June 22
1918 — Molla Bjurstedt wins the women’s U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title for the fourth straight year, beating Eleanor Goss 6-4, 6-3.
1937 — Joe Louis knocks out Jim Braddock in the eighth round at Chicago’s Comiskey Park to win the world heavyweight title, which he would hold for 11 years.
1938 — In a rematch portrayed in both countries as good vs. evil, Joe Louis of the U.S. knocks out Germany’s Max Schmeling at 2:04 of the first round at Yankee Stadium to retain the world heavyweight title.
1949 — Ezzard Charles scores a 15-round unanimous decision over Jersey Joe Walcott at Comiskey Park in Chicago to win the vacant world heavyweight title.
1997 — John Ziegler is named the fourth president in NHL history, succeeding Clarence Campbell.
1979 — Larry Holmes stops Mike Weaver in the 12th round to retain the WBC heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1981 — John McEnroe throws a tantrum in his 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-3 first-round win over Tom Gullikson on the opening day at Wimbledon. McEnroe’s return of Gullickson’s serve is ruled out by chair umpire Edward James. McEnroe shouts his famous line, “You cannot be serious.” He then calls James the “the pits of the world” and an “incompetent fool.” Tournament referee Fred Hoyles is called to the court after James hits McEnroe with a point penalty. After McEnroe’s arguments with Hoyle go unsatisfied, Gullikson holds serve and McEnroe curses Hoyle on the changeover, prompting another point penalty. He is later fined $1,500.
1994 — The Houston Rockets, led by Hakeem Olajuwon, win their first NBA title, beating New York 90-84 in Game 7 of the finals. Olajuwon gets 25 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks.
1999 — In one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon’s 113-year history, top-ranked Martina Hingis loses 6-2, 6-0 in the opening round to Jelena Dokic, a 16-year-old qualifier ranked 129th.
2001 — Karrie Webb sets two scoring records in the LPGA Championship in shooting a 7-under 64 for a three-stroke lead. Webb, at 11-under 131, breaks the 36-hole scoring record by two strokes. Webb shoots a 29 on the front nine for the lowest nine-hole score in the 47-year history of the championship.
2006 — The U.S. soccer team is eliminated from World Cup play with a 2-1 loss to Ghana.
2007 — For the first time, Americans are taken with the top two picks in the NHL draft. Chicago selects Patrick Kane with the first pick. Philadelphia then selects left wing James vanRiemsdyk with the second pick.
2012 — Jerry Sandusky is convicted on 45 counts of sexually assaulting 10 boys over 15 years. The accusations had led to the firing of Joe Paterno, Penn State’s beloved coach who died of lung cancer Jan. 22. Penn State’s Board of Trustees ousted Paterno for what was called his “failure of leadership” surrounding allegations about Sandusky.
2014 — Michelle Wie wins the U.S. Women’s Open for her first major championship. She beats top-ranked Stacy Lewis by two shots. … Cristiano Ronaldo sets up Varela for a late goal to give Portugal a 2-2 draw with the U.S. and hope for a spot in the second round of the World Cup.
June 23
1917 — In baseball’s greatest relief effort, Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox retires 26 batters for a 4-0 victory over Washington. Shore relieves Babe Ruth with nobody out and a man on first, who was cut down stealing.
1917 — Molla Bjurstedt win the women’s U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title for the third straight year with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Marion Vanderhoef.
1922 — Walter Hagen becomes the first native-born American to win the British Open. Hagen shoots a 300 to beat Jim Barness and George Duncan by one stroke at Royal St. George’s Golf Club.
1939 — Former football great Bronko Nagurski beats Lou Thesz to win the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight title in at the Coliseum in Houston. Thesz was largely considered the greatest wrestler of all time. Houston Mayor Holcombe reportedly presents Bronko with a $10,000 diamond studded belt.
1963 — Julius Boros wins a three-way playoff to take the U.S. Open. Boros beats Jacky Cupit by three strokes and Arnold Palmer by six.
1972 — President Nixon signs the Higher Education Act of 1972. Title IX of this congressional act bars sex bias in athletics and other activities at colleges receiving federal assistance.
