Sports timeline
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This page indexes the individual year in sports pages. Each year is annotated with a significant event as a reference point.
2000s - 1990s - 1980s - 1970s - 1960s - 1950s - 1940s - 1930s - 1920s - 1910s - 1900s - 1890s - 1880s - 1870s - 1860s - 1850s - Pre 1850s
2000s
- 2005 in sports - NHL cancels season due to labor dispute
- 2004 in sports - Lance Armstrong wins a record 6th Tour de France, Brian Lara scores a test innings record 400 not out against England.
- 2003 in sports - Michael Schumacher wins record sixth Formula One Championship
- 2002 in sports - Canada wins double gold in ice hockey at the Olympics
- 2001 in sports - Tiger Woods becomes first golfer to hold all four major titles simultaneously
- 2000 in sports - Essendon completes the AFL season with a 24-1 win-loss record, the best in the history of the league
1990s
- 1999 in sports - Death of Joe DiMaggio; Lance Armstrong comes back from testicular cancer to win his first Tour de France
- 1998 in sports - NHL players compete in Winter Olympic Games for the first time
- 1997 in sports - Mike Tyson banned from boxing after biting a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear
- 1996 in sports - Professional cyclists compete at Summer Olympic Games for the first time
- 1995 in sports - Miguel Induráin wins fifth consecutive Tour de France
- 1994 in sports - World Series cancelled after player strike; Roland Ratzenberger dies during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at the Villeneuve corner and Ayrton Senna dies at the Tamburello corner during the race.
- 1993 in sports - Monica Seles is stabbed during a tennis tournament
- 1992 in sports - Toronto Blue Jays become the first non-American team to win the World Series
- 1991 in sports - Magic Johnson retires from basketball
- 1990 in sports - James "Buster" Douglas defeats Mike Tyson to become World Heavyweight Champion
1980s
- 1989 in sports - Pete Rose banned from baseball; Hillsborough disaster
- 1988 in sports - Ben Johnson breaks 100 metres record but tests positive for banned substances
- 1987 in sports - First Rugby Union World Cup
- 1986 in sports - Mike Tyson becomes the youngest world heavyweight boxing champion
- 1985 in sports - Pete Rose breaks Ty Cobb's major league record for career hits; Libby Riddles is the first woman to win the Iditarod; Bradford City and Heysel Stadium disasters
- 1984 in sports - First Breeders' Cup in thoroughbred racing and North America Cup of harness racing
- 1983 in sports - First World Athletics Championships
- 1982 in sports - Mary Decker sets six world records in Track and field
- 1981 in sports - First million dollar horse race; Major League Baseball season interrupted by player strike, causing cancellation of over 600 games
- 1980 in sports - "Miracle on Ice" as US ice hockey team beats Soviet Union
1970s
- 1979 in sports - Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first world boxing title
- 1978 in sports - First Ironman Triathlon
- 1977 in sports - Shirley Muldowney is the first woman to win the NHRA "Top Fuel" championship
- 1976 in sports - Nadia Comaneci earns the first perfect score in the history of Olympic gymnastics
- 1975 in sports - First Cricket World Cup
- 1974 in sports - The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match
- 1973 in sports - Secretariat wins the Triple Crown of United States Thoroughbred Racing
- 1972 in sports - The 1972 Summit Series between the USSR and Canada
- 1971 in sports - Richard Petty wins the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Championship; Ibrox disaster
- 1970 in sports - Nijinsky II wins the Triple Crown of British Thoroughbred Racing
1960s
- 1969 in sports - The New York Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III; the first Super Bowl victory by an American Football League team.
