January 29
First players elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame (1936)
The first Hall of Fame class for baseball was composed of center-fielder for the Detroit Tigers, Ty Cobb; pitcher for the Washington Senators (now the Minnesota Twins), Walter Johnson; pitcher for the New York Giants (now the San Francisco Giants), Christy Mathewson; right-fielder for the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth; and shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Honus Wagner.
January 31
Jackie Robinson is born (1919)
Born in Cairo, Georgia, Robinson and his four siblings were raised by his mother. He studied at UCLA where he was the first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track. Due to financial troubles, he had to drop out of college and enlist in the army. After being honorably discharged, he went on to be the first African-American baseball player with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
February 2
The National League in Baseball forms (1876)
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs (or National League) was formed by Chicago businessman William Hulbert to replace the National Association, which he believed was not managed well and corrupt. The National League originally had eight members: the Boston Red Stockings (now Atlanta Braves), Chicago White Stockings (now Chicago Cubs), the Cincinnati Red Stockings, Hartford Dark Blues, Louisville Grays, Mutual of New York, Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Brown Stockings.
February 3
First Olympic skier to sweep three alpine events (1956)
Austrian skier Toni Sailer made history at the 1956 Winter Olympics by being the first skier to win all three Alpine events — downhill, giant slalom and slalom. Sailer was also the fifth winter athlete to win three gold medals at one Olympics.
First African-American president of the National League (1989)
Bill White was named the first African-American president of the National League in baseball, replacing Angelo Bartlett “Bart” Giamatti. The 55-year-old former baseball player and broadcaster was also the first African-American to head any major league sports position.
