June 24
1910 — James Braid wins his fifth British Open with a four-stroke victory over Sandy Herd.
1911 — John McDermott becomes the first American-born winner of the U.S. Open when he beats Michael Brady and George Simpson in a playoff. McDermott finishes two strokes better than Brady and five strokes better than Simpson.
1913 — John Henry Taylor wins his fifth and final British Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, England.
1922 — American Professional Football Association renamed the National Football League.
1922 — Charter NFL club Chicago Staleys renamed Chicago Bears by team founder, owner and head coach George Halas.
1928 — John Farrell beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1947 — Jim Ferrier wins the PGA championship by defeating Chick Harbert 2 and 1 in the final round.
1958 — Brazil, led by 17-year-old Pele, beats France 5-2 in a semifinal of the World Cup. With Brazil up 2-1 in the second half, Pele scores three consecutive goals.
1968 — Joe Frazier stops Mexican challenger Manuel Ramos in 2nd round TKO at NYC’s Madison Square Garden in his first heavyweight boxing title defense.
1968 — Canada’s Sandra Post beats Kathy Whitworth by seven strokes in a playoff to become the first non-U.S. player and rookie to win the LPGA championship.
1979 — Rickey Henderson debuts for Oakland & steals his 1st base.
1980 — The Atlanta Flames relocate to Calgary, Alberta. The NHL team keeps the name “Flames.”
1990 — Criminal Type becomes the first horse to win consecutive $1 million races after capturing the Hollywood Gold Cup. He had previously won the $1 million Pimlico Special on May 12.
1991 — The NHL’s Board of Governors adopts instant replay.
1992 — NBA Draft: LSU center Shaquille O’Neal first pick by Orlando Magic.
1995 — Stanley Cup Final, Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, NJ: New Jersey Devils beat Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 for a 4-0 series sweep; Devils’ first Stanley Cup finals appearance.
1998 — NBA Draft: Pacific center Michael Olowokandi first pick by Los Angeles Clippers.
2000 — Rick DiPietro is the first goalie drafted No. 1 when the New York Islanders select the 18-year-old star from Boston University at the NHL Draft.
2001 — Karrie Webb, 26, captures the LPGA Championship by two strokes to become the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam.
2004 — NBA Draft: Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy power forward Dwight Howard first pick by Orlando Magic.
2010 — John Isner outlasts Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history. Isner hits a backhand winner to win the last of the match’s 980 points, and takes the fifth set against Mahut 70-68. The first-round match took 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness — two nights in a row. Play resumed at 59-all and continued for more than an hour before Isner won 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68.
2010 — John Wall is selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, and a record number of Kentucky teammates follow him. Four more Wildcats are among the top 30 selections, making them the first school ever to put five players in the first round.
2011 — NHL Draft: Red Deer Rebels (WHL) center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins first pick by Edmonton Oilers.
2013 — Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland score 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 of the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory in Game 6 over the Boston Bruins.
2016 — NHL Draft: ZSC Lions (NLA) center Auston Matthews first pick by Toronto Maple Leafs.
2018 — Harry Kane scores a hat trick to propel England to its most emphatic World Cup victory and into the knockout stage. With John Stones heading in twice and Jesse Lingard curling in a shot, England beats Panama 6-1 and scores its most goals ever in a World Cup game.
2021 — The Chicago Cubs throw the first combined no-hitter in franchise history beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0. It was the seventh no-hitter of the season.
2022 — American Katie Ledecky wins the 800m gold medal in 8:08.04 at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest; completes 400/800/1500m treble for unprecedented 4th time at a single worlds.
2024 — The Florida Panthers win their first title in franchise history defeating the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7. MVP: Connor McDavid (Oilers C).
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June 25
1921 — Jock Hutchinson is the first American to win the British Open, a nine-stroke victory over Roger Wethered in a playoff.
1926 — Bobby Jones becomes the first amateur in 29 years to win the British Open. Jones finishes with a 291 total for a two-stroke over Al Watrous at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England.
