- January 26
- (to February 5) The VII Olympic Winter Games are held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. [7]
- Hank Greenberg and Joe Cronin are elected to Baseball Hall of Fame. [1]
- January 27
- NFL's New York Giants switch games from Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium. [1]
- February 3
- Toni Sailor becomes first Olympics skier to sweep the three alpine events. [1]
- February 4
- American League plans to test automatic intentional walk during spring training. [1]
- February 5
- VII Olympic Winter Games close at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. [1]
- Louise Suggs win LPGA Havana Golf Open. [1]
- New York Mayor Robert Wagner and Brooklyn Boro President Frank Cashmore sponsor a bill to create a Brooklyn Sports Center Authority, which will propose building a $30 million downtown sports center. [1]
- February 12
- Fay Crocker wins LPGA Miami Beach Golf Open. [1]
vvv advertisement vvv
^^^ advertisement ^^^
- February 14
- Verhoeven/Nauta/De King/Wijnhout win Dutch 11 city skate. [1]
- February 15
- Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Athletics cancel an exhibition game in Birmingham, Alabama, because of local ordinance barring blacks from playing against whites. [1]
- February 17
- Ice Dance Championship at Garmisch won by Pamela Weight/P Thomas of Great Britain. [1]
- Ice Pairs Championship at Garmisch won by Schwarz and Oppelt of Austria. [1]
- Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by Carol Heiss of the USA. [1]
- Men's Figure Skating Championship in Garmisch won by H A Jenkins of the USA. [1]
- February 19
- Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Saint Petersburg Golf Open. [1]
- February 22
- First British soccer match at Kunstlicht: Portsmouth versus Newcastle United. [1]
- February 26
- Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Open. [1]
- March 3
- Cockie Gastelaars swims world record 100 metre freestyle (1:04.2). [1]
- Manhattan Borough President Hulan Jack makes plans for a new 110,000-seat stadium to entice New York Giants to stay in New York. [1]
- March 5
- Mickey Wright wins LPGA Jacksonville Golf Open. [1]
- March 11
- Louise Suggs wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship. [1]
- March 13
- New Zealand bowls out West Indies for 77 at Eden Park to score their first Test Cricket win. [1]
- March 16
- US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Tenley Albright. [1]
- US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Hayes A Jenkins. [1]
- March 19
- Biggest NBA margin of victory: Minnesota Lakers-133, Saint Louis Hawks-75. [1]
- March 23
- 18th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: San Francisco beats Iowa 83-71; this is San Francisco's second consecutive national basketball championship. [1]
- April 7
- 10th NBA Championship: Philadelphia Warriors beat Fort Wayne Pistons, 4 games to 1. [1]
- April 8
- 20th Golf Masters Championship: Jack Burke Junior wins, shooting a 289. [1]
- April 10
- Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1. [1]
- April 15
- Marlene Bauer wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open. [1]
- April 17
- Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament. [1]
- April 19
- First major league baseball game in New Jersey: Brooklyn Dodgers beat Philadelphia Phillies in Roosevelt Stadium. [1]
- 60th Boston Marathon won by Antti Viskari of Finland in 2:14:14. [1]
- April 22
- Patty Berg wins LPGA Dallas Golf Open. [1]
- April 24
- American League umpire Frank Umont is first to wear glasses in a regular season game. [1]
- April 27
- Heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano, retires undefeated from boxing. [1]
- April 28
- Cincinnati Reds' Frank Robinson hits his first of 586 homeruns. [1]
- April 29
- Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open. [1]
- May 5
- 82nd Kentucky Derby: David Erb aboard Needles wins in 2:03.4. [1]
- Jim Bailey (US) runs the mile record 3:58.6 in Los Angeles, California. [1]
- World championships of judo are first held, in Tokyo, Japan. [1]
- May 6
- Gus Bell (Cincinnati Reds) homers off Bob Miller in both ends of a double header. [1]
