Sports timeline

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

2004 in sports - Lance Armstrong wins a record 6th Tour de France
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 - Baseball World Series cancelled after player strike
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 - 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
1980 in sports - "Miracle on Ice" as US ice hockey team beats Soviet Union

1970s

1979 in sports - Sugar Ray Leonard wins his first word 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
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.
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)
1955 in sports - Calvin Rice wins the NHRA's inaugural "Top Fuel" championship
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 -
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 -
1947 in sports - Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s "color" barrier
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 -
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
1938 in sports - Don Budge becomes the first person to win the Grand Slam in tennis
1937 in sports -
1936 in sports - To the consternation of Adolf Hitler, Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin
1935 in sports -
1934 in sports - The Masters golf tournament first held
1933 in sports - England cricket team's Bodyline tour, First NFL championship game played
1932 in sports -
1931 in sports -
1930 in sports - First football World Cup

1920s

1929 in sports -
1928 in sports -
1927 in sports - First Ryder Cup of golf
1926 in sports -
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
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 - First running of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe horse race

1910s

1919 in sports - Black Sox scandal in baseball
1918 in sports -
1917 in sports -
1916 in sports - First PGA Championship
1915 in sports - Braggo Roth leads the American League with 7 home runs for the season.
1914 in sports -
1913 in sports -
1912 in sports - Electronic timers introduced for the first time at the Stockholm Olympic Games
1911 in sports - First Indianapolis 500
1910 in sports - First Five Nations Championship (now Six Nations) in rugby union

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 -
1906 in sports - First Grand Prix motor racing
1905 in sports -
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
1902 in sports -
1901 in sports -
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
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 -
1885 in sports -
1884 in sports - First baseball World Series
1883 in sports - First luge competition
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
1876 in sports -
1875 in sports - First running of the Kentucky Derby horse race
1874 in sports -
1873 in sports -
1872 in sports - First football FA Cup final
1871 in sports -
1870 in sports -

1860s

1869 in sports -
1868 in sports -
1867 in sports - Marquess of Queensberry boxing rules published
1866 in sports -
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 -
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 -
1830s in sports - First Aintree Grand National
1820s in sports - First Oxford and Cambridge boat race
1810s in sports -
1800s in sports - First Two Thousand Guineas Stakes
1790s in sports -
1780s in sports - First Epsom Derby
1770s in sports - First St. Leger Stakes
1760s in sports -
1750s in sports -
Early 18th century in sports - First codification of the Laws of Cricket
17th century in sports -
Pre 17th century in sports -