Jan. 4
1970 — The Minnesota Vikings become the first expansion team to win the NFL title by beating the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in 8-degree temperatures in Bloomington, Minn.
1970 — Kansas City’s defense, highlighted by four interceptions, three in the final quarter, carries the Chiefs to a 17-7 victory over Oakland Raiders in the last AFL title game.
1976 — The Dallas Cowboys become the first wild-card team to make it to the Super Bowl with a 37-7 rout of the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game.
1986 — Eric Dickerson shatters the NFL playoff record with a 248-yard rushing performance and two touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 20-0 win over the Dallas Cowboys.
1991 — Fu Mingxia, a 12-year-old from China, becomes the youngest world titlist in the history of any aquatic event by winning the women’s platform gold medal at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia.
1992 — Mike Gartner of the New York Rangers scores his 1,000th NHL point with a power-play goal in the third period of a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
1997 — The Jacksonville Jaguars, in their second year, beat the Broncos in Denver to advance to the AFC Championship game.
2000 — A day after accepting the head coaching position at the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigns and moves to the New England Patriots.
2000 — Top-ranked Florida State, the preseason No. 1, holds off Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 12-0 and win the national championship. Florida State is the first team to go wire-to-wire in The Associated Press’ poll since preseason rankings began in 1950.
2001 — Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes 4th player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points; hits a free throw in 2nd quarter of an 89-83 win against his old team, the Chicago Bulls.
2003 — Bode Miller wins his second straight World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia to move into first place in the World Cup overall standings. It’s the first time an American man has held the overall lead since Phil Mahre in 1983.
2005 — Matt Leinart throws five touchdown passes and Southern California overwhelms Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. USC (13-0) is the first team to repeat as AP national champions since Nebraska in 1994-95 and joins Florida State in 1999 as the only teams to go wire-to-wire — from preseason to post bowls — as No. 1.
2006 — Second-ranked Texas ends Southern California’s 34-game winning streak, beating the two-time defending national champion 41-38 in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns also snap USC’s record string of 33 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25. The Longhorns, a unanimous choice, wins a national championship for the first time since 1969.
2012 — Geno Smith ties a record for any bowl game with six touchdown passes, including four to Tavon Austin, and West Virginia sets a bowl scoring record by beating Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl.
2013 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the first American woman to win two World Cup races before turning 18. The 17-year-old captures a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia by a massive 1.19-second margin. Her first victory came last month in Sweden.
2014 — Andrew Luck throws four second-half touchdown passes and scores on a fumble recovery, leading the Indianapolis Colts from a four-TD deficit to an historic 45-44 comeback victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in a wild-card game.
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