American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

• AFL Championship
  American Football League
  The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
  
   – Houston Oilers won 10-3 over the San Diego Chargers
  San Diego Chargers
  The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
  
• NFL Championship – Green Bay Packers
  Green Bay Packers
  The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
  
   won 37-0 over the New York Giants
  New York Giants
  The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
  
  
• NCAA I-A Championship –
  • University of Alabama
    University of Alabama
    The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
    
     (AP)(UPI
    United Press International
    United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
    
    )
  • Ohio State
    Ohio State University
    The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
    
     (FWAA
    Football Writers Association of America
    The Football Writers Association of America is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the NCAA...
    
    )

England

• FA Cup final
  FA Cup
  The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
  
   – Tottenham Hotspur
  Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
  Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
  
   2-0 Leicester City
  Leicester City F.C.
  Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
  
  

Baseball

Baseball

Baseball 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...

• January 16 – Mickey Mantle
  Mickey Mantle
  Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
  
   becomes the highest paid player in Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
  
   by signing a contract that will pay him $75,000 per season.
• April 11 – The former Washington Senators play their first home game in Metropolitan Stadium
  Metropolitan Stadium
  Metropolitan Stadium was a sports stadium that once stood in Bloomington, Minnesota, just outside Minneapolis. The area where the stadium once stood is now the site of the Mall of America...
  
   as the Minnesota Twins
  Minnesota Twins
  The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...
  
  
• July 13 – In his majors debut, Milwaukee Braves
  Atlanta Braves
  The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
  
   outfielder
  Outfielder
  Outfielder is a generic term applied to each of the people playing in the three defensive positions in baseball farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder...
  
   Mack Jones
  Mack Jones
  Mack F. Jones , nicknamed "Mack The Knife", was a Major League Baseball left fielder who played for the Milwaukee & Atlanta Braves , Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos . He batted left-handed and threw right-handed.A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones was signed by the Milwaukee Braves as a...
  
   tied a post-1900 National League
  National League
  The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
  
   record by collecting three singles and a double
  Double (baseball)
  In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....
  
   in his first game.
• Roger Maris
  Roger Maris
  Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
  
   hits 61 home runs during the regular season, breaking Babe Ruth
  Babe Ruth
  George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
  
  's mark of 60 that had stood since 1927
• October - World Series
  World Series
  The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
  
   – New York Yankees
  New York Yankees
  The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
  
   win 4 games to 1 over the Cincinnati Reds
  Cincinnati Reds
  The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
  
  . The series MVP is Whitey Ford
  Whitey Ford
  Edward Charles "Whitey" Ford is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who spent his entire 18-year career with the New York Yankees. He was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.-Early life and career:...
  
   of the Yankees.

Basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship –
  • Cincinnati wins 70-65 over Ohio St.
• NBA Finals
  National Basketball Association
  The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
  
  |NBA Finals
  National Basketball Association
  The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
  
   –
  • Boston Celtics
    Boston Celtics
    The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
    
     won 4 games to 1 over the St. Louis Hawks
    Atlanta Hawks
    The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
    
    

Boxing

Boxing

Boxing, 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...

• June 3 in Los Angeles
  Los Angeles, California
  Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
  
  , California - Emile Griffith
  Emile Griffith
  Emile Alphonse Griffith is a former boxer who was the first fighter from the U.S. Virgin Islands ever to become a world champion. He is perhaps best known for his controversial third fight with Benny Paret in 1962 for the welterweight world championship...
  
   knocked out Gaspar Ortega
  Gaspar Ortega
  Gaspar Ortega was a Mexican professional boxer and is considered one of the best Welterweight boxer's from Mexico.-Pro career:...
  
   in the 12th round to retain the Welterweight Championship

Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

• Grey Cup
  Grey Cup
  The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
  
   – Winnipeg Blue Bombers
  Winnipeg Blue Bombers
  The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League . They play their home games at Canad Inns Stadium, and plan to move to a new stadium for the 2012 season.The Blue Bombers were founded...
  
   win 21-14 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats
  Hamilton Tiger-Cats
  The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a Canadian Football League team based in Hamilton, Ontario, founded in 1950 with the merger of the Hamilton Tigers and the Hamilton Wildcats. The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Ivor Wynne Stadium...
  
  

Cycling

Cycling

Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

• August 1 – death of Adrie Voorting
  Adrie Voorting
  Adrianus Voorting was a road bicycle and track cyclist from the Netherlands, who represented his native country at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland...
  
