Highlights of today’s sports history:
1986 — Chicago’s Walter Payton rushes for 177 yards, reaching the 15,000-yard mark and scoring his 100th career touchdown as the Bears beat the Philadelphia Eagles 13-10.
As of this date:
1923 — Jack Dempsey knocks out Luis Firpo in the second round in his final successful defense of his world heavyweight title, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1947 — Jack Kramer defeats Frank Parket to win the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championship. Kramer wins 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0, 6-3.
1959 — The new $32 million aqueduct, operated by the New York Racing Association, is opened.
1968 — Jimmy Ellis wins the WBA heavyweight title by defeating Floyd Patterson in the 15th round in Stockholm, Sweden.
1987 — Cal Ripken Jr.’s record streak of 8,243 consecutive innings (908 games) is finally broken.
1991 — San Diego State freshman Marshall Faulk runs for an NCAA record 386 yards and seven touchdowns in his second college game. Faulk sets an NCAA record for most rushing touchdowns in a game by a freshman as the Aztecs beat Pacific 55-34.
1991 — Texas A&M freshman Greg Hill has the best debut by a freshman running back in college football history as the Aggies crush LSU 45-7. Hill sets a major college record with 212 rushing yards in his first game and scores twice on 30 carries.
1994 — The baseball season, already interrupted by a month-long strike, is canceled along with the World Series in a vote of 26 of the 28 teams.
2002 — American Tim Montgomery sets a 100-metre world record of 9.78 seconds at the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Paris. The previous world record of 9.79 seconds was set by his compatriot Maurice Greene in 1999.
2003 — Jamal Lewis rushes for an NFL-record 295 yards on 30 carries in Baltimore’s 33-13 win over Cleveland.
2006 — Tiger Woods’ five-game winning streak ends when Shaun Michael knocks him out in the first round of the World Match Play Championship. The score is 4-3, Woods’ worst loss in match play.
2010 — Reggie Bush announces he is relinquishing his Heisman Trophy. The running back releases a statement saying he will return the award he won in 2005 while at Southern California. It is the first time college football’s highest honor has been returned by a recipient.
2011 — The Pittsburgh Pirates complete their 19th consecutive losing season, a record for a major league franchise in North America, by losing to the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.
2014 — Mirjana Lucic-Baroni defeats Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3 to win the Coupe Banque Nationale and set the record for the longest gap between two WTA titles. Lucic-Baroni wins her third WTA title and first in 16 years and four months.
2014 — New England’s Bill Belichick becomes the sixth head coach in NFL history to reach 200 regular-season wins with a 30-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Belichick has a 200-106 (.654) regular-season record.
