On February 3, 2002, the New England Patriots shocked football fans everywhere by defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to take home their first Super Bowl victory.
Pats’ kicker Adam Vinatieri (below) made a 48-yard field goal to win the game just as the clock expired.
On January 14, 1973, the Miami Dolphins achieve something no NFL team has repeated: a perfect season. Despite a gaffe by kicker Garo Yepremian that has earned its own place in history, the Dolphins held on to beat Washington, 14-7, in Super Bowl VII, capping a 17-0 season.
Head Coach Don Shula being interviewed after the game.
On September 28, 1941, the last day of Major League Baseball’s regular season, the Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams got six hits in eight at-bats during a doubleheader in Philadelphia, boosting his average to .406. He becomes the first player since 1930 to hit .400. "I guess I’ll be satisfied with that thrill out there today," he tells the Boston Globe about hitting .400. "… I never wanted anything harder in my life."
On this day in 1871, The Great Chicago Fire began in southwest Chicago, possibly in a barn owned by Patrick and Katherine O’Leary, was fanned by strong southwesterly winds, the flames rage for more than 24 hours, eventually leveling three and a half square miles and wiping out one-third of the city. Approximately 250 people were killed in the fire; 98,500 people are left homeless; 17,450 buildings were destroyed. Parts of the upper Midwest were also scorched.
Donald James Larsen (New York Yankees) pitched the first perfect game in the history of the World Series on this day in 1956.
New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra leaping into the arms of pitcher Don Larsen after the completion of his perfect game.
Don James Larsen turned 89 August 7.
New York Yankees’ Don Larsen (above) sits in the dugout at the Yankees Old Timers’ Day baseball game Sunday, June 17, 2018, at Yankee Stadium in New York.
Koufax’s total of 18 strikeouts in the game broke Dizzy Dean’s 26- year-old National League record, and tied the major league record held by Cleveland Indian ace Bob Feller.