1974 — Sandra Haynie wins the LPGA championship by two strokes over JoAnne Carner.
1985 — Laffit Pincay Jr. rides Greinton to a 1 3/4-length victory over Precisionist in the Hollywood Gold Cup, to join Willie Shoemaker as the only jockeys in history to surpass $100 million in purse earnings.
1991 — A Mazda becomes the first Japanese car to win the Le Mans 24 hours race, overtaking a Mercedes in the last three hours. Bertrand Gachot of Belgium, Johnny Herbert of Britain and Volker Weidler of Germany are the winning drivers of the rotary-powered Mazda.
1996 — Michael Johnson breaks the world record in the 200 meters, running 19.66 seconds at the U.S. track and field trials in Atlanta. The previous mark of 19.72 was set by Italy’s Pietro Mennea in 1979 in Mexico City.
1999 — The Hockey Hall of Fame waives the usual three-year waiting period and announces that Wayne Gretzky will be part of the Class of 1999.
2001 — Ilya Kovalchuk is the first player born in Russia to be taken with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft when he’s selected by the Atlanta Thrashers.
2005 — Tim Duncan comes up huge in the second half and is chosen finals MVP and Manu Ginobili has another breakthrough performance to lead the San Antonio Spurs past the Detroit Pistons 81-74 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
2013 — Courtney Force claims a Funny Car victory against her father at the Auto-Plus NHRA New England Nationals. In their first final round matchup, Courtney Force earns her second victory of the year and third in her career. She improves to 4-2 against her father, John Force, a 15-time Funny Car world champion.
2015 — The NHL’s Board of Governors approve the proposed 3-on-3 overtime change.
June 24
1910 — James Braid wins his fifth British Open with a four-stroke victory over Sandy Herd.
1911 — John McDermott becomes the first American-born winner of the U.S. Open when he beats Michael Brady and George Simpson in a playoff. McDermott finishes two strokes better than Brady and five strokes better than Simpson.
1913 — John Henry Taylor wins his fifth and final British Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake, England.
1928 — John Farrell beats Bobby Jones by one stroke in a 36-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open.
1947 — Jim Ferrier wins the PGA championship by defeating Chick Harbert 2 and 1 in the final round.
1958 — Brazil, led by 17-year-old Pele, beats France 5-2 in a semifinal of the World Cup. With Brazil up 2-1 in the second half, Pele scores three consecutive goals.
1968 — Canada’s Sandra Post beats Kathy Whitworth by seven strokes in a playoff to become the first non-U.S. player and rookie to win the LPGA championship.
1980 — The Atlanta Flames relocate to Calgary, Alberta. The NHL team keeps the name “Flames.”
1990 — Criminal Type becomes the first horse to win consecutive $1 million races after capturing the Hollywood Gold Cup. He had previously won the $1 million Pimlico Special on May 12.
1991 — The NHL’s Board of Governors adopts instant replay.
2000 — Rick DiPietro is the first goalie drafted No. 1 when the New York Islanders select the 18-year-old star from Boston University at the NHL Draft.
2001 — Karrie Webb, 26, captures the LPGA Championship by two strokes to become the youngest woman to complete the Grand Slam.
2010 — John Isner outlasts Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in tennis history. Isner hits a backhand winner to win the last of the match’s 980 points, and takes the fifth set against Mahut 70-68. The first-round match took 11 hours, 5 minutes over three days, lasting so long it was suspended because of darkness — two nights in a row. Play resumed at 59-all and continued for more than an hour before Isner won 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 70-68.
2010 — John Wall is selected as the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, and a record number of Kentucky teammates follow him. Four more Wildcats are among the top 30 selections, making them the first school ever to put five players in the first round.
2013 — Bryan Bickell and Dave Bolland score 17 seconds apart in the final 1:16 of the third period and the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup with a stunning 3-2 comeback victory in Game 6 over the Boston Bruins.
2018 — Harry Kane scores a hat trick to propel England to its most emphatic World Cup victory and into the knockout stage. With John Stones heading in twice and Jesse Lingard curling in a shot, England beats Panama 6-1 and scores its most goals ever in a World Cup game.
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