THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY: 2/12

1878 – Harvard’s Frederick Thayer receives and official US patent number for the invention of the catcher’s mask.

1908 – An auto race from New York to Paris (through Alaska and Siberia) begins. George Schuster wins the race, which takes him 88 days.

1909 – American runner James Clark sets a world record time in the marathon at 2:46:52.6 in New York City.

1937 – Cleveland is awarded an NFL franchise as the Rams join the league. The team plays in Cleveland for nine years before moving to Los Angeles.

1947 – Boston’s Bill Cowley becomes the NHL’s all-time scoring leader by recording his 529th career point.

1982 – Wayne Gretzky sets an NHL record by scoring his 153rd point of the season. 

1985 – Pittsburgh Penguins center Mario Lemieux becomes the first rookie in NHL history to win MVP of the All-Star Game.

1993 – The San Jose Sharks tie an NHL record by losing their 17th straight game.

1994 – The Winter Olympics open in Lillehammer, Norway.

2007 – The Duke men’s basketball team falls out of the AP men’s poll for the first time in 11 seasons. The 200 straight weeks of being ranked is second only to UCLA’s run of 221 weeks.

2010 – The Winter Olympics open in Vancouver, Canada.