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On This Date

Steve Carlton delivering the 19th strikeout, Sept. 15, 1969

On This Date: Steve Carlton Strikes Out 19 Mets, Sets the Record, and Loses (Sept. 15, 1969)

On Sept. 15, 1969, a feverish Steve Carlton struck out 19 Miracle Mets, the first pitcher ever to reach 19 in nine innings, and lost 4-3 on two two-strike homers by Ron Swoboda.

George Bellows painting Dempsey and Firpo, 1924: Dempsey falling through the ropes

On This Date: Dempsey, Firpo, and the Wildest Four Minutes in Boxing History (Sept. 14, 1923)

On this date in 1923, at the Polo Grounds in New York, Jack Dempsey defended the heavyweight championship against Luis Ángel Firpo of Argentina. The fight lasted three minutes and 57 seconds. In that time there were eleven knockdowns, the champion was thrown clean out of the ring onto a

Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance standing together in Chicago Cubs uniforms

On This Date: Tinker, Evers and Chance Take the Field Together for the First Time (Sept. 13, 1902)

On this date in 1902, at the West Side Grounds in Chicago, the club the newspapers were just starting to call the Cubs beat St. Louis 12-0. Nobody noticed the lineup. Frank Chance, a converted catcher, played first base. Joe Tinker, a rookie, played shortstop. Johnny Evers, a 20-

Ralph Boston in mid-air during the long jump at the 1960 Rome Olympics, U.S.A. across his chest

On This Date: Ralph Boston Sets the Long Jump World Record — for the Sixth Time (Sept. 12, 1964)

On this date in 1964, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Ralph Boston jumped 27 feet, 4¼ inches at the final U.S. Olympic Trials and set the world record in the long jump. It was the sixth time he had done that. Earlier in the same competition he'

Pete Rose swinging at Riverfront Stadium against the Padres, Sept. 11, 1985

On This Date: Pete Rose Passes Ty Cobb — Two Men Who Played the Game the Same Way (Sept. 11, 1985)

On this date in 1985, at 8:01 on a Wednesday night at Riverfront Stadium, Pete Rose took a 2-1 slider from Eric Show of the Padres and lined it into left-center field. It was career hit number 4,192, one more than Ty Cobb. The 47,237

Abebe Bikila crossing the finish line barefoot at the 1960 Rome Olympic marathon, arms outstretched

On This Date: Abebe Bikila Runs Barefoot Past His Country's Stolen Obelisk (Sept. 10, 1960)

On this date in 1960, at 5:30 in the evening, 69 runners left the Capitoline Hill in Rome and set out on an Olympic marathon designed to finish after dark. Hundreds of Italian soldiers lined the route holding torches. Twenty-six miles later, a 28-year-old Ethiopian corporal

Arthur Ashe with his father, Arthur Ashe Sr., at the 1968 US Open trophy ceremony at Forest Hills

On This Date: Arthur Ashe Wins the First US Open — and Can't Accept the Check (Sept. 9, 1968)

On this date in 1968, at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, a 25-year-old Army lieutenant on leave from West Point won the very first US Open — the first American Grand Slam of the "Open era," when professionals were finally allowed in. Arthur Ashe