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Timeline of Sporting Firsts

Here is a timeline of some of the firsts in the world of sports. See also the timeline of sports history.



Year Event
776 BC The first Olympic Games is held at Athens.
1829 The first Oxford-Cambridge rowing race was held on the Thames River, London
1839 The Grand National horse race was first run
1846 The first recorded game of organized baseball was played at Elysian Fields, New Jersey.
1851 The first America's Cup yacht race was held
1855 The first modern game of ice hockey was played in Kingston, Ontario
1858 The first match of Australian Rules Football was played
1860 The first-ever Open Championship golf tournament for men was held
1861 the first Melbourne Cup horse race was run
1874 The first American football game was played between McGill University and Harvard.
1875 The Kentucky Derby was held for the first time.
The first organized ice hockey game is played in Montreal, ON, Canada.
1876 Baseball's National League in the US started
1877 The first Wimbledon tennis event was held
The first Test match was played, between Australia and England.
1881 The first year that the men's US National Tennis Championships was held (the precursor to the US Open)
1887 The first year that the women's US National Tennis Championships was held (the precursor to the US Open)
1895 The first-ever US golf open was held
1897 the first Boston marathon was run.
1896 the first Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece.
1903 The Tour de France was held for the first time
The Baseball World Series was played for the first time
1905 the first year that the Australian Open Tennis Championship was held
1916 the USPGA was held for the first time
1920 The first game of the National Football League (NFL)
1922 the first year that a women's event was held at the Australian Open tennis
1925 the first year that the French Tennis tournament that was open to all amateur players
1934 The first-ever US Golf Masters was held.
1967 the first year that the Super Bowl was held.


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