1941 — The Chicago Bears score 49 points in the second half to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 49-13.
1948 — Baseball’s Negro National League disbands.
1956 — Floyd Patterson knocks out Archie Moore in the fifth round to win the world heavyweight title in Chicago.
1969 — Russ Jackson throws a record four touchdowns to lead the Ottawa Rough Riders to a 29-11 victory over Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL Grey Cup championship.
1979 — Sugar Ray Leonard wins the WBC welterweight title with 15th-round knockout of Wilfred Benitez in Las Vegas.
1987 — Bo Jackson, also an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals, rushes for 221 yards to lead the Los Angeles Raiders to a 37-14 rout of the Seattle Seahawks. Jackson, playing in his fifth NFL game, scores on runs of 91 and 2 yards and has a 14-yard touchdown reception.
1990 — Boston’s Larry Bird scores his 20,000th career point in the Celtics’ 123-95 win over Washington at the Garden. Bird is the fifth player in league history (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West) to gather 20,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists in his playing career.
1991 — San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk becomes the first freshman to capture the national rushing and scoring titles after gaining 154 yards on 27 carries in a 39-12 loss to top-ranked Miami.
1996 — Michael Jordan becomes the 10th player in NBA history to reach 25,000 points after scoring 35 in the Bulls 97-88 win at San Antonio. Jordan reaches 25,000 in 782 games, faster than any other player but Wilt Chamberlain (691).
2003 — Mark Philippoussis gives Australia its 28th Davis Cup title, fighting off a shoulder injury that nearly forces him to retire after the fourth set to beat Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 1-6, 2-6, 6-0.
2008 — Keith Tkachuk reaches 1,000 career points with the tying goal late in the second period in St. Louis’ 4-2 victory over Atlanta.
2008 — Oakland has only one catch by a wide receiver in its 20-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, and that officially was for 0 yards by Ronald Curry on a hook-and-lateral play.
2012 — NBA Commissioner David Stern fines the San Antonio Spurs $250,000 for “a disservice to the league and our fans” when they don’t bring Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili or Danny Green to Miami for the final game of a six-game trip.
2012 — Georgetown and Tennessee hold each other scoreless over the final four minutes, and the Hoyas beat the Volunteers 37-36 in a display of abysmal shooting in the SEC/Big East Challenge. The teams combine to make just 7 of 20 shots — from the free throw line. The field-goal shooting is just as horrid, with the Vols hitting 33 percent and the Hoyas 36 percent.
2013 — Chris Davis races 100-plus yards with a missed field-goal attempt for a touchdown on the final play to lift No. 4 Auburn to a 34-28 victory over No. 1 Alabama. Davis catches the ball about 9 yards deep in the end zone after freshman Adam Griffith’s 57-yard attempt falls short. He sprints down the left sideline and cuts back with nothing but teammates around him in a second straight hard-to-fathom finish for the Tigers.
2015 — NBA star Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) announces his intention to retire at the end of the season.