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80 CE — The first Games of Flavian Ampitheatre are held

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The Flavian Ampitheatre – better known today as the Colosseum in Rome – was constructed between 72 and 80 CE. It is called Flavian because that was the name of the Imperial House that built it, Emperor Vespasian and his sons and successors Titus and Domitan being the three Emperors most associated with the building.

In addition to the gladiatorial contests, chariot races and executions that it is remembered for, the Colosseum was also the site of animal hunts, mock naval and land engagements (often re-enactments of famous battles) and theatrical presentations. It could seat 50,000 people at peak capacity, and continued to be used as a site for entertainments after the fall of Rome.

It was later used variously as a quarry, a fortress, housing, workshops and religious shrines. Today, it is an archaeological and tourist site, one of Rome’s premier attractions from the Imperial Roman era.

Colosseum in Rome, Italy - April 2007.jpg
By Diliff – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link

As mentioned in:

In The Colosseum — Tom Waits

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1911 — Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Tent begins at the Ardlethan Show

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Jimmy Sharman’s Boxing Tent is perhaps the best known – and most notorious – of the various travelling outback boxing shows that once went from town to town in Australia. It put on displays of bare-knuckle boxing as well as occasional bouts where locals could try their luck against the professional boxers.

It was a brutal sport, and often exploitative – but it was also one of the few ways a black man could make a living, albeit a dangerous one that might leave you maimed. The outback boxing circuit flourished for a few decades, but it largely faded away by the time of World War Two.

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June 4, 1913 — Emily Davison runs in front of a horse at the Epsom Derby

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No one really knows what Emily Davison had in mind when she ran in front of the racehorse Amner that day. She had already established herself as a determined and clever protester – seriously, take a look at some her prior stunts – and it can’t be ruled out that this was intended as another one.

She was carrying a suffragette banner, so some sort of protest was probably intended. She was also carrying a return train ticket and a ticket for dance being held by the Suffragettes later that day, so it’s unlikely that she intended to die. Most likely, she expected the horse to stop.

For whatever reason, the horse did not. Davison was trampled and died four days later of a fractured skull. Whether it was her intent or not, she became a martyr to the Suffragette movement.

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July 17, 1941 — Joe DiMaggio’s record hitting streak finally ends

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Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio was one of the all time greats of baseball, and no greater proof exists than his hitting streak record. From May 15 to July 16, 1941, he hit an unbroken streak of 56 games, a record that still stands. (The next highest hitting streak is 44 games in a single season, acheived by both Pete Rose and Willie Keeler – Keller also hit in the last game of his prior season too, giving him a 45 game streak overall.) Even after the end of the streak, DiMaggio hit another 17 game streak (and his record of hitting in 73 out of 74 games also remains unbroken).

DiMaggio’s team was the New York Yankees – who won the pennant in ten of the thirteen years that DiMaggio played for them. DiMaggio’s 1941 season was his last for some years – in 1942, he enlisted in the US Army, although he saw no combat, being assigned safely to a behind-the-lines role. His parents spent the war interned as supposed ‘enemy aliens’. DiMaggio would return to pro baseball in 1946, and played until 1951.

Joe DiMaggio SF Seals.jpeg
By Unknown author – Zeenut via [1], Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio — Les Brown & His Orchestra

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October 8, 1949 — DiMaggio leads the New York Yankees to victory in the World Series

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It wasn’t quite a lockout, but it was close. The 1949 World Series, played between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees, was played one five successive days, October 5 to October 9. The Yankees won the first game, the Dodgers the second, but then Joltin’ Joe led the Yankees to three straight wins to claim the series.

DiMaggio retired two years later, at the end of the 1951 season. Four years later, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe DiMaggio 1951.png
By Unknown – Baseball Digest, page 2, July 1951 issue. [1], Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Joe DiMaggio Done It Again — Woody Guthrie

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December 11, 1951 — Joe Di Maggio retires from professional baseball

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One of the game’s true greats, Joe Di Maggio played his entire pro baseball career with a single team, the New York Yankees. A center fielder, Di Maggio’s greatest achievement came at bat: his record hitting streak of 56 consecutive games remains unequaled more than seventy years on.

