1866 in sports
Encyclopedia
Athletics (track and field)Athletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
Events
- The Amateur Athletics Club (AAC) is founded and becomes the governing body of athletics in the United Kingdom, hosting the first national championships and introducing a definition of "amateur" that will determine eligibility for athletics competitions until the late 20th century.
BaseballBaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
National championship
- National Association of Base Ball PlayersNational Association of Base Ball PlayersThe National Association of Base Ball Players was the first organization governing American baseball. The first, 1857 convention of sixteen New York City clubs...
champion – Brooklyn AtlanticsBrooklyn AtlanticsThe Atlantic Base Ball Club of Brooklyn was baseball's first champion and its first dynasty.Established in 1855, Atlantic was a founding member of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1857. In 1859, with a record of 11 wins and 1 loss, Atlantic emerged as the recognized champions of...
Events
- National Association membership triples and geographic scope explodes, from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Portland, MainePortland, MainePortland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. The association hears cases of professionalism at the center and there is no longer a clear and official NABBP champion.
BoxingBoxingBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Events
- 6 August — Jem MaceJem MaceJem Mace was an English boxing champion. He was born at Beeston, Norfolk. Although nicknamed "The Gypsy", he denied Romani ethnicity in his autobiography...
defeats Joe GossJoe GossJoe Goss was born on 5 November 1838 in Northampton, England. Although he rarely scaled more than 160 pounds, the clever and aggressive Goss routinely fought men both bigger and heavier than himself....
in the 21st round and reclaims the vacant English Championship. - 19 September — Mike McCooleMike McCooleMike McCoole was a boxing champion.He claimed the Heavyweight Championship in 1866 after Joe Coburn retired. He lost the title to Tom Allen in 1873.-External links:*...
defeats Bill Davis in the 34th round at Rhodes Point, near St Louis, and underlines his claim to the American Championship. The third claimant Jimmy ElliottJimmy ElliottFor the English footballer of the same name see Jimmy Elliott Jimmy Elliot was an Irish-American boxer who was Heavyweight Champion of the World from 1865 to 1868. On December 12, 1870 Elliott was arrested and convicted of highway robbery and assault with intent to kill...
does not fight anyone this year.
CricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
Events
- George WoottonGeorge WoottonGeorge Wootton was an English cricketer. He was born in Nottingham and played first class cricket for the county of his birth from 1861 to 1871. He also represented MCC from 1862 to 1873 and played several first class games in other matches. A prolific left-arm fast bowler, he took 983 wickets...
's tally of 119 wickets establishes a new record for an English season.
England
- Champion County – Middlesex
- Most runs – Harry JuppHarry JuppHenry Jupp was an English professional cricketer, who was the opening batsman for Surrey County Cricket Club from 1862 to 1881. Renowned for his defensive technique, Jupp was known as "Young Stonewaller"....
1140 @ 31.66 (HS 165) - Most wickets – George WoottonGeorge WoottonGeorge Wootton was an English cricketer. He was born in Nottingham and played first class cricket for the county of his birth from 1861 to 1871. He also represented MCC from 1862 to 1873 and played several first class games in other matches. A prolific left-arm fast bowler, he took 983 wickets...
119 @ 14.09 (BB 8–69)
GolfGolfGolf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
Major tournaments
- British OpenThe Open ChampionshipThe Open Championship, or simply The Open , is the oldest of the four major championships in professional golf. It is the only "major" held outside the USA and is administered by The R&A, which is the governing body of golf outside the USA and Mexico...
– Willie Park seniorWillie Park, Snr.William "Willie" Park, Sr. was one of the pioneers of professional golf.Park was born in Musselburgh, Scotland. Like some of the other early professional golfers, Park started out as a caddie. He later ran a golf equipment manufacturing business...
Horse racingHorse racingHorse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
Events
- Inaugural running of the Irish Derby StakesIrish Derby StakesThe Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...
at The CurraghCurragh RacecourseThe Curragh Racecourse, usually abbreviated to The Curragh, is Ireland's most important Thoroughbred race track. It is situated on the Curragh plain near Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland.- History :...
is won by Selim
England
- Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
– Salamander - 1,000 Guineas Stakes – Repulse
- 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Lord Lyon
- Epsom DerbyEpsom DerbyThe Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
– Lord Lyon - Epsom OaksEpsom OaksThe Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
– Tormentor - St. Leger StakesSt. Leger StakesThe St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
– Lord Lyon
Australia
- Melbourne CupMelbourne CupThe Melbourne Cup is Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race. Marketed as "the race that stops a nation", it is a 3,200 metre race for three-year-olds and over. It is the richest "two-mile" handicap in the world, and one of the richest turf races...
– The Barb
Canada
- Queen's PlateQueen's PlateThe Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...
– Beacon
Ireland
- Irish Derby StakesIrish Derby StakesThe Irish Derby is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a distance of 1 mile and 4 furlongs , and it is scheduled to take place each year in late June or early July.It is Ireland's equivalent of the Epsom Derby,...
– Selim
RowingRowing (sport)Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
The Boat Race
- 24 March — OxfordOxford University Boat ClubThe Oxford University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....
wins the 23rd Oxford and Cambridge Boat RaceThe Boat RaceThe event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
Rugby footballRugby footballRugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
Events
- Foundation of Harlequins FC, Rochdale HornetsRochdale HornetsRochdale Hornets RLFC is an English professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England. They currently play in Championship One...
and Swinton RLFCSwinton LionsSwinton Lions is an English professional rugby league club from Swinton, Greater Manchester. The club has won the Championship six times and three Challenge Cups. They currently play in the Championship.-Early years:...
Yacht racing
The American schooners Vesta, Henrietta and Fleetwing cross the Atlantic Ocean from Sandy HookSandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit along the Atlantic coast of New JerseySandy Hook may also refer to:-Places:United States* Sandy Hook , a village in the town of Newtown, Connecticut* Sandy Hook, Kentucky, a city in Elliott County...
to the Needles, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in the first organised offshore race. The Henrietta, owned by 21-year-old James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
, and captained by Samuel S. Samuels won the race in 13 days, 21 hours and 55 minutes.