1887 – International Baseball League disbands; teams in Syracuse, Toronto, Hamilton, and Buffalo form the International Association; those in Newark, Jersey City, Wilkes-Barre, and Scranton become the Central League.
1909 – National Hockey Association (NHA) is formed in Montreal; original members include Montreal Wanderers and Montreal Canadiens; becomes NHL after some NHA teams leave due to ownership disagreements, and create their own league.
1916 – National Baseball Commission orders that injured players get full pay for duration of their contracts; injury clause previously let clubs suspend players after 15 days’ pay.
1941 – New York Giants name Mel Ott as player-manager; replaces another future Baseball Hall of Famer Bill Terry, who heads Giants’ farm system.
1944 – 10th Heisman Trophy Award: Les Horvath, Ohio State (QB).
1944 – Notre Dame QB, Johnny Lujack, wins the 13th Heisman Trophy.
1948 – After one of the best seasons in baseball history, St Louis Cardinals utility Stan Musial is named NL MVP; leads NL in batting average (.365), runs (135), RBI (131), hits (230), doubles (46), triples (18) & slugging (.702), with 39 HRs.
1951 – Future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Hutson’s has his #14 jersey retired by the Green Bay Packers; first number retired in the history of the franchise.
1954 – Milwaukee Hawks shooting guard Frank Selvey sets then NBA record of 24 of 26 free throws as he scores 42 points in 117-108 win over the Minneapolis Lakers at Milwaukee Arena.
1969 – Two years after doubling its size from six to 12, the NHL announces 2 new teams would be joining the League the following year; Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks.
1984 – Miami quarterback Dan Marino breaks NFL single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 37th in the Dolphins’ 45-34 loss to the Raiders; finishes season with 48 TD passes.
1985 – Chicago Bears’ head coach Mike Ditka and defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan almost come to blows at halftime in a 38-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl, Miami; Chicago’s only loss of the NFL season.
1993 – Houston Rockets score a 94-85 win over the Knicks at New York’s Madison Square Garden, recording their 15th straight win to start the season; tie Washington Capitols’ all-time NBA record 1948-49; streak ends next game.