Di Maggio’s retirement came at the end of his thirteenth season, one of the worst he had ever played due to age (Joltin’ Joe was now 37, old for a pro baller) and injuries catching up to him – he later stated that even had he had a much better season, he would still have retired, as he felt that he was getting too slow (and enduring too much pain) to keep playing.

Joe DiMaggio 1951 Spring Training.png
By Producer: Warner Pathe News – Prelinger Archives., Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Mrs. Robinson — Simon and Garfunkel
We Didn’t Start The Fire — Billy Joel

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September 23, 1952 – Rocky Marciano becomes world Heavyweight Champion

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Rocky Marciano had been a professional boxer for only a little over four years when he defeated Jersey Joe Walcott in Philadelphia. The 29 year old boxer defeated Walcott in a round 13 knockout, after a slow start that saw him behind on points for most of the bout.

Marciano would hold the World Heavyweight Champion title for three and a half years, successfully defending it six times before he retired from professional boxing on April 27, 1956. (Floyd Patterson would be the next holder of the title.)

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May 3, 1957 — The Brooklyn Dodgers agree to relocate to California

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In 1957, there were no professional baseball teams in the World Series (that is, the baseball league of the USA) west of Missouri. In 1958, that would all change, and it was largely thanks to one man: Walter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1950 until 1979. He took the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles – from Ebbets Field to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – and also persuaded the managers of the New York Giants (traditional rivals of the Dodgers) to relocate their team to San Francisco, preserving the rivalry (well, sort of).

To say that O’Malley is a controversial figure in baseball is little like saying that there’s a bright light in the sky called the Sun. Even today, he is still hated in some parts of Brooklyn – the Dodgers might have been a bunch of bums, but they were Brooklyn’s bums, dammit!

Dodgers Greats.JPG
By KennethHan – Own work, Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

We Didn’t Start the Fire — Billy Joel

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September 25, 1962 — Sonny Liston defeats Floyd Patterson

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Charles L. ‘Sonny’ Liston pushed hard to get his shot at the title. He was a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who occasionally went a little too far – as in 1956, when he was charged with assault and served six months before being paroled. He was a strong fighter who won a large number of his fights by knockout. When Floyd Patterson finally let him in, after months of refusing on the grounds of Liston’s supposed Mob ties, he didn’t waste the opportunity.

Liston knocked Patterson out in the first round, winning the title of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. On July 22 of the following year, he did it again in the rematch.

But his triumph was short-lived. Cassius Clay beat him in their first bout in 1964, and again in 1965 (although by that time, Clay had renamed himself Muhammed Ali). Liston continued to fight, and won most of his bouts. He retired from professional boxing in 1970, and later died in early 1971, in suspicious circumstances.

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February 25, 1964 — Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston

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Generally acknowledged as one of the greatest – if not, as he so often proclaimed, “the greatest” – Cassius Clay, or Muhammad Ali as he is better known, first fought Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964 in Miami Beach, Florida. Clay was an up and comer who had won Olympic gold for boxing in 1960, and had recently defeated the British Heavyweight champion, Henry Cooper. Liston was the reigning World Heavyweight champion, who had knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round of their title bout.

Coming into the bout, Liston and Clay were each immensely unpopular – Clay was seen as boastful and Liston was a convicted criminal – but most agreed that the champion would hold onto his title. 43 out of 46 sportswriters predicted that Liston would win with a knockout. In the event, Clay defeated Liston in the sixth round, although the match was not awarded until Liston refused to leave his corner at the bell beginning the seventh. Clay was declared the winner by a technical knockout.

The following year, in the rematch, Clay – now calling himself the more familiar Muhammad Ali – knocked out Liston in the first round of their rematch. Ali would go on to be the most successful heavyweight boxer of the modern era, but Liston would never again reach so high.

Ali the greatest 1976.jpg
By El Gráfico team of photographers – El Gráfico, Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Black Superman — Johnny Wakelin

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March 6, 1964 — Cassius Clay changes his name to Muhammad Ali

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Cassius Clay was already the Heavyweight Champion of the World – having defeated Sonny Liston a little less than 2 weeks earlier – when he announced his conversion to the Nation of Islam (more widely known as the Black Muslims). With that, of course, came the change of name: Muhammad meaning ‘one who is worthy of praise’ Ali ‘fourth rightly guided caliph’.

