Mike Wegener in the second inning.
1975 — The trial of Dave Forbes, the first pro athlete to be indicted for a crime committed during play, ends in a hung jury. Forbes, of the Boston Bruins, was indicted for excessive force used on an opponent. Forbes’ victim was Henry Boucha in a game on Jan. 4 against the North Stars at Minnesota. The prosecution decides not to seek a retrial.
1987 — New York’s Don Mattingly ties Dale Long’s 31-year-old major league record when he homers for the eighth consecutive game in the Yankees’ 7-2 loss to the Texas Rangers.
1993 — Greg Norman shoots a 64 on the final day to set a record with a 13-under 267 and wins the British Open. Norman wins by two strokes over defending champion Nick Faldo.
1995 — Britain’s Jonathan Edwards breaks the 10-year-old world triple jump record, leaping 59 feet in the Salamanca Provincial meet. Edwards tops the previous mark of 58-11½ set in 1985 by Willie Banks of the United States.
1999 — Jean Van de Velde’s triple bogey on the 72nd hole sets the stage for Paul Lawrie to become the first Scotsman to win the British Open in his native land since Tommy Armour in 1931. Lawrie, 10 strokes behind when the final round began, wins the four-hole playoff over Van de Velde and Justin Leonard, making birdies on the last two holes to complete the biggest comeback in a major.
1999 — David Cone dazzles the Montreal Expos, throwing the 14th perfect game in modern history to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-0 victory.
2005 — In Oklahoma City, the United States loses a tournament title game for the first time since 1997, falling 3-1 to Japan in the championship of the inaugural World Cup of Softball. The Americans, which lost to Canada earlier in this tournament, lost to Australia 1-0 in the championship game of the 1997 Superball, held in Ohio.
2010 — Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa shoots a 1-under 71 for a seven-stroke victory at 16-under 272 in the British Open on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Lee Westwood of England finishes second.
2021 — Colin Morikawa wins the Open Championship 15-under par at Royal St. George’s by two strokes over Jordan Speith. It was Morikawa’s second major championship win following his 2020 The Masters win.
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July 19
1877 — Spencer Gore beats William Marshall in 48 minutes (6-1, 6-2, 6-4) in the first men’s singles tennis championship at the All England Club, Wimbledon.
1909 — Cleveland shortstop Neal Ball pulls off the first unassisted triple play in modern major league history.
1910 — Cy Young wins his 500th career game as the Cleveland Indians beat the Washington Senators 5-4 in 11 innings.
1922 — Johnny Weissmuller is the first swimmer to break the 1 minute barrier for the 100 meter freestyle; 58.6s.
1936 — Future Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller makes his MLB debut.
1957 — Don Bowden is the first American to break the four-minute mile with a 3:58.7 time at Stockton, Calif.
1980 — The Summer Olympics open in Moscow without the United States and 64 other boycotting countries.
1986 — Tim Witherspoon KOs Frank Bruno in 11 for heavyweight boxing title.
1987 — Nick Faldo of England wins the British Open by one shot when American Paul Azinger bogeys four times on the back nine.
1990 — Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time hits leader, is sentenced to five months in prison and an additional three months in a halfway house for cheating on his taxes.
1997 — Daniel Komen of Kenya shatters the 8-minute barrier for the 2-mile run and sets a world record of 7:58.61 at the Hechtel Night of track in Belgium. Haile Gebrselassie had set the world record of 8:01.08 on May 31.
2008 — In the WNBA’s first outdoor game, the Indiana Fever overcomes the heat and humidity in New York to beat the Liberty 71-55. Arthur Ashe Stadium, home of the U.S. Open, had a basketball court laid on top of the tennis court.
2009 — Tom Watson squanders a chance to become golf’s oldest major champion. The 59-year-old misses an 8-foot putt on the 72nd hole of the British Open, then loses a four-hole playoff by six shots to Stewart Cink.
2009 — Eighty-one-year-old Hershel McGriff becomes the oldest driver to take part in a national NASCAR series race, finishing 13th in a Camping World West Series event at Portland International Raceway.
2014 — Shoni Schimmel, a rookie who doesn’t start for her own team, puts on a record-breaking performance — scoring 29 points to help the East beat the West 125-124 in the first WNBA All-Star game to go to overtime. Tamika Catchings makes a layup with 6.9 seconds to go to give the East the lead and then knocks the ball away from Skylar Diggins on the defensive end to seal the victory.
2020 — World Formula 1 drivers champion Lewis Hamilton wins a record 8th Hungarian Grand Prix.
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July 20
1858 — Fans are charged for the first time to see a baseball game. Approximately 1,500 fans pay 50 cents to see the New York All-Stars beat Brooklyn 22-18 at Fashion Race Course on Long Island.
1958 — The PGA championship calls for medal play for the first time and Dow Finsterwald beats Billy Casper.
1963 — Mary Mills wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by three strokes over Sandra Palmer and Louise Suggs.
1974 — Carl Rosen’s Chris Evert beats Miss Musket by 50 lengths in the winner-take-all match race at Hollywood Park.
1975 — Sandra Palmer wins the U.S. Women’s Open golf championship by four strokes over Nancy Lopez, Joanne Carner and Sandra Post.
1976 — Hank Aaron hits his 755th and last home run.
1980 — Tom Watson wins the British Open by four strokes over Lee Trevino. Watson shoots a 13-under 271 at Muirfield Golf Links at Gullane, Scotland. Watson becomes the fourth American to win three Open titles, joining Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.
1997 — Justin Leonard closes with a 65 to win the British Open at 12-under 272 at Royal Troon. Leonard, whose closing round is one of the best in major championship history, takes the lead from Jesper Parnevik with a birdie on No. 17.
2002 — Tiger Woods, trying to win the third leg of the Grand Slam, shoots his worst round (81) as a professional, knocking himself out of contention.
2008 — Padraig Harrington is the first European in more than a century to win golf’s oldest championship two years in a row. Harrington pulls away from mistake-prone Greg Norman and holds off a late charge by Ian Poulter for a four-shot victory in the British Open.
2009 — Lauren Lappin homers to start a three-run rally in the third inning, and the United States beats Australia 3-1 in the World Cup of Softball championship game at Oklahoma City.
2013 — China’s Wu Minxia and Shi Tingmao wins the first diving gold medal at the world championships in Barcelona, Spain. Wu earns a record sixth world title in the women’s 3-meter synchronized springboard.
2014 — Rory McIlroy completes a wire-to-wire victory in the British Open to capture the third leg of the career Grand Slam. McIlroy closes with a 1-under 71 for a two-shot victory over Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler. McIlroy, winner of the 2011 U.S. Open and the 2012 PGA Championship, joins Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only players with three different majors at age 25 or younger.
2015 — Zach Johnson rolls in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole and outlasts Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman in a three-man playoff to win the British Open. Jordan Spieth, looking to win his third straight major, falls one shot short of joining the playoff.
2020 — Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first man to score 50 goals in Serie A, La Liga and the Premier League.
2021 — The Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns 105-95 in game six of the NBA Finals to win their second NBA Championship. It was the fourth win in a row after falling behind 2-0 in the series. The Bucks’ F Giannis Antetokounmpo was named NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.
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