- 1968 in sports - Jean-Claude Killy wins the Triple Crown of Alpine Skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics
- 1967 in sports - First Super Bowl
- 1966 in sports - England wins its first and only FIFA Football World Cup
- 1965 in sports - Bret Hanover wins the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers
- 1964 in sports - Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, wins the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship
- 1963 in sports - Craig Breedlove breaks through the 400 mph barrier in setting a new Land speed record
- 1962 in sports - Rod Laver wins the men's Grand Slam in tennis
- 1961 in sports - The World Figure Skating Championships canceled after the entire United States team dies in a plane crash
- 1960 in sports - First Paralympics
1950s
- 1959 in sports - First Daytona 500
- 1958 in sports - The lights go out permanently in Brooklyn as baseball's Dodgers move to Los Angeles; Munich air disaster devastates Man United
- 1957 in sports - Juan Manuel Fangio wins his fifth Formula One championship title
- 1956 in sports - Don Larsen pitches the first and only post-season no-hitter in Major League Baseball history (a perfect game, no less); first European Cup in football
- 1955 in sports - Calvin Rice wins the NHRA's inaugural "Top Fuel" championship; Dramatic crash at 24 Hours of Le Mans - 86 spectators killed
- 1954 in sports - Roger Bannister runs the first sub-four minute mile
- 1953 in sports - Maureen Connolly is the first woman to win the Grand Slam in tennis
- 1952 in sports - Dick Button performs the first triple jump in figure skating in the Winter Olympic Games
- 1951 in sports - The first Pan American Games are held in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 1950 in sports - First Formula One championship
1940s
- 1949 in sports - NHL goaltender Bill Durnan sets shutout record of 309:21 minutes
- 1948 in sports - Fanny Blankers-Koen wins four gold medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London
- 1947 in sports - Jackie Robinson breaks baseball's color barrier; first College World Series
- 1946 in sports - NBA founded (originally known as Basketball Association of America)
- 1945 in sports - Maurice Richard is the first NHL player to score 50 goals in one season
- 1944 in sports - Oxford beat Cambridge in an unoffical Boat Race on the Great Ouse
- 1943 in sports -
- 1942 in sports -
- 1941 in sports - Ted Williams is the last batter in Major League Baseball to hit over .400
- 1940 in sports -
1930s
- 1939 in sports - First NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship; the Baseball Hall of Fame opens; Lou Gehrig retires from baseball
- 1938 in sports - Don Budge becomes the first person to win the Grand Slam in tennis
- 1937 in sports - Joe Louis becomes world heavyweight champion
- 1936 in sports - To the consternation of Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin
- 1935 in sports - Babe Ruth retires from Major League Baseball; first Heisman Trophy awarded
- 1934 in sports - The Masters in golf first held
- 1933 in sports - England cricket team's Bodyline tour; first NFL championship game played
- 1932 in sports - India become the sixth Test cricketing nation.
- 1931 in sports - France are thrown out of the Rugby Union Five Nations Championship for professionalism.
- 1930 in sports - First Football World Cup
1920s
- 1929 in sports - Wally Hammond scores 905 runs at an average of 113.12 as England defeat Australia in The Ashes
- 1928 in sports - Women's Olympic athletics and gymnastics are held for the first time at the 1928 Summer Olympics.
- 1927 in sports - First Ryder Cup of golf
- 1926 in sports - Jack Dempsey loses his world heavyweight boxing title to Gene Tunney; Gertrude Ederle becomes the first woman to swim the English channel
- 1925 in sports - French Open in tennis opened to non-French players for the first time
- 1924 in sports - First Winter Olympic Games
- 1923 in sports - First 24 hours of Le Mans race; Ty Cobb breaks Honus Wagner's major league record for career hits
- 1922 in sports - First sub-one minute 100m freestyle swim
- 1921 in sports - The schooner Bluenose begins her undefeated career in racing, winning the International Fishermen's Trophy
- 1920 in sports - National Football League formed; Babe Ruth sold to New York Yankees; the Grand Prix de Paris horse race changes its name to the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
1910s
- 1919 in sports - Black Sox scandal in baseball
- 1918 in sports -
- 1917 in sports -
- 1916 in sports - First PGA Championship
- 1915 in sports -
- 1914 in sports - Babe Ruth makes his major league debut; Honus Wagner breaks Cap Anson's major league record for career hits
- 1913 in sports - Emily Davison throws herself in front of King George V's horse at the Epsom Derby horse race
- 1912 in sports - Electronic timers introduced for the first time at the Stockholm Olympic Games
- 1911 in sports - First Indianapolis 500
- 1910 in sports - The rugby union Home Championship admits France, creating the Five Nations (now Six Nations)
1900s
- 1909 in sports - Imperial Cricket Conference formed to administrate world cricket
- 1908 in sports - First women compete in the modern Olympic Games
- 1907 in sports - Norman Brookes becomes the first overseas men's singles tennis Wimbledon champion
- 1906 in sports - First Grand Prix motor racing; National Collegiate Athletic Association formed
- 1905 in sports - New Zealand's first All Blacks Rugby Union tour of Britain (The Originals), winning 31 matches and losing one to a controversial refereeing decision.