   (aged 30), Dutch road bicycle and track cyclist
• Giro d'Italia
  Giro d'Italia
  The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...
  
   won by Ercole Baldini
  Ercole Baldini
  Ercole Baldini is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. The highlight of his career was his win in the 1958 Giro d'Italia.-Biography:Baldini was born at Villanova di Forlì ....
  
   of Italy
  Italy
  Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
  
  
• Tour de France
  Tour de France
  The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
  
   - Jacques Anquetil
  Jacques Anquetil
  Jacques Anquetil was a French road racing cyclist and the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times, in 1957 and from 1961 to 1964...
  
   of France
  France
  The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
  
  
• World Cycling Championship
  World Cycling Championship
  The UCI Road World Championships, often referred to as the World Cycling Championships, is the annual world championship for bicycle road racing organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale . The UCI Road World Championships include championships for elite men's road race and individual time trial...
  
   – Rik Van Looy
  Rik Van Looy
  Henri van Looy is a Belgian former professional cyclist of the post-war period, nicknamed the King of the Classics or Emperor of Herentals...
  
   of Belgium
  Belgium
  Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
  
  

Figure skating

Figure skating

Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...

• The World Figure Skating Championships
  World Figure Skating Championships
  The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
  
   in Prague are cancelled after the entire USA team of skaters, officials, leaders and chaperones are killed in a plane crash on 15 February en route to the competition.
• Among the dead are:
  • Bradley Lord
    Bradley Lord
    Bradley Lord was an American figure skater who competed in men's singles. He finished fourth at the 1960 United States Figure Skating Championships and then placed sixth at that year's World Figure Skating Championships after the top three U.S. skaters skipped the event...
    
     (21), USA men's figure skating champion;
  • Maribel Vinson-Owen
    Maribel Vinson-Owen
    Maribel Yerxa Vinson-Owen was an American figure skater and coach. She competed in the disciplines of ladies singles and pair skating. As a single skater, she was a nine-time U.S. national champion and the 1932 Olympic bronze medalist. As a pair skater, she won six national titles, two with...
    
    , USA women's figure skating champion and coach;
  • Maribel Yerxa Owen (20), USA women's figure skating champion;
  • Laurence Owen
    Laurence Owen
    Laurence Rochon "Laurie" Owen was a Hall of Fame American figure skater. She was the 1961 U.S. National Champion and represented the United States at the 1960 Winter Olympics, where she placed 6th. She was the daughter of Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen and the sister of Maribel Owen...
    
     (16), USA women's figure skating champion.

Golf

Golf

Golf 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....

• Masters Tournament - Gary Player
  Gary Player
  Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
  
   becomes the first international golfer to win the Masters.
• U.S. Open
  U.S. Open (golf)
  The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
  
   - Gene Littler
  Gene Littler
  Gene Alec Littler is an American professional golfer. Known for a solid temperament and nicknamed "Gene the Machine" for his smooth rhythmical swing, he once said that, "Golf is not a game of great shots. It's a game of the best misses. The people who win make the smallest mistakes."-Early years...
  
  
• British Open
  The Open Championship
  The 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...
  
   - Arnold Palmer
  Arnold Palmer
  Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...
  
  
• PGA Championship
  PGA Championship
  The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted by the PGA of America as part of the PGA Tour. It is one of the four major championships in men's professional golf, and is the golf season's final major, usually played in mid-August, customarily four weeks after The Open Championship...
  
   - Jerry Barber
  Jerry Barber
  Carl Jerome "Jerry" Barber was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour.Barber was born in Woodson, Illinois, and was one of nine children raised on a Jacksonville, Illinois farm. He turned professional in 1942. Among his seven tour victories, was the 1961 PGA Championship at...
  
  
• PGA Tour
  PGA Tour
  The PGA Tour is the organizer of the main men's professional golf tours in the United States and North America...
  
   money leader - Gary Player
  Gary Player
  Gary Player DMS; OIG is a South African professional golfer. With his nine major championship victories, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of golf. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. Player has won 165 tournaments on six continents over six...
  
   - $64,540
• Ryder Cup
  Ryder Cup
  The Ryder Cup is a biennial golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe...
  
   - United States
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   wins 14½ to 9½ over Britain
  United Kingdom
  The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
  
   in team golf.

• British Amateur
  The Amateur Championship
  The Amateur Championship is a golf tournament which is held annually in the United Kingdom. It is one of the two leading individual tournaments for amateur golfers, alongside the U.S. Amateur...
  
