This Day in Sports History: February 27
Sports in February include the NBA and NHL seasons, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game, college basketball tournaments, spring training for the MLB, NASCAR’s Daytona 500, Formula E, some PGA Tour…
Sports in February include the NBA and NHL seasons, Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game, college basketball tournaments, spring training for the MLB, NASCAR's Daytona 500, Formula E, some PGA Tour Events and the Winter Olympics. Over the years, Feb. 27 has witnessed many notable moments and stories involving sporting legends. Here are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sports history from Feb. 27 included:
- 1856: In the 18th Grand National, George Stevens won aboard 25/1 Freetrader. It was the first of Stevens' record of five GN victories.
- 1921: The United States Female Figure Skating championship was won by Theresa Weld Blanchard.
- 1921: The United States Male Figure Skating championship was won by Sherwin Badger.
- 1925: Test Cricket debut of Clarrie Grimmett, who took 5-45 and 6-37 vs. England.
- 1937: Australian cricketer Don Bradman scores 169 in the fifth Test match vs. England in 223 minutes, ensuring Australia wins the Ashes 3-2.
- 1959: Boston Celtic Bob Cousy sets an NBA record with 28 assists, as the Celtics score 173 points against the Minneapolis Lakers.
- 1960: The Five Nations Rugby Championship was won jointly by England and France.
- 1960: The United States Olympic Ice Hockey Team beats the USSR 3-2, en route to a gold medal.
- 1960: Veikko Hakulinen of Finland wins his third career Olympic cross-country gold medal as part of Finland's 4 x 10k relay team at Squaw Valley, California.
- 1963: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees signs a baseball contract worth 100,000 dollars.
- 1966: In the eighth Daytona 500, Richard Petty came from two laps down to win the event.
- 1977: The Chicago Blackhawks Stan Mikita became the sixth player in NHL history to get to 500 goals.
- 1982: Dan Issel of the Denver Nuggets hits on his 63rd consecutive free throw.
- 1984: Carl Lewis jumps an indoor, world record distance of 8.675 meters.
- 1988: Bonnie Blair of the United States wins the Olympic 500-meter speed skating in a record of 39.1 seconds.
- 1988: Katarina Witt (GDR) wins second consecutive Olympic figure skating.
- 1994: XVII Winter Olympic Games close in Lillehammer, Norway.
- 1999: Aston Villa are the last Premier League team to play a match with an all-English starting XII. They went on to lose the match 4-1 to Coventry.
- 2006: Effa Manley, the co-owner of the Newark Eagles, became the first woman ever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
- 2007: The Edmonton Oilers retired Mark Messier's No. 11 jersey.
- 2018: At the Laureus World Sports Awards, the Sportsman of the year was Roger Federer and the Sportswoman of the year was Serena Williams.
Three athletes who stood out on Feb. 27 were Bob Cousy, Mickey Mantle, and Stan Mikita.
Cousy is a 13-time All-Star and 1957 MVP, he revolutionized basketball with advanced dribbling and passing, topping the league in assists for eight consecutive years. Mantle won seven World Series titles, three AL MVP awards, and 1956 Triple Crown, totaling 536 home runs while defining the 1950s/60s Yankees dynasty with his immense speed and power. Mikita was famous for pioneering the curved hockey stick blade and was a key figure in the 1961 Stanley Cup championship.
