Aug. 14
1903 - Jim Jeffries knocks out Jim Corbett in the 10th round to retain his world heavyweight title in San Francisco.
1959 - The formation of the American Football League is announced in Chicago. Play will begin in 1960 with franchises in six cities with the probability of adding two more teams.
1977 - Lanny Wadkins beats Gene Littler on the third hole of sudden death to take the PGA championship.
1977 - The New York Cosmos, led by Pele, plays before a record crowd of 77,961 at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., the most to see a soccer game in the United States. The Cosmos beat the Fort Lauderdale Strikers 8-3 in a NASL quarterfinal playoff game.
1994 - Nick Price wins the PGA Championship in record fashion. Price finished at 11-under 269 for 72 holes, six strokes ahead of Corey Pavin. It is the lowest stroke total in an American major championship.
1996 - Olympic 800- and 1,500-meter champion Svetlana Masterkova of Russia sets a world record in the women’s mile, clocking 4 minutes, 12.56 seconds at the Weltklasse Grand Prix.
2003 - The New York blackout forces the evacuation of workers and players from Shea Stadium hours before the game between the Mets and the San Francisco Giants. It’s the only major league baseball game that was affected by the blackout that stretches from the Northeast to Ohio and Michigan. Elsewhere, two WNBA games are postponed, and Yonkers (N.Y.) Raceway cancels its card.
2005 - The United States 4x400 relay team, anchored by Jeremy Wariner, races to victory and a record 14th gold medal for the United States in the nine-day track and field world championships. The team of Andrew Rock, Derrick Brew, Darold Williamson and Wariner win in 2:56.91.
2011 - Keegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship after staging an amazing comeback to force a three-hole playoff and beat Jason Dufner at Atlanta Athletic Club. Bradley, who trailed by five shots with three holes left, becomes the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.
2014 - Rob Manfred is elected baseball’s 10th commissioner, winning a three-man race to succeed Bud Selig.
2015 - Hiroshi Iwata ties a major championship record with a remarkable turnaround - a 77 in the first round, a 63 in the second round of the PGA Championship. It’s the 27th time that a 63 is posted in a major championship, 13 of those in the PGA Championship.
2016 - South African sprinter Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 400-meter final in Rio de Janeiro, leaving two of the greatest one-lap runners of this era in his dust. Van Niekerk, bursting out of the blocks in lane eight, finishes in 43.03 seconds - 0.15 seconds faster than Johnson ran in 1999. Usain Bolt becomes the first person to capture three straight 100-meter titles at the Olympics. Bolt finishes in 9.81, .08 seconds ahead of American Justin Gatlin.
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