For the next two weeks, Winter Olympians will be going for the gold. That's what javelin thrower Bruce Kennedy tried to do in 1972, 1976 and 1980, but that's not quite how things played out.
Today in 1961, the Chicago Cubs announced they wouldn't hire a manager for the new season, and would instead use a rotating "College" of coaches. You can probably guess how well that worked out.
Today in 1901, the first table tennis tournament concluded in London. It's also known as ping pong, and there were plenty of other proposed names back in the early days.
Today in 1978, the New Jersey Nets lost to the Philadelphia 76ers. But part of the game would be replayed the following March, and when it was, several of the players on each team had been traded to the other, and ended up playing in the game!
Today in 1975, game 6 of the World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. The iconic clip of Carlton Fisk waving his game-winning home run fair was caught by the camera kind of by accident.
Today in 1968, a high jumper from Oregon, Dick Fosbury, changed his sport forever by winning gold with an unusual jumping motion now known as the Fosbury Flop.
Today in 1954, Willie Mays made one of the most amazing plays in baseball history. And yet, Mays was so great that some researchers say The Catch wasn't even his greatest catch!
Today in 1881, Eleonora Sears was born in Boston. She would go on to be one of the most versatile and accomplished athletes of the early 20th century, excelling in dozens of sports, from tennis and squash to boxing and auto racing.
The benchmark for Paralympic gold: 55 medals by a single athlete, swimmer Trischa Zorn.
Several times the Games have been canceled, and at other times, boycotts have led some countries to hold their own alternative competitions.
