TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY - JANUARY 26TH

1893 - Abner Doubleday, credit with inventing baseball, dies on 74th birthday.

1913 - Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing as a professional.

1924 - Charles Jewtraw, US 500m skater, takes 1st Winter Olympics gold medal.

1932 - William K Wrigley, owner (Wrigley Gum, Chicago Cubs), dies.

1951 - Mel Ott & Jimmie Foxx elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.

1960 - High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points.
1960 - Oakland enters AFL.
1960 - Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot.

1961 - Wayne Gretzky, Brantford Ont, NHL great scorer (Oiler, King, Rangers) is born.
1963 - Major League Rules Committee votes to expand strike zone.

1977 - Soviet figure skaters Sergei Shakrai & Marine Tcherkasova

are 1st to perform a quadruple twist lift, Helsinki.

1983 - Paul "Bear" Bryant, College Football coach (Alabama), dies at 69.

1985 - Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season.

1986 - Super Bowl XX: Chicago Bears beat NE Patriots,

46-10 in New Orleans Super Bowl MVP: Richard Dent, Chicago, DE.
1990 - Boston Red Sox hires Elaine Weddington as asst GM

(highest-ranking African American female in a major-league front office).

1991 - Houston guard Vernon Maxwell is 4th NBAer to score 30 pts in a quarter.
1991 - Jan Stenerud becomes 1st pure placekicker to make NFL Hall of Fame.

1992 - Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Red Skins beat Buffalo Bills,

37-24 in Minnesota Super Bowl MVP: Mark Rypien, Washington, QB.

1997 - Super Bowl XXXI: Green Bay Packers beat NE Patriots, 35-21

at the Louisanna Superdome MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay, Special Teams. 

2001 - Al McGuire, American basketball coach (b. 1928) dies.
2003 - Super Bowl XXXVII: Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Oakland Raiders,

48-21 at the Qualcomm Stadium MVP: Dexter Jackson, Tampa Bay, S.