This Day in Sports History: August 7
Featured sports in August include MLB, the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, WWE events, the NASCAR Cup series, track and field, and college football. Over the years, Aug. 7 has seen…
Featured sports in August include MLB, the U.S. Open Tennis Championship, WWE events, the NASCAR Cup series, track and field, and college football. Over the years, Aug. 7 has seen memorable sports moments and extraordinary achievements. Read on to learn more.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sports history that occurred on Aug. 7 include:
- 1903: Tommy Corcoran achieved 14 assists in an MLB game and set an assist record for shortstops.
- 1907: Baseball Hall of Famer Walter Johnson earned his first MLB victory.
- 1921: Cyclist Piet Moeskops won the first of his four consecutive UCI World Sprint Championships.
- 1929: Babe Ruth hit his second grand slam in consecutive games. It was the second time in his career that he achieved this milestone.
- 1938: Leo Durocher hit the 2,000th home run in Brooklyn Dodgers history.
- 1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen won her fourth track gold medal at the London Olympics.
- 1954: Roger Bannister and John Landy became the first pair of runners to complete the mile in under four minutes in the same race.
- 1960: Arnold Palmer claimed his 20th PGA Tour victory.
- 1983: Grete Waitz won the inaugural women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships.
- 1984: The U.S. claimed its first Olympic gold medal in women's basketball history, beating South Korea 85-55.
- 1988: Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye won his 4,000th career race.
- 1991: The U.S. 4x100-meter relay team set a world record time of 37.67 seconds.
- 1992: The Orlando Magic signed the No. 1 draft pick, Shaquille O'Neal.
- 1999: Wade Boggs achieved his 3,000th career hit, becoming the first player in MLB history to reach this milestone with a home run.
- 2004: Greg Maddux achieved his 300th career MLB game.
- 2005: Sprinter Justin Gatlin won the 100-meter race with a time of 9.88 seconds.
- 2007: Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run, becoming the new home run king.
- 2016: Swimmer Katie Ledecky won gold in the women's 400-meter freestyle race and set a new world record time of 3:56:46.
- 2016: Jim Furyk shot 58 in the final round of the Travelers Championship, becoming the first golfer to achieve that score in a PGA Tour event.
- 2016: Ichiro Suzuki reached the 3,000-hit milestone in MLB.
- 2016: Michael Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold medal.
Looking back on these remarkable achievements from Aug. 7, the outstanding athletes are Roger Bannister, Eddie Delahoussaye, and Ichiro Suzuki.
Bannister was the first person in recorded history to run a mile in under four minutes, clocking a time of 3:59:4. Delahoussaye was the leading rider in North America in 1978 with 384 wins and finished his career in the top five in wins and stakes victories. Ichiro is celebrated for his exceptional hitting ability, particularly his incredible streak of 10 consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits, a record that still stands.
