DECEMBER 4 – On This Day

1909 1st CFL Grey Cup, Rosedale Field, Toronto: University of Toronto Blues beat Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club, 26-6; Blues undefeated
1909 Oldest still-operating NHL franchise is officially established as J. Ambrose O’Brien and Jack Laviolette create the “Club de Hockey Canadien,â€? known today as the Montreal Canadiens
1920 CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: U of Toronto Blues win 4th title; beat Toronto Argonauts, 16-3
1921 American Professional Football Association Championship, Cubs Park, Chicago: Chicago Staleys beat Buffalo All-Americans, 10-7 in de facto championship game after teams tied in standings
1926 CFL Grey Cup: Ottawa Senators retain Championship with 10-7 win over U of Toronto Blues
1927 Pittsburgh Pirates future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Paul Waner wins NL MVP
1943 Commissioner Landis announces any baseball club may sign Negroes
1945 11th Heisman Trophy Award: Doc Blanchard, Army (FB)
1947 In the first cricket Test match between the 2 nations, India is dismissed for 98 by Australia in Brisbane to lose by an innings & 226 runs; fast bowler Ernie Toshack takes 6 for 29 for match figures of 11 for 31
1948 13th Iron Bowl (first since 1907): Alabama beats Auburn 55-0 in Birmingham
1949 Bob Gage ties NFL record of a 97 yard touchdown run
1956 22nd Heisman Trophy Award: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame (QB)
1956 Australian swimmer Murray Rose sets world record 4:27.3 to claim the 400m gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Rose later also wins 1,500m gold
1956 American diver Pat McCormick wins the 3m springboard gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics with 142.46 points; later wraps up the women’s double when she takes the 10m platform gold
1961 Smallest NY Knick, 49th St Madison Square Garden crowd-1,300 (snowstorm)
1961 1962 NFL Draft: Ernie Davis from University of Syracuse first pick by Washington Redskins
1963 Boston Bruins’ right wing Andy Hebenton sets a new NHL record by playing in his 581st consecutive game in 2-2 tie with Chicago Black Hawks; reaches 630 straight games
1964 Baseball approves a free-agent draft
1964 Commissioner’s office given full powers in baseball disputes
1964 Test Cricket debut of Ian Chappell, v Pakistan MCG, 11, 0-49, 0-31
1965 2nd NY Knicks game postponed (due to death of opponent 76ers’ owner)
1965 San Francisco Giant Masanori Murakami, 4-1 this year, does not renew his contract signing instead with the Nankai Hawks of Osaka for $40,000
1977 NFL’s 5,000th game, Cincinnati beats KC 27-7
1977 West Indies win 1st World Series Cricket ‘Test’ against Australia at VFL Park in Melbourne by 3 wickets; chasing 235 for victory, Viv Richards with 56 and Clive Lloyd 44 guide WI to 237/7 with 2 days to spare
1977 Davis Cup Men’s Tennis, Sydney: John Alexander beats Adriano Panatta of Italy 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 8-6, 11-9 in a 3 hour, 54 minute classic to give Australia a 3-1 victory
1979 Cleveland Cavaliers retire jersey # 7, Bingo Smith
1980 Islanders end 15 game undefeated streak (13-0-2) (Col Rockies)
1982 48th Heisman Trophy Award: Herschel Walker, Georgia (RB)
1983 NJ Devils 1st shut-out, beating Minnesota North Stars 6-0
1988 Edmonton center Jimmy Carson becomes just the third player to score 6 NHL hat tricks before the age of 21 in the Oilers 10-6 win over the New York Rangers
1993 2nd SEC Championship Game: #9 Florida beats #16 Alabama, 28-13
1994 83rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats Russia in Moscow (4-1)
1996 Orlando Magic tie NBA record of fewest points scored since inception of 24 second clock losing to Cleveland Cavalier, 84-57
1997 NBA suspends former Golden State Warriors guard Latrell Sprewell for 1 year for attacking coach P.J. Carlesimo
1999 8th SEC Championship Game: #7 Alabama beats #5 Florida, 34-7
2004 13th SEC Championship Game: #3 Auburn beats #15 Tennessee, 38-28
2005 94th Davis Cup: Croatia beats Slovak Republic in Bratislava (3-2)
2007 Ballon d’Or: Milan’s Brazilian midfielder Kaká is named best football player in the world; first year in which players from clubs outside the UEFA federation eligible for nomination
2010 19th SEC Championship Game: #2 Auburn beats #18 South Carolina, 56-17
2010 6th ACC Championship Game: #12 Virginia Tech beats #20 Florida State, 44-33
2010 15th Big 12 Championship Game: #10 Oklahoma beats #13 Nebraska, 23-20
2011 100th Davis Cup: Spain beats Argentina in Seville (3-1)
2017 New York Giants fire head coach Ben McAdoo and manager Jerry Reese after a 2–10 start
2018 Ownership group Seattle Hockey Partners led by billionaire businessman Davis Bonderman is unanimously granted an NHL license by the Board of Governors; to start play 2020-21 season at KeyArena
2020 New Zealand cricket captain Kane Williamson smashes 251 to set up the home side’s innings & 134 run win over the West Indies in the 1st Test in Hamilton