ED 501 Sports History

By helenj

  • First NCAA National Championship

    About the NCAAThe NCAA sponsored the first national championship event in track & field.

  • First Women's Olympic Games

    This event was held in response to the exclusion of women from many Olympic events.

  • The First Deaflympic Held

    The Deaflympics (also known as the Silent Games) were first held in Paris.

  • The All-American Girls' Professional Baseball League is founded

  • Jackie Robinson signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers

    Jackie Robinson's AchievementsJackie Robinson became the first black athlete since the 19th century to play Major League Baseball.

  • The Stoke Mandeville Games for Wheelchair Athletes are held

    This early version of the Paralympics was designed to coincide with the London Olympic Games.

  • The Ladies Professional Golf Association is formed

  • The first Paralympic Games are held.

    Paralympic Games

  • Texas Western College is the first to college team to start five black players in the NCAA tournament.

    Texas Western beat a top ranked Kentucky team starting five white players.

  • Katherine Switzer runs the all-male Boston Marathon

    Katherine Switzer's BioKatherine registered at K. Switzer in order to run in the all-male Boston Marathon, and some men physically tried to remove her from the course.

  • Arthur Ashe is the first African American man to win a U.S. Open Tennis title

  • Mexico City Olympic Games Boycott

    Many black athletes boycotted the Olympics in protest of racial discrimination. This is the first games where female athletes were forced to take a sex test to "prove" that they were female.

  • First Special Olympics held for athletes with intellectual disabilities

    History of the Special Olympics

  • The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women is formed.

    Women are also officially allowed to run the Boston Marathon for the first time.

  • Title IX is signed

    This law makes gender discrimination illegal in schools that recieve federal funds.

  • Stanford University drops "Indians" as its nickname in response to requests from Native Americans

  • The IOC prohibits women from running in the 3000-meter race to protect them from physical harm

  • First Gay Games held in San Francisco

    Federation of Gay Games Website

  • Lynette Woodard is the first woman to play on a men's pro-basketball team, the Harlem Globetrotters

  • Jean Driscoll wins the first of seven consecutive wheelchair Boston Marathons

    Jean Driscoll's Bio

  • The all-female Colorado Silver Bullets plays men's baseball teams