- 1904 in sports - Louis Rigolly breaks through the 100 mph barrier in setting a new Land speed record
- 1903 in sports - First Tour de France; first modern World Series
- 1902 in sports - First Rose Bowl, American college football game - Michigan defeated Stanford 49-0
- 1901 in sports - The American League arrives as a rival to baseball's National League
- 1900 in sports - For the first time, women are allowed to compete in the Olympic Games
1890s
- 1899 in sports -
- 1898 in sports -
- 1897 in sports - Victorian Football League is formed
- 1896 in sports - First modern Olympic Games
- 1895 in sports - First US Open of golf; game of volleyball invented
- 1894 in sports - First auto race
- 1893 in sports - Stanley Cup first awarded in ice hockey
- 1892 in sports - First official game of basketball
- 1891 in sports - First French Open of tennis
- 1890 in sports - First World Figure Skating Championships
1880s
- 1889 in sports - Handsome Dan, a bulldog, becomes Yale University's mascot, the first animal to hold such a position in American sports
- 1888 in sports - The Football League founded
- 1887 in sports -
- 1886 in sports - Workers at Royal Woolwich form Dial Square football team, later known as Arsenal F.C.
- 1885 in sports -
- 1884 in sports - First baseball World Series occurs between National League and American Association
- 1883 in sports - First luge competition; first Home Championship in rugby union (predecessor to the modern Six Nations)
- 1882 in sports - First time Australia beat England in Test cricket in England, beginning The Ashes legend.
- 1881 in sports -
- 1880 in sports -
1870s
- 1879 in sports -
- 1878 in sports -
- 1877 in sports - First cricket Test match; first Wimbledon Championships
- 1876 in sports - First season of Major League Baseball, with the debut of the National League
- 1875 in sports - First running of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks horse race
- 1874 in sports -
- 1873 in sports - First running of the Preakness Stakes horse race
- 1872 in sports - First football FA Cup final
- 1871 in sports - The National Association, baseball's first professional league, debuts
- 1870 in sports -
1860s
- 1869 in sports - The original Cincinnati Red Stockings, baseball's first openly all-professional team, was founded.
- 1868 in sports -
- 1867 in sports - Marquess of Queensberry boxing rules published; First running of the Belmont Stakes horse race
- 1866 in sports - The Amateur Athletic Club introduce the definition of an 'amateur' into sport and hosting the first United Kingdom national championships.
- 1865 in sports -
- 1864 in sports - Overarm bowling becomes legal in cricket
- 1863 in sports - The Football Association formed to oversee football.
- 1862 in sports - First ski jumping competition
- 1861 in sports - First running of the Melbourne Cup horse race
- 1860 in sports - First Open Championship of golf
1850s
- 1859 in sports - The Queen's Plate horse race is organized
- 1858 in sports - Australian Rules Football codified
- 1857 in sports -
- 1856 in sports -
- 1855 in sports -
- 1854 in sports -
- 1853 in sports -
- 1852 in sports -
- 1851 in sports - Birth of the America's Cup
- 1850 in sports -
Pre 1850s
- 1840s in sports - First codification of rules of baseball by Alexander Cartwright
- 1830s in sports - First Aintree Grand National
- 1820s in sports - First Oxford and Cambridge boat race
- 1810s in sports - English champion Tom Cribb narrowly defeats ex-slave Tom Molineaux at boxing; First One Thousand Guineas Stakes
- 1800s in sports - First Two Thousand Guineas Stakes
- 1790s in sports -
- 1780s in sports - First Epsom Derby
- 1770s in sports - First St. Leger Stakes, Epsom Oaks
- 1760s in sports -
- 1750s in sports - First codification of the laws of Golf
- Early 18th century in sports - First codification of the Laws of Cricket
- 17th century in sports -
- Pre 17th century in sports -fr:Chronologie du sport