1932 — Gene Sarazen wins the U.S. Open by shooting a 286, the lowest in 20 years.
1935 — Future world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis moves to 20-0 with 6th round KO of former champion Primo Carnera of Italy at Yankee Stadium, NYC.
1948 — Joe Louis knocks out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 11th round in New York to defend his world heavyweight title. Louis announces his retirement after the fight.
1952 — Jim Turnesa wins the PGA Championship with a 1-up victory over Chick Harbert in the final round.
1966 — Buckpasser sets a world record in the 1-mile Arlington Classic in 1:32 3-5 and becomes the first 3-year-old to win more than $1 million.
1969 — Pancho Gonzalez, 41, wins the longest tennis match in Wimbledon history by beating Charles Pasarell in a 112-game match, 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9. The match is played over two days and lasts 5 hours, 12 minutes.
1978 — In Buenos Aires, Argentina wins the World Cup beating Netherlands 3-1 after extra time.
1981 — Sugar Ray Leonard wins the WBA junior middleweight title with a ninth-round knockout of Ayub Kalule in Houston.
1988 — MLB player Cal Ripken Jr. plays in his 1,000th consecutive game.
1988 — UEFA European Championship Final, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany: Ruud Gullet & Marco van Basten score as the Netherlands beats Soviet Union, 2-0.
1991 — Nine-time champion Martina Navratilova survives a first-round scare from Elna Reinach to win her record 100th singles match at Wimbledon.
1994 — FIFA World Cup: 1,500th goal in Cup’d history scored by Caceres of Argentina.
1997 — NBA Draft: Wake Forest power forward Tim Duncan first pick by San Antonio Spurs.
1997 — NHL approves franchises in Nashville, Atlanta, Columbus, and Minnesota-St Paul.
1999 — San Antonio wins its first NBA championship, defeating the New York Knicks 78-77 in Game 5 of the Finals. The Spurs, keyed by finals MVP Tim Duncan’s 31 points, becomes the first former ABA team to win the championship.
2006 — Asafa Powell matches Wallace Spearmon’s world best in the 200 meters, winning the Jamaican national championships in 19.90 seconds.
2006 — Bernard Lagat becomes the first runner in the history of the U.S. track and field championships to sweep the 1,500 and 5,000 meters, after winning the shorter race.
2008 — NBA Draft: Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin first pick by Los Angeles Clippers.
2013 — UCLA wins its first national championship in baseball with an 8-0 win over Mississippi State.
2014 — John Norwood’s home run in the top of the eighth inning gives Vanderbilt the lead, and the Commodores beat Virginia 3-2 for their first national championship.
2015 — NBA Draft: Kentucky center Karl-Anthony Towns first pick by Minnesota Timberwolves.
2017 — Jordan Spieth needs an extra hole and an amazing final shot to finish off a wire-to-wire victory in the Travelers Championship. The two-time major champion holes out from 60 feet for birdie from a greenside bunker on the first hole of a playoff with Daniel Berger at TPC River Highlands. The 23-year-old Texan joins Tiger Woods as the only PGA Tour players with 10 victories in the era since World War II.
2019 — NHL Draft: Barrie Colts (OHL) defenseman Aaron Ekblad first pick by Florida Panthers.
2020 — Liverpool FC clinches first EPL soccer title in 30 years with 7 games to spare as Chelsea beats second-placed Manchester City, 2-1 at Stamford Bridge.
2021 — Philadelphia Philles pitcher Aaron Nola ties Tom Seaver’s 51-Year old MLB record of ten consecutive strike outs in a 2-1 loss to the Mew York Mets.
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June 26
1910 — For the second consecutive year, Hazel Hotchkiss wins the singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. Hotchkiss beats Louise Hammond 6-4, 6-2 for the singles title.
1925 — Jim Barnes wins the British Open with a one-stroke win over Ted Ray and Archie Compston at Prestwick Golf Club in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
1959 — Ingemar Johansson knocks out Floyd Patterson in the third round at Yankee Stadium to win the world heavyweight title.
