This Day in Sports History: June 21
Sports in June are all about MLB, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final, Wimbledon, U.S. Open Golf, the Canadian Grand Prix, and track and field events. On June 21…
Steffi Graf of Germany returns to Radka Bobkova during their Women’s Singles Third round match of the United States Open Tennis Championship on 1 Septembert 1994 at the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Gary M. Prior/Getty Images)
Sports in June are all about MLB, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final, Wimbledon, U.S. Open Golf, the Canadian Grand Prix, and track and field events. On June 21 throughout sports history, there have been many notable moments and stories from legends of the game.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Great moments in sport that occurred on June 21 include:
- 1907: Arnaud Massy won the British Open Golf Championship. He was the first non-British winner of the title.
- 1907: Alec Ross won the U.S. Open Golf Tournament. Ross emigrated from Scotland to the U.S. to make his mark in the golf world, along with his brother Donald Ross, who was also a golf professional and successful golf course designer
- 1916: Rube Foster pitched a no-hitter against the New York Yankees.
- 1932: Max Schmeling lost the NYSAC, NBA, and the lineal heavyweight boxing titles after a controversial split decision.
- 1939: Lou Gehrig retired from MLB due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease that would later be known in the U.S. as Lou Gehrig's disease.
- 1950: Joe DiMaggio got his 2,000th career hit.
- 1951: Patty Berg won the LPGA Western Open in women's golf.
- 1954: John Landy ran a world record time of 3:58 in the mile.
- 1964: Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game on Father's Day.
- 1964: Spain beat the Soviet Union 2-1 and won the UEFA European Championship Final.
- 1970: Brazil beat Italy 4-1, winning the FIFA World Cup Final. Brazil and Pele became the first team and player to win the World Cup three times.
- 1975: The West Indies beat Australia and won the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
- 1988: The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 4-3 and won the NBA Championship.
- 1991: Denis Potvin and Mike Bossy were inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
- 1994: Steffi Graf became the first defending tennis champion to lose in the first round of a major tournament.
- 1998: Golfer Lee Janzen won his second U.S. Open. He had to overcome a seven-stroke deficit to win the title.
- 2012: The Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1 to win their second NBA title. Lebron James also won the Finals MVP.
- 2015: Jordan Spieth won the U.S. Open in golf and became the youngest tournament winner since 1923.
- 2022: Shohei Ohtani had a career-high game with eight RBIs. He is the eighth player in Angels history to reach this number of RBIs.
Looking back on these June 21 statistics, the athletes that stand out are Pele, Jackson, and Graf.
Pele is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time, and his legacy continues to inspire and captivate football fans worldwide. Jackson is known as one of the greatest two-sport athletes of all time, playing professional baseball and football. He is the only athlete to be an All-Star in both sports. Graf is famous for winning a record-breaking 22 Grand Slam singles titles and being ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks.
