This Day in Sports History: August 19
August is a time for baseball, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the start of the English Premier League, WWE events, NASCAR races, track and field events, and the first week…
August is a time for baseball, the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the start of the English Premier League, WWE events, NASCAR races, track and field events, and the first week of college football. Aug. 19 has witnessed plenty of notable sports moments and legendary achievements over the years — let's take a closer look.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Here are some of the greatest moments in sports history that occurred on Aug. 19:
- 1900: Great Britain defeated France by 158 runs in Paris during the first and only Olympic cricket match.
- 1903: The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a record ninth consecutive postponed game.
- 1909: “Wild” Bob Burman won the first major auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- 1911: Pitcher Christy Mathewson finally lost to the Cincinnati Reds after beating them 22 straight times.
- 1921: Ty Cobb became the fourth player in MLB history to get 3,000 hits. He was also the youngest so far to reach this milestone.
- 1922: Tennis star Molla Bjurstedt Mallory won the U.S. National Women's Championship for her seventh U.S. singles title.
- 1932: Helen Jacobs won the U.S. National Women's Championship in tennis, earning the first of four straight U.S. singles crowns.
- 1945: At the age of 37, Jimmie Foxx pitched the first seven innings against the Cincinnati Reds and won the game.
- 1962: Homer Blancas plays his finest round in golf, shooting a 55.
- 1965: Jim Maloney pitched an exhausting no-hitter against the Chicago Cubs.
- 1969: Ken Holtzman pitched a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves.
- 1980: George Brett's hitting streak ended at 30 games.
- 1981: American athlete Renaldo Nehemiah ran the 110m hurdles in a world record time of 12.93 seconds in Zurich, Switzerland.
- 1984: Lee Trevino won his second PGA Championship by four shots.
- 1993: Sally Gunnell broke the women's world record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.74.
- 1995: Bruce Seldon achieved a technical knockout on Joe Hipp in 10 rounds to retain his heavyweight boxing title.
- 1995: Mike Tyson returned to professional boxing after a four-year hiatus, knocking out Peter McNeeley in just 89 seconds.
- 1997: Third baseman Wade Boggs pitched a scoreless inning against the Anaheim Angels.
- 2001: Golfer Annika Sörenstam won the Canadian Women's Open by two strokes.
- 2001: Michael Schumacher clinched his fourth Formula One World Drivers' Championship.
- 2001: David Toms won the PGA Championship by one stroke, securing his first and only major title.
- 2004: Swimmer Aaron Peirsol won the men's 200-meter backstroke at the Athens Olympics, clocking an Olympic-record time of 1:54.95.
- 2007: Lorena Ochoa won the Canadian Women's Open by three strokes.
- 2007: Arsenal played their first-ever competitive soccer match at the new Emirates Stadium, finishing in a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa.
- 2016: Chloe Esposito set a new Olympic record with an overall score of 1,372 points in the women's modern pentathlon at the Rio Olympics.
- 2016: Great Britain secured an upset win over the Netherlands in women's field hockey to win Olympic gold.
- 2018: Novak Djokovic became the first tennis player to win all nine Masters 1000 tennis tournaments since the series started in 1990.
- 2020: Los Angeles Angels powerhouse Albert Pujols tied Alex Rodriguez for the second-most career RBIs in baseball history.
Looking back on Aug. 19, three athletes stand out: Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, Michael Schumacher, and Novak Djokovic.
Mallory was a prominent figure in the early 20th century. She was known for her powerful baseline game and endurance. Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion. He holds many records in Formula One, including most wins, pole positions, and podium finishes. Djokovic holds the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles in men's tennis with 24. He also holds numerous other records, including most weeks ranked world number one and most year-end number-one finishes.
