March 19, 1975
Pennsylvania allows girls to play with the boys
Pennsylvania is first state to allow girls to compete with boys in high school sports. This is due to a court’s decision that said the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s rule that banned girls from playing on boys team was invalid. This case was focused specifically on high school football. Most recently in 2014, the PIAA passed a “mixed-gender” rule that eliminates this mixing of players except for football.
March 20, 1973
Roberto Clemente inducted into Hall of Fame
Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who player for the Pittsburgh Pirates. When he was inducted in 1973, he became the first Latin American and Caribbean player to be inducted. Clemente played in 15 All-Star games and was voted the National League’s MVP in 1966 and the batting leader in 1961, 1964, 1965 and 1967 His induction into the Hall of Fame came 11 weeks after his death in a plane crash.
March 21, 1960
Ayrton Senna was born
Ayrton Senna da Silva was born on this day in 1960. He was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Championship for McLaren in 1988. He raced as a professional driver in Formula One from 1984-1994 and raced for Toleman, Lotus, McLaren and Williams. He won two other championships in 1990 and 1991. He holds a six win record at the Monaco Grand Prix and is the fifth-most successful driver of all time in terms of race wins. On May 1 1994, Senna died at age 34 after fatal injuries during his final race at the San Marino Grand Prix.
March 22, 1972
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar named NBA MVP
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers from 1969-1989. In 1972, Abdul-Jabbar scored a 34.8 ppg and 2,822 total points to earn his that year’s MVP award. He was a center and holds records as a six-time NBA MVP, 19-time NBA All-Star and an 11-time All-Defensive Team member. In 1996 he was honored at one of the 50 greatest players in NBA History by the NBA.
March 24, 1951
Pat Bradley born in Westford, Mass.
Pat Bradley was an American golfer who joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1974 and won her first professional win in 1976 at the Girl Talk Classic with a 217 finish. In her professional career which spanned 21 years, she won 31 tour events and six major championships including the 1981 U.S. Women’s Open and the 1986 LPGA Championship. In 1991, she was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. She was the first women golfer to earn $2, $3 and $4 million dollar marks in career earnings and the first to win all four modern major golf championships.
March 25, 1668
First horse race in America takes place
On this day in 1665, the Newmarket race course in Salisbury, New York— present day Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York— held the first recorded horse race in America. This race was supervised by New York’s governor Richard Nicolis and the winner received a silver porringer or a small, shallow bowl. This two-mile course race was created to encourage better breeding practices of horses. By 1890, 314 tracks were operating in the United States and in 1894, the American Jockey Club was formed.