   - Michael Bonallack
  Michael Bonallack
  Sir Michael Francis Bonallack, OBE is an English amateur golfer who was one of the leading administrators in world golf in the late 20th century.Bonallack was born in Chigwell, Essex. He won the British Boys Championship in 1952...
  
  
• U.S. Amateur - Jack Nicklaus
  Jack Nicklaus
  Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
  
  

• Women's Western Open - Mary Lena Faulk
  Mary Lena Faulk
  Mary Lena Faulk was an American professional golfer.Faulk was born in Chipley, Florida but at the age of 14 moved to Thomasville, Georgia where she won three consecutive Georgia Women's Amateur Matchplay Championships from 1946 to 1948.In 1953, Faulk won the U.S. Women's Amateur. In 1954 she was...
  
  
• LPGA Championship
  LPGA Championship
  The LPGA Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Wegmans LPGA Championship, is the second-longest running tournament in the history of the Ladies Professional Golf Association surpassed only by the U.S. Women's Open. It is one of four majors on the LPGA tour...
  
   - Mickey Wright
  Mickey Wright
  Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright is an American professional golfer. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
  
  
• U.S. Women's Open - Mickey Wright
  Mickey Wright
  Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright is an American professional golfer. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
  
  
• Titleholders Championship
  Titleholders Championship
  The Titleholders Championship was a women's golf tournament played from in 1937 to 1966 and again in 1972. It was later designated a major championship by the LPGA Tour.It should not be confused with two other LPGA events with similar names:...
  
   - Mickey Wright
  Mickey Wright
  Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright is an American professional golfer. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
  
  
• LPGA Tour
  LPGA
  The LPGA, in full the Ladies Professional Golf Association, is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization, whose headquarters is in Daytona Beach, Florida, is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from...
  
   money leader - Mickey Wright
  Mickey Wright
  Mary Kathryn "Mickey" Wright is an American professional golfer. She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
  
   - $22,236

Harness racing

Harness racing

Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait . They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, although racing under saddle is also conducted in Europe.-Breeds:...

• United States Pacing Triple Crown races
  Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers
  The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers consists of the following horse races:#Cane Pace, held at Freehold Raceway in Freehold, New Jersey#Little Brown Jug, held at the Delaware County Fair in Delaware, Ohio...
  
   –
  1. Cane Pace
     Cane Pace
     The Cane Pace is a harness horse race run annually since 1955. In 1956 the race joined with the Little Brown Jug and the Messenger Stakes to become the first leg in the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers....
     
      - Cold Front
     Cold front
     A cold front is defined as the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, replacing a warmer mass of air.-Development of cold front:The cooler and denser air wedges under the less-dense warmer air, lifting it...
     
     
  2. Little Brown Jug
     Little Brown Jug (horse racing)
     The Little Brown Jug is a harness race for three-year-old pacing standardbreds hosted by the Delaware County Agricultural Society since 1946 at the County Fairgrounds in Delaware, Ohio. The race takes place every year on the third Thursday after Labor Day. Along with the Hambletonian, a race for...
     
      - Henry T. Adios
  3. Messenger Stakes
     Messenger Stakes
     The Messenger Stakes is an American harness racing event for 3-year-old pacing horses. It was organized in 1956 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York to join with the Cane Pace and the Little Brown Jug to create the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Pacers...
     
      - Adios Don
• United States Trotting Triple Crown races
  Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters
  The Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters consists of the following horse races:*Hambletonian, held at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey*Yonkers Trot, held at Yonkers Raceway in Yonkers, New York...
  
   –
  1. Hambletonian - Harlan Dean
  2. Yonkers Trot
     Yonkers Trot
     The Yonkers Trot is a harness race for three-year old trotting standardbreds held at Yonkers Raceway in New York. In 2008, it was the first leg of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters. In 2009, the order of the events has been changed and Yonkers Trot will be the second leg of the Triple...
     
      - Duke Rodney
  3. Kentucky Futurity
     Kentucky Futurity
     The Kentucky Futurity is a stakes race for three-year-old trotters, held annually at The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky since 1893. It is part of the Triple Crown of Harness Racing for Trotters....
     
      - Duke Rodney
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship –
  • Pacers: Massacre

Horse racing

Horse racing

Horse 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...