Clay’s conversion was, to say the least, controversial. Many journalists refused to use his new name at first, and given Clay’s history of courting publicity, the name change was widely seen as a stunt. However, Ali’s conversion was quite sincere – although in 1975 he changed faiths to Sunni Islam – and he retains the name even today.

Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg
By Ira Rosenberg – This image is available from the United States Library of Congress‘s Prints and Photographs division
under the digital ID cph.3c15435.
This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing for more information., Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

Black Superman — Johnny Wakelin

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October 14, 1966 — Rubin Carter is falsely accused by Alfred Bello

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Alfred Bello, and his partner-in-crime, Arthur Dexter Bradley, were small-timers. Knocking over factories was their style, and the last thing they wanted to was to get involved in anything more serious.

But on June 17, 1966, they saw two men leaving the Lafayette Bar and Grill in New Jersey – two light-skinned black men, one carrying a pistol, the other a shotgun. They gave statements to the police, and tried not to incriminate themselves.

If that had been as far as it went, it might have been okay. But on October 14 of that year, Bello fingered Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter as one of the shooters. His testimony was essential to the guilty verdict that sent Carter to prison for murder.

In 1974, Bello recanted, claiming that the police had pressured him into making the statement. In 1975, he changed his story yet again, leading to the 1976 over-turning of the convictions of Carter and his alleged accomplice, John Artis. The pair were tried anew and convicted again. Their convictions were over-turned permanently in 1986.

Hurricane45.jpg
By Source, Fair use, Link

As mentioned in:

Hurricane — Bob Dylan

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September 21, 1970 — “Monday Night Football” premieres

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Although there had been occasional special matches played on a Monday night before 1970, it was not until that season of NFL play that they became a regular feature of the game. The first Monday Night Football game was played between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns, at Cleveland Stadium.

The Browns defeated the Jets 31-21, and all the action was relayed to the lounge rooms of America by the commentary team of Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and Don Meredith. The experiment was a roaring success – even movie and bowling alley attendances dropped on Monday nights as Americans stayed home to watch the games. Monday Night Football has been a regular feature of the game ever since, about to enter its 44th season.

Howard cosell 1975.JPG
By ABC Television
Uploaded by We hope at en.wikipedia – eBay item
photo front
photo back, Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

TV Party — Black Flag

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September 26, 1970 — Alex Jesaulenko marks over Graeme Jenkin in the 1970 VFL Grand Final

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By half time, it looked like it was all over for Carlton. Another good year for them, but on the day, Collingwood had them outmatched. Minutes before the end of the second quarter, Jesaulenko marked over Jenkin (in what would become one of the game’s most iconic images), but it availed the Blues little. When the second quarter siren sounded, Carlton trailed by 44 points, an all-but insurmountable lead.

The half-time oration by Ron Barassi, with its legendary injunction to handball, has also become legend. Carlton changed their style of play in the game’s second half, to a faster, looser style of play that depended more on handballing than kicking to move the ball forward. Carlton kicked 8 goals to Collingwood’s 3 in the third quarter, and even though they entered the final term trailing by about three goals, the momentum had decisively shifted in their direction. They won the game by only 10 points, but a narrow win is still a win.

Referenced in:

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December 30, 1970 – Sonny Liston dies in suspicious circumstances

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Sonny Liston was found dead by his wife on January 5, 1971, but the date that appeared on his death certificate is December 30, 1970. This date is based on a police estimate, but since the police also ruled that his death was due to a heroin overdose and Liston’s autopsy showed no evidence of such an event, the date may also be suspect.

In addition, several things one would expect to find at the site of a heroin injection, such a tourniquet or similar to tie off with and a spoon to cook in, were absent from the scene of Liston’s death. Nor did Liston have any history of heroin use – and it’s hard to believe that he could have kept such a thing a secret, given his well-known love of drinking and partying to excess.

It is widely believed that his death was a result of a criminal hit, ordered by unknown underworld figures, and that the police investigation and its findings were a coverup.

