1973 — UCLA, led by Bill Walton, sets an NCAA record for consecutive victories with its 61st win, an 82-63 victory over Notre Dame. UCLA breaks the record of 60 set by San Francisco in 1956. Walton finishes with 16 points, 15 rebounds and 10 blocks.
1982 — Geoff Houston of the Cleveland Cavaliers has 27 assists, two short of the NBA record and scores 24 points in a 110-106 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
1991 — The New York Giants survive the closest Super Bowl when Scott Norwood is wide left on a 47-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds left. The Giants win their second Super Bowl in five years, 20-19 over the Buffalo Bills.
1993 — American Chad Rowan is awarded the highest rank in sumo wrestling, the ancient Japanese sport, making him the first foreign “yokozuna.” The 6-foot-8, 455-pounder from Honolulu, becomes the 64th person to hold the top rank in the sport’s history.
1996 — The U.S. Golf Association elects Judy Bell as the first female president in its 101-year history.
2001 — Jennifer Capriati upsets three-time winner Martina Hingis 6-4, 6-3 to win the Australian Open and her first Grand Slam tournament title.
2003 — Hermann Maier captures a World Cup super giant slalom in Kitzbuehel, Austria, a victory he ranks among his finest triumphs. The win comes 18 months after he almost loses his leg in a motorcycle crash.
2007 — Serena Williams wins her third Australian Open singles title, routing Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2. Unseeded and ranked 81st, Williams is the second unseeded woman to win the Australian title in the Open era.
2008 — Novak Djokovic fends off unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the Australian Open final for his first Grand Slam title.
2011 — Roger Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam winner, is knocked out of the Australian Open by Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Federer’s loss marks the first time since 2003 that he wouldn’t hold any of the four major titles.
2013 — Novak Djokovic beats Andy Murray 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 to become the first man in the Open era to win three consecutive Australian Open titles.
2013 — Speedskater Heather Richardson edges Canada’s Christine Nesbitt in the final women’s race to become the first American woman to win the World Sprint Championships since 2005. Richardson wins the overall title based on points, with a gold today to go with a pair of bronze medals yesterday
2013 — The NFC blew past the AFC 62-35 in the Pro Bowl. Minnesota tight end Kyle Rudolph is voted the game’s MVP with five catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