• Cheltenham Gold Cup
  Cheltenham Gold Cup
  The Cheltenham Gold Cup is a Grade 1 National Hunt chase in the United Kingdom which is open to horses aged five years or older. It is run on the New Course at Cheltenham over a distance of about 3 miles and 2½ furlongs , and during its running there are twenty-two fences to be jumped...
  
   – Saffron Tartan
• Grand National
  Grand National
  The 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...
  
   – Nicolaus Silver

• Australia – Melbourne Cup
  Melbourne Cup
  The 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...
  
   won by Lord Fury
• Canada – Queen's Plate
  Queen's Plate
  The 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...
  
   won by Blue Light
  Blue Light (horse)
  Blue Light was a Canadian Thoroughbred racehorse who showed little promise as a two-year-old in 1960 but who won the 1961 Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and North America's oldest annually run stakes race....
  
  
• France – Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
  Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
  The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is a Group 1 flat horse race in France which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres , and it is scheduled to take place each year, usually on the first Sunday in October.Popularly referred to as the...
  
   won by Molvedo
• Ireland – Irish Derby Stakes
  Irish Derby Stakes
  The 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,...
  
   won by Your Highness
  Your Highness
  Your Highness is a 2011 fantasy comedy film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Danny McBride and Ben Best, and starring McBride, James Franco, Natalie Portman, and Zooey Deschanel. Filming began in the summer of 2009 in Northern Ireland and concluded in October 2009...
  
  
• English Triple Crown Races
  Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
  The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
  
  :
  1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes – Rockavon
  2. Epsom Derby
     Epsom Derby
     The 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...
     
      – Psidium
     Psidium (horse)
     Psidium was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career that lasted from 1960 to 1961 Psidium ran eleven times and won twice. He is best known for his win, as a 66/1 outsider in the 1961 Epsom Derby...
     
     
  3. St. Leger Stakes
     St. Leger Stakes
     The 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...
     
      – Aurelius
• United States Triple Crown Races
  Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing
  The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing consists of three races for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplishment of a Thoroughbred racehorse...
  
  :
  1. Kentucky Derby
     Kentucky Derby
     The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
     
      – Carry Back
     Carry Back
     Carry Back by Saggy out of Joppy, was an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse with a less than stellar pedigree but who nonetheless won many important graded stakes races including the 1961 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His racing colors were blue, silver hoops and sleeves...
     
     
  2. Preakness Stakes
     Preakness Stakes
     The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...
     
      – Carry Back
     Carry Back
     Carry Back by Saggy out of Joppy, was an American Hall of Fame thoroughbred racehorse with a less than stellar pedigree but who nonetheless won many important graded stakes races including the 1961 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His racing colors were blue, silver hoops and sleeves...
     
     
  3. Belmont Stakes
     Belmont Stakes
     The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...
     
      – Sherluck
     Sherluck
     Sherluck was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1961 Belmont Stakes and ending Carry Back's chance to win the U.S. Triple Crown....
     
     

Ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL
  National Hockey League
  The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
  
  's leading scorer during the regular season: Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion
  Bernie Geoffrion
  Joseph André Bernard Geoffrion , nicknamed Boom Boom, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered as one of the innovators of the slapshot, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York...
  
  , Montreal Canadiens
  Montreal Canadiens
  The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
  
  
• Hart Memorial Trophy
  Hart Memorial Trophy
  The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
  
   for the NHL
  National Hockey League
  The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
  
  's Most Valuable Player: Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion
  Bernie Geoffrion
  Joseph André Bernard Geoffrion , nicknamed Boom Boom, was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach. Generally considered as one of the innovators of the slapshot, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972 following a 16-year career with the Montreal Canadiens and New York...
  
  , Montreal Canadiens
  Montreal Canadiens
  The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
  
  
• Stanley Cup
  Stanley Cup
  The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
  
   – Chicago Black Hawks
  Chicago Blackhawks
  The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
  
   win 4 games to 2 over the Detroit Red Wings
  Detroit Red Wings
  The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
  
  
• World Hockey Championship –
  • Men's champion: Trail Smoke Eaters
    Trail Smoke Eaters (senior)
    The Trail Smoke Eaters were a senior level men's ice hockey team from Trail, British Columbia that played from 1926 to 1987. They are recognized as being one of the best senior hockey teams in Canadian history...
    
     from Canada
    Canada
    Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
    
    
• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship
  NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship
  The annual NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship tournament determines the top men's ice hockey team in NCAA Division I and Division III. The semi-finals and finals of the Division I Championship are branded as the Frozen Four, a passing nod to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship - known...
  
