July 8
1889 — John L. Sullivan defeats Jake Kilrain in the 75th round in Richburg, Miss., for the U.S. heavyweight championship. It’s the last bare-knuckle boxing match before the Marquis of Queensbury rules are introduced.
1922 — Suzanne Lenglen beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, 6-2, 6-0 for her fourth straight singles title at Wimbledon.
1939 — Bobby Riggs beats Elwood Cooke in five sets to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
1941 — Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hits a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning to give the American League a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium.
1955 — Peter Thomson wins his second consecutive British Open finishing two strokes ahead of John Fallon. Thomson shoots a 7-under 281 at the Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland.
1967 — Billie Jean King sweeps three titles at Wimbledon. King beats Ann Hayden Jones 6-3, 6-4, for the singles title; teams with Rosie Casals for the women’s doubles title, and pairs with Owen Davidson for the mixed doubles title.
1978 — Bjorn Borg beats Jimmy Connors, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to win his third straight men’s title at Wimbledon.
1984 — John McEnroe whips Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 in 100-degree temperatures to take the men’s singles title at Wimbledon.
1990 — West Germany wins the World Cup as Andreas Brehme scores with 6 minutes to go for a 1-0 victory over defending champion Argentina in a foul-marred final.
1991 — Michael Stich upsets three-time champion Boris Becker to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
1994 — Preliminary trial rules there is enough evidence to try O.J. Simpson.
1995 — Top-ranked Steffi Graf wins her sixth Wimbledon singles title, beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.
1995 — NHL Draft: Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL) defenceman Bryan Berard first pick by Ottawa Senators.
1996 — Switzerland’s Martina Hingis becomes the youngest champion in Wimbledon history at 15 years, 282 days, teaming with Helena Sukova to beat Meredith McGrath and Larisa Neiland 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 in women’s doubles.
2000 — Venus Williams beats Lindsay Davenport 6-3, 7-6 (3) for her first Grand Slam title. Williams is the first black women’s champion at Wimbledon since Althea Gibson in 1957-58.
2007 — Roger Federer wins his fifth straight Wimbledon championship, beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-2. I’s also Federer’s 11th Grand Slam title overall.
2010 — Paul Goydos becomes the fourth golfer in PGA Tour history to shoot a 59. Goydos puts together his 12-under, bogey-free round on the opening day of the John Deere Classic. Goydos makes the turn at 4-under, then birdies all but one hole on the back nine at the 7,257-yard TPC Deere Run course.
2012 — Roger Federer equals Pete Sampras’ record of seven men’s singles titles at the All England Club, and wins his 17th Grand Slam title overall, by beating Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
2014 — Germany hands Brazil its heaviest World Cup loss ever with an astounding 7-1 rout in the semifinals that stuns the host nation. Miroslav Klose scores a record-setting 16th career World Cup goal in a five-goal spurt in the first half and Germany goes on to score the most goals in a World Cup semifinal.
2016 — Roger Federer loses in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in his career, falling to Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Centre Court. The 34-year-old Federer had been 10-0 in Wimbledon semifinals, winning seven of his finals.
2018 — South Korean golfer Sei Young Ki breaks the LPGA 72-hole scoring record with a 31-under par 257 in winning the Thornberry Creek Classic.
2021 — San Diego Padres relief pitcher Daniel Camarena records his first MLB hit, a Grand Slam, in his second at bat against the Washington Nationals’ Max Sherzer.
2022 — Gymnast Simone Biles aged 25, becomes the youngest person to receive the US Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
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