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February 6, 1971 – Alan Shepard plays golf on the Moon

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The commander of the Apollo 14 mission, Alan Shepard holds several unique distinctions. He is the only member of the Mercury 7 astronauts to have walked on the Moon and also the oldest person to have walked there (in terms of age at the time he did it). His mission was the first to broadcast colour video from the surface of the Moon and made the most accurate landing of all the Apollo missions. And, of course, he is the first man to have hit golf balls (two of them) on the Moon.

Shepard came home to the hero’s welcome that astronauts traditionally received, and was promoted from Captain to Rear-Admiral after the successful completion of his mission. He retired from the US Navy and NASA, becoming a successful businessman, and eventually died from leukemia in 1998, 21 years to the day from Armstrong’s first moon walk.

His golf balls are presumably still somewhere on the lunar surface.

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October 7, 1972 — John Nicholls leads Carlton to victory in the VFL Grand Final

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In his first year as captain-coach of Carlton, veteran ruckman John Nicholls acheived a minor miracle. While Carlton were one of the top sides in the competition, it was widely believed that with the departure of Ron Barassi as coach, they would struggle to keep form. Nicholls proved them all wrong. Carlton topped the ladder at the end of the regular season and defeated Richmond in the Grand Final by 27 points.

In the match itself, Nicholls, who was widely believed to be slowing down with age, kicked six goals, having taken himself off the ruck and instead played from the forward pocket. Nicholls would remain coach for three more seasons, though he retired as player and captain at the end of the 1974 season, but Carlton did not add to its Premiership tally any further, losing to the same team they had defeated in 1973 and failing to reach the Grand Final in 1974 and 1975.

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February 1, 1981 – Trevor Chappell bowls underarm in an international match

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It is one of the most scandalous incidents ever to have disturbed the televised narcolepsy that is Professional Cricket: on this day in 1981, Australian captain Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to bowl underarm to New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie.

It was a one day match at the MCG in Melbourne, the third of five in a series, and so far the series was tied 1-all. And on the last bowl of the day, McKechnie, if he hit a six, could tie the game. The infamous underarm bowl was intended to prevent this from happening. It was legal under the rules of the game, but it was widely seen as unsporting behaviour, not living up to the spirit of fair play.

The rules of One Day International Cricket were changed after the end of the 80-81 season to prevent a recurence of the event, and the bad reputation it gave them has dogged the Chappell brothers (more Trevor than Greg) ever since.

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December 26, 1981 – Boom Boom Mancini defeats Manuel Abedoy

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I guess it must have seemed appropriate: a day of boxing on Boxing Day. In 1981, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini and Manuel Abedoy had a bout at Ballys Park Place Hotel Casino, Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mancini won handily via a technical knock out, and although this was not a title bout, it paved the way for Mancini’s attempt on the Lightweight Boxing title the following year.

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September 29, 1984 — Essendon defeats Hawthorn in the VFL Grand Final

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Favoured going into the game, Essendon played hard all day, but nonetheless trailed Hawthorn going into the game’s final quarter. But in that last quarter, they turned it all around, kicking 11 goals and 6 points (a record score for the last quarter of any VFL/AFL Grand Final), and more than doubling their score for the rest of the match.

They romped home at the game’s conclusion, defeating Hawthorn by four goals and winning Essendon’s 13th Premiership. It was particularly satisfying victory for Essendon’s fans – in the previous year’s Grand Final, the same two teams had fought, but the result had been very different, with Hawthorn winning by 83 points on that occasion.

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September 28, 1985 — Essendon defeats Hawthorn in the VFL Grand Final

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As if they were only warming up the previous year, Essendon were never in doubt all day in the 1985 VFL Grand Final. Playing Hawthorn for the third successive year, on this day, Essendon started off strong and kept going that way. They led at the end of every quarter, finally recording a winning margin of 78 points (or 13 goals).

This game was also notable for several other reasons – it was the 332nd and final game of Hawthorn captain ‘Lethal’ Leigh Matthews, widely regarding as one the greatest players in the history of the game; Essendon won back to back premierships for the fourth time in the club’s history; and Dermott Brereton of Hawthorn acheived two records for a Grand Final player: most goals kicked by a player on the losing team (8), and most times reported during a Grand Final (3).