   - University of Denver
  University of Denver
  The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
  
   Pioneers defeat St. Lawrence University
  St. Lawrence University
  St. Lawrence University is a four-year liberal arts college located in the village of Canton in Saint Lawrence County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2300 undergraduate and 100 graduate students, about equally split between male and female....
  
   Saints 12-2 in Denver, CO

Motor racing

• Stock car racing
  Stock car racing
  Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...
  
   –
  • Marvin Panch
    Marvin Panch
    Marvin Panch Marvin Panch Marvin Panch (born May 28, 1926, in Menomonie, Wisconsin, is a former NASCAR driver.-Early career:He started his racing career as a car owner in Oakland, California. One week, his driver did not show up, and he raced the car to a third place finish...
    
     wins the Daytona 500
    Daytona 500
    The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....
    
     in the Smokey Yunick
    Smokey Yunick
    Henry "Smokey" Yunick was an American mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and he is probably most associated with that racing genre...
    
    -owned and -prepared Pontiac
    Pontiac
    Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
    
    
  • NASCAR Championship - Ned Jarrett
    Ned Jarrett
    Ned Jarrett is a retired race car driver and two-time NASCAR champion.Jarrett was best known for his calm demeanor, and he became known as "Gentleman Ned Jarrett", yet he was an intense competitor when he put his two hands on the steering wheel of a NASCAR Grand National stock car...
    
     (Chevrolet
    Chevrolet
    Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...
    
    )
• USAC Racing
  Champ Car
  Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
  
  
  • 30 May – A.J. Foyt wins his first 45th running
    1961 Indianapolis 500
    Results of the 1961 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Tuesday, May 30, 1961. This was the first Indianapolis 500 not to be included in the Formula One World Championship since 1949....
    
     of the Indianapolis 500
    Indianapolis 500
    The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, also known as the Indianapolis 500, the 500 Miles at Indianapolis, the Indy 500 or The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually, typically on the last weekend in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
    
     in the Bowes Seal Fast Special Trevis
    Trevis
    Trevis was an American racing car constructor of the 1950s and 60s, begun by Floyd Trevis of Youngstown, Ohio. Trevis cars competed in FIA World Championship and USAC events from 1951 to 1961.-World Championship Indy 500 results:...
    
    -Offenhauser
    Offenhauser
    Offenhauser was an American racing engine manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983.The Offenhauser engine, familiarly known as the "Offy", was developed by Fred Offenhauser and his employer Harry Arminius Miller, after maintaining and repairing a 1913 Peugeot Grand Prix car of the type which...
    
    
  • A.J. Foyt wins the driving championship
• Formula One
  Formula One
  Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
  
   – Phil Hill
  Phil Hill
  Philip Toll Hill, Jr., was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero...
  
   (United States) wins World Drivers' Champion, driving for Ferrari
  Ferrari
  Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
  
  .
• 24 hours of Le Mans
  24 Hours of Le Mans
  The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
  
   – Olivier Gendebien
  Olivier Gendebien
  Olivier Gendebien was a war hero and race car driver. He has been cited as "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".-Background:...
  
   / Phil Hill
  Phil Hill
  Philip Toll Hill, Jr., was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero...
  
   win, sharing a Ferrari 250TR
• Rally racing - the team of Maurice Martin
  Maurice Martin
  Maurice "Mo" Martin is a retired American basketball player. He played at Saint Joseph's University from 1982 to 1986 and was an Associated Press honorable mention All-American in his senior year. The 1986 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, he was a three-time selection to both the All-Conference...
  
   / Roger Bateau win the Monte Carlo Rally
  Monte Carlo Rally
  The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
  
   driving a Panhard PL17
  Panhard
  Panhard is currently a French manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its current incarnation was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005. Panhard had been under Citroën ownership, then PSA , for 40 years...
  
  
• Drag racing
  Drag racing
  Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
  
  
  • Pete Robinson won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals
  • Jack Chrisman
    Jack Chrisman
    Jack Chrisman was an American drag racer. He was a drag racing pioneer and 1961 champion. He was influential in the formation of the Funny Car class, as he introduced the first blown, injected, nitro-burning Funny Car...
    
     wins Top Eliminator at the first Winternats with NHRA's first sub-9 sec pass

Radiosport

Radiosport

The term radiosport is of modern Eastern European origin and is used to describe any of several competitive amateur radio activities. It is most often written as a single word, as in radiosport, but can be found as two separate words, as in radio sport.The Friendship Radiosport Games is a...

