Today’s highlights in sports history:
In 1890, Canadian boxer George Dixon became the first black world champion when he defeated British bantamweight champion Edwin “Nunc” Wallace in 18 rounds in London, England.
On this date:
1903 – Willie Anderson wins the U.S. Open by two strokes in a playoff over David Brown.
1914 – Jack Johnson wins a 20-round judges’ decision over Frank Morin at the Velodrome d’Hive in Paris.
1924 – Walter Hagen wins his second British Open. At the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England, Hagen beat Ernest Whitcomb by one stroke with a score of 301. Hagen, who had won in 1922, was the first American-born winner of the British Open.
1936 – Alf Padgham beats Jimmy Adams by one stroke to win the British Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, England.
1950 – Chandler Harper beat Henry Williams Jr. 4 and 3 in the final round to win the PGA Championship.
1959 – Mickey Wright beat Louise Suggs by two strokes to win her second consecutive U.S. Women’s Open.
1971 – Joan Kerner wins the U.S. Women’s Open by seven strokes over Cathy Whitworth.
1979 – Heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali announces that he is retiring for the third time (although he isn’t).
1984 — UEFA European Championship Final, Parc des Princes, Paris, France: Goals from Michel Platini and Bruno Verone help France beat Spain 2-0.
1988 – Mike Tyson KOs Michael Spink in 91 seconds in Atlantic City.
1990 — NBA Draft: Syracuse University power forward Derrick Coleman is selected first overall by the New Jersey Nets.
1992 – Australian Open and French Open champion and No. 1 seed Jim Courier loses to Russian qualifier Andrei Olkhovsky at Wimbledon 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, the first time in Wimbledon history that a qualifier beat a No. 1 seed.
1998 — NHL Draft: Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL) centre Vincent Lecavalier is selected first overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
1999 – Julie Inkster shoots 6-under 65 to win the LPGA Championship, becoming just the second woman to complete the modern-era Career Grand Slam; Pat Bradley had done it 13 years earlier.
2001 — NBA Draft: Glynn Academy center Kwame Brown is selected first overall by the Washington Wizards.
2006 – Roger Federer defeats Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to record 42 consecutive grass court wins and begin his quest for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. Federer breaks the record previously held by five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg, who won 41 consecutive grass court matches from 1976 to 1981.
2008 – Zheng Jie wins the biggest victory of her career at Wimbledon, defeating new world number one Ana Ivanovic 6–1, 6–4 in the third round. Ranked 133rd in the world, Zheng’s victory was her first against a top 10 player and marked the earliest loss of a top-ranked woman at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis lost in the first round in 2001.
2010 – Cristie Kerr wins the LPGA Championship by 12 strokes in one of the most one-sided victories in a major championship. Kerr led from start to finish and finished at 19-under 269 with a final score of 6-under 66. Kerr breaks the 11-stroke victory record set by Betsy King in 1992 and ties for the second-largest major championship victory of all time.
2013 — NBA Draft: UNLV power forward Anthony Bennett is selected first overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
2017 – Florida scored four runs in the eighth inning to pull away from LSU, and the Gators defeated their Southeastern Conference rivals, 6-1, to win their second straight College World Series final and capture their first national title in baseball. LSU lost for the first time in seven appearances in the final.
2021 — Nelly Korda beat Lizette Salas by three strokes to win the U.S. Women’s PGA Championship, her first major title.
