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Ted Williams goes into Spring Training for baseball and becomes the highest paid player of a contract of $125,000.
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Chuck Cooper was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1950, earning the title of first black player to enter the National Basketball Association.
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Florence Chadwick beats the women's record swimming the English Chanel in 13 hours and 20 minutes.
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Althea Gibson becomes the first black woman to compete in a national tennis tournament.
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This day marked the first coast-to-coast television broadcast of a baseball game. The New York Giants' Bobby Thomson hit a home run that became known as the "Shot Heard ’round the World."
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The New York Yankees become the first team ever to win 5 consecutive World Series.
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The first issue of Sports Illustrated magazine was published. It had a major impact on the American sports-minded public. The magazine helped shape the public's perception of what was important in the world of sports.
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The shot clock ended up changing the game of basketball forever.
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Bill Vukovich dies in a crash race which made him the first person to die in a major autorace.
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Over 400,000 people across America watched Rocky Marciano defend his heavyweight boxing championship against Archie Moore.
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Jackie Robinson is traded from the Brooklyn Dodgers to the New York Giants. But instead he chose to retire. He was the first African-American to play MLB in the Modern Era.
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More than 15,000 men competed in the American Bowling Congress Tournament held at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas.
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College football adopts the two-point conversion option following a touchdown.