• First Europe
  Europe
  Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
  
  an Amateur Radio Direction Finding
  Amateur Radio Direction Finding
  Amateur radio direction finding is an amateur racing sport that combines radio direction finding with the map and compass skills of orienteering...
  
   Championships held in Stockholm, Sweden. This event was the first organized international competition in the sport.

Rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

• 67th Five Nations Championship
  Six Nations Championship
  The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
  
   series is won by France
  France national rugby union team
  The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
  
  

Swimming

Swimming (sport)

Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

• August 13 – USA's Becky Collins breaks the world record in the women's 200m butterfly (long course) during a meet in Philadelphia
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
  
  , Pennsylvania – 2:32.8.
• August 19 – US swimmer Carl Robie
  Carl Robie
  Carl Robie was an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He won a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan and one gold in 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico...
  
   takes over the world record in the men's 200m butterfly (long course) from his compatriot Michael Troy
  Michael Troy
  Michael Francis Troy is a retired butterfly swimmer from the United States, who broke the world record in the 200m butterfly five consecutive times before it was taken over by fellow American swimmer Carl Robie in 1961....
  
   at a meet in Los Angeles
  Los Angeles, California
  Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
  
  , California, clocking 2:12.6.

Tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

• Australian Men's Singles Championship – Roy Emerson
  Roy Emerson
  Roy Stanley Emerson is an Australian former tennis player who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He is the only male player to have won singles and doubles titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments. His 28 Grand Slam titles are an all-time record for a male...
  
   (Australia) defeats Rod Laver
  Rod Laver
  Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...
  
   (Australia) 1–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4
• Australian Women's Singles Championship – Margaret Smith Court
  Margaret Smith Court
  Margaret Court, AO MBE, is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Australia. In 1970, she became the first woman during the open era and the second woman in history to win all four Grand Slam tournament singles titles in the same calendar year. Court won a record 24 of those titles during...
  
   (Australia) defeats Jan Lehane O'Neill (Australia) 6–1, 6–4

• Wimbledon Men's Singles Championship – Rod Laver
  Rod Laver
  Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...
  
   (Australia) defeats Chuck McKinley
  Chuck McKinley
  Charles Robert "Chuck" McKinley Jr. was an American men’s amateur tennis player of the 1960s. He is remembered as an undersized, hard working dynamo, whose relentless effort and competitive spirit led American tennis to the top of the sport during a period heavily dominated by Australians.McKinley...
  
   (USA) 6–3, 6–1, 6–4
• Wimbledon Women's Singles Championship – Angela Mortimer Barrett (Great Britain) defeats Christine Truman Janes (Great Britain) 4–6, 6–4, 7–5

• French Men's Singles Championship –
• French Women's Singles Championship –

• American Men's Singles Championship –
• American Women's Singles Championship –

• 1961 Davis Cup
  1961 Davis Cup
  The 1961 Davis Cup was the 50th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. 42 teams would enter the competition, 28 in the Europe Zone, 7 in the Americas Zone, and 7 in the Eastern Zone....
  
   – 5–0 at Kooyong Stadium
  Kooyong Stadium
  Kooyong Stadium, at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club, is a tennis venue, located in Melbourne, Australia. The stadium was built in 1927 and has a capacity of 8,500....
  
   (grass) Melbourne
  Melbourne
  Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
  
  , Australia
  Australia
  Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
  
  

Multi-sport event

Multi-sport event

A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports between organized teams of athletes from nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the modern Olympic Games.Many...

s

• Pan Arab Games held in Casablanca, Morocco
• Second Summer Universiade
  1961 Summer Universiade
  The 1961 Summer Universiade, also known as the II Summer Universiade, was an international sporting event for university students that took place in Sofia, Bulgaria.-Medal table:-Sports at the 1961 Summer Universiade:*Athletics*Basketball*Diving...
  
   held in Sofia, Bulgaria

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year – Roger Maris
  Roger Maris
  Roger Eugene Maris was an American Major League Baseball right fielder. During the 1961 season, he hit a record 61 home runs for the New York Yankees, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record of 60 home runs...
  
  , Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball
  Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
  
  
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year – Wilma Rudolph
  Wilma Rudolph
  Wilma Glodean Rudolph was an American athlete. Rudolph was considered the fastest woman in the world in the 1960s and competed in two Olympic Games, in 1956 and in 1960....
  
  , Track and field
  Track and field
  Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...