- May 7
- New York Giants' Bill White homers in his first at bat. [1]
- May 12
- Brooklyn Dodgers' Carl Erskine's second no-hitter, beats New York Giants, 3-0. [1]
- May 16
- Laker takes 10-88 for Surrey versus Australia at the Oval. [1]
- May 18
- Mickey Mantle hits homerun from both sides of plate for record third time. [1]
- May 19
- 82nd Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Fabius wins in 1:58.4. [1]
- Pittsburgh Pirates' player Dale Long hits 9th-inning homerun, first homerun in eight straight games. [1]
- May 26
- Cincinnati Reds' John Klippstein, Hershel Freemman and Joe Blacks no-hitter, broken up with two outs in the 10th and lose to Milwaukee Braves in 11th, 2-1. [1]
- May 28
- Dale Long becomes first to hit homeruns in eight straight games. [1]
- May 31
- Mickey Mantle homerun just misses (18 inches) clearing Yankee Stadium's roof. [1]
- June 10
- (to June 17) The Equestrian games of the Games of the XVI Olympiad are held in Stockholm, due to host country Australia's animal quarantine laws. [7]
- June 27
- Cleveland Indians trailing Baltimore Orioles 9-1 come back to win 12-11 in 11 innings. [1]
- July 10
- National League beats American League 7-3 in 23rd All Star Game (Griffith Stad, Washington). [1]
- July 14
- Boston Red Sox' pitcher Mel Parnell no-hits Chicago White Sox, 4-0. [1]
- July 16
- Detroit Tigers and Briggs Stadium sold for record US$5.5 million. [1]
- July 20
- New York Yankees' pitcher Whitey Ford ties American League record of six straight strike-outs. [1]
- July 21
- Cincinnati Reds' pitcher Brooks Lawrence loses after 13 straight wins. [1]
- July 29
- Cathy Cornelius wins the US Women's Golf Open in a playoff. [1]
- August 3
- Willie Williams of the US sets 100 metre dash record at 10.1 seconds. [1]
- August 18
- Cincinnati Reds (8) and Chicago Cubs (2) combine to hit ten home runs in a 9-inning game. [1]
- September 2
- Baltimore Orioles trailing Boston Red Sox 8-0 come back to win 11-10 in 9 innings. [1]
- September 11
- Cincinnati Reds' player Frank Robinson ties rookie record with his 38th home run. [1]
- September 17
- New York Yankees clinch pennant #22 on Mickey Mantle's 50th homer of the year. [1]
- September 21
- New York Yankees set dubious record, stranding 20 men on base; Mickey Mantle hits a 500-foot plus homer but Boston Red Sox win 13-9 in Fenway Park. [1]
- September 25
- Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher Sal Maglie no-hits Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0. [1]
- September 30
- Philadelphia Phillies' player Robin Roberts gives up a Major League Baseball record 46th home run. [1]
- October 1
- Johnny Heckmann rides seven winners at Chicago Hawthorne Horse track. [1]
- October 5
- Yogi Berra becomes the fourth New York Yankees' player to hit a World Series Grand Slam (World Series #53). [1]
- October 8
- Don Larsen, New York Yankees, pitches only perfect World Series game, versus Brooklyn Dodgers (World Series #53). [1]
- November 6
- Holland and Spain withdraw from Olympics, protest Soviets in Hungary. [1]
- November 17
- Fullback Jim Brown, Syracuse, scores 43 points (NCAA record) versus Colgate. [1]
- November 22
- (to December 8) The Games of the XVI Olympiad are held in Melbourne, Australia. [7]
- December 1
- Alain Mimoun wins 13th Olympic marathon (2:25:00.0). [1]
- Frank Robinson (National League) and Luis Aparicio (American League) are both voted Rookie of the Year. [1]
- December 3
- Wilt Chamberlain's first collegiate basketball game (scores 52). [1]
- December 4
- 22nd Heisman Trophy Award: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame (quarterback). [1]
- December 8
- Games of the XVI Olympiad close in Melbourne, Australia. [1]
- December 13
- Brooklyn Dodgers trade Jackie Robinson to New York Giants for pitcher Dick Littlefield and $35,000; Robinson retires. [1]
- December 18
- Phil Rizzuto signs as New York Yankees radio-TV announcer. [1]
- December 27
- 45th Davis Cup: Australia beats USA in Adelaide (5-0). [1]
- Bill Sharman (Boston) ends NBA free throw streak of 55 games. [1]
- December 30
- New York Giants beat Chicago Bears 47-7 in NFL championship game. [1]
|