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Women finally compete in Olympic track and field events.
The 1928 Olympics was the first Olympic games in which women were allowed to compete in the track and field events. In ancient olympic games, the competitions were left to the atletheletes and the only way women were allowed to compete was in some of the equestrian events. At the 1900 Olympic games in Paris, women were only allowed to participate in lawn tennis and golf. Women really being able to compete in the more competitive and athletic events such as track and field was a huge milestone -
Virne Mitchell, pitcher, becomes the first woman in professional baseball.
At 16 Virne Mitchell played for a women's team in Chattanooga. At 17 she attended a special baseball school in Atlanta. Joe Engel saw her talent and offered her a contract to play for the 1931 season and on March the 28th she signed the contract. She is also know for striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrigin one of the exhibition games. -
Babe Didrikson wins the team championship singlehandedly at the AAU national track and field
"Babe" Mildred Didrikson
"Babe" Mildred Didrikson was one of the most well rounded women athletes in history. Not only did she have great accomplishments in track and field, but she also played organized baseball & softball, she was an expert diver, golfer, roller skater, and bowler. She really became most famous for her accomplishents in golf later on in her career. Babe also constantly battled accusations of her sexuality. -
The All American Girls' Baseball League was formed.
The first priority in forming the all American Girl's Baseball League was to fill ballparks that were emptied by baseball players going to war. Teams were made up of fifteen players, a manager, a business manager, and a woman chaperone. They wanted known male managers to run the teams so that people would be more curious and the teams would seem more legitimate in order to draw a crowd. Femininity was stil a huge concern though and the girls were still expected to be lady like. -
Wilma Rudolph is the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals in track and field at one Olympic Games.
Wilma Rudolph
Being an outstanding athlete was not something Wilma Rudolph was predisposed to. Wilma could barely walk until she was about 11 years old because she got Polio when she was only 4. She recovered however, becoming the first African American woman to win three gold medals at the Olympics. She won the 100 & 200 meter and sprint relay events. She was also named the Associated Press Woman Athlete of the year twice. -
Women finally get the official nod to play five-player, full-court basketball
This was a big milestone in women's sports because for most sports there has always been a double standard. Many sports have had a not as competitive or not as invasive version of a men's sport, but this was one more step to "leveling the playing field" in women vs. men's athletics. -
The U.S. Congress passes Title IX
For the longest time, women have had a double standard in many things, one of the most common being sports. When Title IX was passed it stated "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." Meaning women would no longer be discriminated against in sports because of their gender. -
Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match
Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs were both extraordinary tennis players of the time, however, they were not always held in the same regard seeing as one was female and the other male. Bobby Riggs was known for taunting the female tennis players, which provoked Billie Jean King to accept a large financial offer to play him. This became known as the Battle of the Sexes which attracted people who had never had an interest in tennis before & further socialized the gender problems in sports. -
Girls are officially allowed to play Little League Baseball & The National Women's Football League is formed, the first professional tackle league for women.
This was just one more thing that was evening the playing field for women. After Title IX was passed, there could be no more discriminating against womens' sports. A lot of the times it was just thought that women were too fragile and could not handle the same physical demands as men, but Title IX made this issue mute. The National Women's football league was the first professional tackle league for women. -
The Women's National Basketball Association has its first season.
The WNBA became the official "sanctioning body" for women's basketball in the United States and was made by the NBA Board of Governors. This was 47 years after the formation of the NBA. The WNBA now has 12 teams divided into an Eastern and Western conference which is actually a large growth in just a few years and has been able to secure a lot of television contracts and attract a large audience and fan base.
