February 2 – Longest Boxing match
The longest boxing match fought with modern rules lasted 77 rounds and more than five hours on Feb. 2, 1892. Harry Sharpe and Frank Crosby fought and Sharpe won with a knockout.
February 3 – A.G. Spalding develops first official Baseball
Albert Spalding invested in a sporting goods store after his baseball career with the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the 1870s, baseball’s first all-professional baseball team which inspired the origin of the Boston “Red Sox”. He played all of his games with a ball that he created in 1876. When he opened his store, he made the first “official” baseball, basketball, tennis ball, golf ball and football.
February 4 – Super Bowl LII
The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl 52 in 2018. Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Nick Foles was planning to retire from the NFL that season, but after the Super Bowl win, he changed his mind. Foles was awarded the most valuable player MVP award for his contribution to lead his team to Super Bowl success.
February 5 – First African American elected to Basketball Hall of Fame
Thirteen years after the Hall of Fame opened in 1959, they honored Bob Douglas. He was the first African American to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. Douglas was honored for recognizing talent and adding players to his own team, the New York Renaissance. His team won eighty-eight games in a row.
February 6 – First Olympic Dogsled Race
In 1932, the dogsled race was included in the Winter Olympics as a demonstration event and had 12 contestants. The rules were overseen by the New England Sled Dog Club and each sled carried six dogs. Emile St. Godard from Canada won the demonstration event.
February 7 – Last bare-knuckle boxing match
One of the last major illegal bare-knuckle boxing matches, which involved two individuals fighting without the protection of boxing gloves or other padding on their hands, was between Ryan and Sullivan in 1882. Patrick “Paddy” Ryan was the champion of bare-knuckled boxing until John L. Sullivan came into the picture. Ryan was going to retire until Sullivan challenged him to a fight in Mississippi. Sullivan won after nine rounds in eleven minutes.
February 8 – NFL’s First Draft
On Feb. 8, 1936, the NFL hosted the first official draft in an effort to prevent bidding wars among teams vying for amateur players. It was decided that the first pick of the draft would be granted to the last place team of the previous season and proceed in the reverse order of standings. In the 1936 draft, The Philadelphia Eagles, which finished with a 2-9 record, drafted Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago who was then traded to the Chicago Bears.
