The frontier sport of gouging, imported from England, flourished in the Ohio River Valley around 1800. The object was to gouge out the opponent’s eye with a thumbnail. To compete effectively, you would have needed to let your thumbnail grow extra-long.
According to 1894 baseball rules, the 4-by-12-inch pitching rubber embedded in the pitcher’s mound lies 60 feet, 6 inches from the front edge of home plate. The pitcher is supposed to place both feet on the rubber at the start of his delivery. Previously, the distance of the mound from home plate had been 50…
The first Superbowl was held in 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won, 35-10.
Ty Cobb stole home 46 times during his 22-year career with the Detroit Tigers and holds the record for stealing home.
The first baseball game played at night was at Crosley Field in Cincinnati on May 24, 1935. It was a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. The Reds beat the Phillies, 2-1.
Chris Evert popularized the two-fisted backhand, which she began using out of necessity when she was six years old. Beginning her professional career in 1972, Evert has won close to 150 women’s singles titles and more than 1,000 career matches.