1976 — Japanese professional wrestler Antonio Inoki fights American boxer Muhammad Ali, at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
1990 — Jennifer Capriati, 14, defeats Helen Kelesi 6-3, 6-1 in the first round to become the youngest winner of a match in Wimbledon history.
1991 — NBA Draft: UNLV power forward Larry Johnson first pick by Charlotte Hornets.
1992 — UEFA European Championship Final, Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden: In a huge upset Denmark beats Germany, 2-0.
1993 — NHL Draft: Victoriaville Tigres (QMJHL) center Alexandre Daigle first pick by Ottawa Senators.
1995 — The U.S. Supreme Court upholds a random drug-testing program in Vernonia, Ore. The 6-to-3 decision allows public high school officials to require student-athletes to submit to random urinalysis as a condition of being allowed to play interscholastic sports.
1996 — NBA Draft: Georgetown guard Allen Iverson first pick by Philadelphia 76ers.
1999 — NHL Draft: Long Beach Ice Dogs (IHL) center Patrik Stefan first pick by Atlanta Thrashers.
1998 — Jamaica becomes the first Caribbean nation to win a World Cup soccer match since Cuba beat Romania in 1938. Theodore Whitmore scores in the 40th and 54th minutes as the Jamaicans beat Japan 2-1.
2002 — In one of the most extraordinary days at the All England Club, seven-time champion Pete Sampras, 1992 winner Andre Agassi and No. 2-seeded Marat Safin all lose — throwing the Wimbledon tournament wide open. For the first time in the Open era, five of the top-eight seeded men’s players are eliminated before the third round.
2002 — NBA Draft: Shanghai Sharks (China) center Yao Ming first pick by Houston Rockets.
2003 — NBA Draft: St. Vincent–St. Mary HS (Akron, Ohio) small forward LeBron James first pick by Cleveland Cavaliers.
2005 — Justin Gatlin cements his status as America’s fastest human by winning the 200 meters, becoming the first man in 20 years to sweep the sprints at the U.S. track and field championships. A day after winning the 100, Gatlin wins the 200 in 20.04 seconds. The last man to win both races at the U.S. meet was Kirk Baptiste in 1985.
2008 — Two stunning second-round upsets happen at Wimbledon as former champion Maria Sharapova and two-time runner-up Andy Roddick are ousted.
2008 — NBA Draft: Memphis point guard Derrick Rose first pick by Chicago Bulls.
2011 — Top-ranked Yani Tseng wins the LPGA Championship by 10 strokes and, at 22, becomes the youngest player to win four LPGA Tour majors.
2012 — Major college football finally gets a playoff. A committee of university presidents approve the BCS commissioners’ plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season.
2013 — Seven-time champion Roger Federer is stunned by 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon, his earliest loss in a Grand Slam tournament in 10 years.
2014 — The United States reaches the knockout stage of consecutive World Cups for the first time. Germany beat the U.S. 1-0 to win Group G, but the Americans held onto second place when Portugal defeats Ghana 2-1 in a game played simultaneously.
2014 — NBA Draft: Kansas small forward Andrew Wiggins first pick by Cleveland Cavaliers.
2015 — NHL Draft: Erie Otters (OHL) center Connor McDavid #1 pick by the Edmonton Oilers.
2017 — Helmsman Peter Burling and Emirates Team New Zealand wins the America’s Cup with a resounding romp against software tycoon Larry Ellison’s two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA. They win Race 9 to clinch the 35th America’s Cup match at 7-1. Burling, at 26, is the youngest helmsman to win sailing’s greatest prize in a competition that dates to 1851.
2021 — Tour de France: The largest pile up in Tour history is caused by a spectator with a sign during Stage 1. The spectator is apprehended and arrested.
2012 — Stanley Cup Final, Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL: Colorado Avalanche beats two-time defending champions Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1 for a 4-2 series win; Avs 3rd championship in franchise history.
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