Dec 14th 1901
The first table tennis tournament is held at the London Royal Aquarium. With the rules of the sport not yet set as they are today, the players competed atop a giant 78-by-36 foot table.
Dec 13th 1949
The American League rejects a revival of the spitball, which had been outlawed since 1920. The revival of the spitball had been spearheaded by Brooklyn pitcher Snots McPhlegm.
Dec 31st 1969
George Grant patents the wooden golf tee. The safety, and popularity, of golf immediately skyrocketed, as golfers no longer had to use holders when teeing off.
Dec 11th 1985
The single "Super Bowl Shuffle" by the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew is released. The single was the most popular song on the LP that included "Divisional Round Shuffle," "Regular Season Shuffle," and "Bye Week Shuffle."
Dec 10th 1971
In one of the worst trades in baseball history, the Mets send Nolan Ryan to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. Fregosi would go on to hit 32 home runs and collect 318 hits over the remainder of his career, while Ryan would total just two home runs and 72 hits.
Dec 9th 1977
Houston forward Rudy Tomjanovich suffers a concussion, fractured jaw, and broken nose when he is punched by the Lakers forward Kermit Washington. Washington attacked him after hearing Tomjanovich had slept with his wife, Miss Piggy Washington.
Dec 8th 1987
Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers becomes the first NHL goalie to score a goal on a shot when he sent the puck the length of the ice into the empty Boston Bruin net. Hextall's feat was the icing on a night that saw him win a gift certificate to a Philadelphia steakhouse between the second and third period by making the same shot while blindfolded.
Dec 7th 1956
Boston Celtics great Larry Bird is born in French Lick, Indiana. Bird's birth announcement got coverage in the French Lick newspaper over the births of several black children who were just as good.
Dec 6th 1969
With President Nixon in attendance, unbeaten Texas defeats Arkansas, 15-14. Nixon became a Longhorns fan that day, and even went as far as to flash a double Hook'em Horns sign when he boarded Air Force One after resigning from office five years later.
Dec 5th 2000
Karl Malone moves past Wilt Chamberlain into second place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. All of Malone's scoring came with little Mexican girls, however, whereas Chamberlain's was multiethnic.