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July 19, 1991 – Mike Tyson rapes Desiree Washington

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Mike Tyson’s career as a boxer was experiencing a brief setback in 1991. Injuries sustained during training had led him to pull out of a planned title challenge against Evander Holyfield, the Heavyweight Champion. We can’t know for sure what was in Tyson’s mind when he called Desiree Washington a little after 1:30 in the morning on July 19, and organised to come pick her up.

They were driven back to his hotel by Tyson’s chauffeur, and accounts vary as to what happened next. Washington claimed that Tyson raped her, Tyson claimed that they had consensual sex. The weight of evidence – and Tyson’s unlikable demeanour in the courtroom – led the jury to convict Tyson of the rape, and he served three years (of a six year sentence) in prison for the crime.

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January 6, 1994 — Skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by a jealous rival

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Nancy Kerrigan, a skater who was training as a member of the US Olympic team, was attacked at practice by Shane Stant. Stant was in the pay of two men, Jeff Gillooly and Shawn Eckhardt. Her injuries forced her to withdraw from competition, and rival skater Tonya Harding won handily.

However, Gillooly was the ex-husband of Harding, and when brought up on criminal charges in the matter, incriminated her in the conspiracy also. Harding only ever admitted to helping cover up the attack, not to any prior knowledge or approval of it. Even so, the resulting scandal effectively ended her career as a skater.

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May 1, 1994 — Ayrton Senna crashes and dies during the San Marino Grand Prix

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One of the best Grand Prix drivers in history, Senna’s death came while in the lead of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. The cause of his fatal accident had never been conclusively determined, but the result of it was never in doubt. Senna was traveling at 135 miles per hour when his car hit the wall at Tamburello corner, and his car folded up. Senna sustained a number of injuries, including three separate blows to the head – any one of which would likely have been fatal by itself.

Ironically, Senna had spent much of that morning meeting with his fellow drivers to form a committee to help ensure Grand Prix driver’s safety after the death of Austrian driver Roland Ratzenburger the previous day on the same track. As one of the most senior and respected drivers, Senna offered to head the committee. Later, when his car was examined, it was discovered that Senna had placed a furled Austrian flag in the vehicle, presumably intending to fly it in memory of Ratzenburger during his victory lap.

In the wake of Senna’s death, the committee for driver safety was indeed formed, and today the Grand Prix Driver’s Association stands alongside his many sporting achievements as Senna’s legacy.

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December 27, 1996 — Glenn McGrath bowls 5 for 50

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The Australian test cricket team’s chances were looking good at the end of day two of the 1996 Boxing Day Test. The West Indian team was 9 for 233, which put them ahead of Australia’s first innings total of 219 – but not far, and with only one wicket in hand, everyone knew that they wouldn’t last long into the third day.

Glenn McGrath was a big part of that. Over the first two days of the test, he’d bowled 5 for 50, conceding the lowest average runs per over of any Australian bowler, at 1.66. Althougher this low rate was equalled by Gillepsie, he bowled only 3 overs – McGrath bowled 30.) And he’d managed 11 maiden overs in that time.

Sure enough, the last West Indian wicket of the first innings fell early on the third day of the test – followed by every single Australian wicket. The West Indians were back at bat that afternoon, and handily defeated the Australians with two days to spare.

Glenn McGrath 01 crop 2.jpg
By No machine-readable author provided. Roo72 assumed (based on copyright claims). – No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public Domain, Link

As mentioned in:

The Parable of Glenn McGrath’s Haircut — This Is Serious Mum

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March 28, 1999 — Shane Crawford plays his first game as Captain of Hawthorn

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Shane Crawford played his first senior game for Hawthorn in 1993, and his talent saw him reach the exalted post of team captain on his seventh season with the club. That same year, he won the Brownlow Medal, the Leigh Matthews Trophy, the Peter Crimmins Trophy, and the Hawthorn Club Best and Fairest awards. He was also selected for the All-Australian team that year. Sadly, an injury led to him relinquishing the captaincy after the 2004 season.

After his recovery, he returned to continue his playing career with Hawthorn, and his 305th and last game was the 2008 Grand Final, in which Hawthorn scored an upset victory over the heavily favoured Geelong team. He was offered another season, but declined it, stating that he preferred to go out on a high. After his retirement from playing, he became a media personality in Australia. In 2012, he was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame.