1915 – In a heavyweight bout held in Havana, Cuba, Jess Willard beats Jack Johnson in the 26th round to win the title.
1927 – Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller breaks his record in the 200-meter freestyle by seven seconds, finishing in 2:08. He also breaks his record in the 100-meter freestyle by completing the swim in 51 seconds.
1973 – The NFL adopts a jersey numbering system where position groups can only wear numbers in certain ranges.
1984 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar passes Wilt Chamberlain to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 31,420 points.
1987 – Wayne Gretzky wins his seventh straight scoring title.
1990 – Utah Jazz guard John Stockton becomes the first player in NBA history to dish out 1,000 assists for three seasons in a row.
1993 – North Carolina defeats Michigan 77-71 to win the NCAA men’s basketball national championship.
2004 – The UCONN men’s basketball team beats Georgia Tech 82-73 to win the men’s basketball tournament.
2010 – Duke wins their fourth men’s college basketball national championship, beating Butler 61-59.
2016 – The UCONN women’s hoops team wins their fourth straight national championship, routing Syracuse 82-51 in the title game. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma wins his 11th national title and the program goes undefeated for the sixth time.
2019 – Russell Westbrook becomes the first player in NBA history to average a triple-double in three consecutive seasons.
Related Topicsthis day in sports history