On December 10, 1922, the Canton Bulldogs defeated the Toledo Maroons, 19-0, and are declared the first champion of the newly
renamed National Football League.
Canton finished the season 10-0-2, allowing 15 points, producing
nine shutouts. The league champion is determined by best regular-season record.
Future Hall of Famer William Pete Henry, a 5-foot-11, 245-pound
tackle and kicker, and player-coach Guy Chamberlin were the
team’s stars.
The 1940 Chicago Bears’ 8-3 regular season wasn’t spectacular,
but their championship game was: they beat the Washington
Redskins 73-0, the widest margin in NFL history.
The Bears led the NFL in rushing offense with 1,818 yards, and
in rushing TDs, with 16.
Chicago Bears owner and couch George Hallas (with hat).
PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — The costume Tonya Harding (53) wore
at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships is up for auction.
The red sequin outfit was worn by Harding the day after that
infamous attack on Nancy Kerrigan, forcing her to withdraw
from the competition. Harding went on to win the gold.
Right now, bidding for Harding’s costume stands at $3,000.
On September 15, 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeated Leon
Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to win
the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his
career, the first fighter ever to do so. Following his victory,
Ali retired from boxing, only to make a brief comeback two
years later. Ali, who once claimed he could “float like a
butterfly, sting like a bee,” left the sport permanently in
1981.
Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.)
(January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)
Bobby Fischer (right) defeated Russian Boris Spassky.
On September 1, 1972, in what’s billed as the “Match of the
Century,” American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer
defeated Russian Boris Spassky during the World Chess
Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland.
In the world’s most publicized title match ever played, Fischer,
a 29-year-old Brooklynite, became the first American to win
the competition since its inception in 1866. The victory also
marked the first time a non-Russian had won the event in
24 years.
