On this day in:

• 1895England beats Australia to win one of the best cricket series ever, 3-2

• 1895J T Brown hits the fastest 50 in test cricket (28 mins) England v Australia

• 1922 Babe Ruth signs 3 year contract with NY Yankees at $52,000 a year

• 1964 Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to "Muhammad Ali", calling his former title a "slave name"

• 1965Bruce Taylor hits 105 for NZ v India in 1st Test Cricket innings

• 1967Muhammad Ali is ordered by selective service to be inducted

• 1971Test Cricket debut of Sunil Gavaskar, v West Indies at Port-of-Spain

• 1972 Jack Nicklaus, passes Arnold Palmer as golf's all-time money winner

• 1974Australian cricketing brothers Ian (145 & 121) and Greg Chappell (247no and 133) score unique twin centuries in drawn 1st Test vs New Zealand in Wellington

• 1982NBA highest scoring game: San Antonio beat Milwaukee 171-166 (3 OT)

• 1985 Mike Tyson KOs Hector Mercedes in 1 round in his 1st pro fight

• 1994Colin Jackson runs world record 60m hurdles indoor (7.30 sec)

• 1996Aravinda De Silva smashes 145 v Kenya in cricket World Cup at Kandy Sri Lanka score 5-398 in 50 overs in World Cup v Kenya

Happy Birthday Indy car Ace Will Power!

On this day in:

• 1949 Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retires with a 66-3-0 record including 52 KOs

• 1954 Future Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Ted Williams fractures his collarbone on the first day of Boston Red Sox spring training; injury keeps him out of Boston lineup until May 15

• 195821 year old West Indian cricket all-rounder Gary Sobers turns his maiden Test century into a world record 365no in the Windies' 3rd Test win over Pakistan in Kingston, Jamaica; Sobers and Conrad Hunte (260) 446 run partnership for 2nd wicket

• 1965Australian swimming authorities suspend triple Olympic gold medal winning sprinter Dawn Fraser for 10 years for misconduct at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

• 1969 New York Yankees legend Mickey Mantleannounces his retirement due to persistent knee injuries; finishes 18-season career with 536 home runs and .298 batting average

• 1974Australian cricketing brothers Ian (145) and Greg Chappell (162no) record 264 partnership in 1st Test draw vs New Zealand at Wellington; Ian (121) and Greg (133) double up with centuries in 2nd innings

• 1988 Edmonton's Wayne Gretzky picks up a 1st period assist in Oilers' 5-3 win over LA Kings to move ahead of Gordie Howe as NHL's all time leader in career assists; Howe 1,049 assists in 26 years, Gretzky 1,050 in 9 years

Ed Cowlishaw talks NBA with Co Host of 'The Starters' Leigh Ellis from NBA TV.

Happy Birthday Mario Andretti, Italian American race-car driver (1969 Indianapolis 500, 1978 Formula One World Champion), born in Montona, Italy in 1940.

On this day in:

• 1912Victor Trumper's last Test Cricket innings c Woolley b Barnes 50

• 19401st televised basketball game (U of Pitts beats Fordham U, 50-37)

• 1958West Indies 1-504 in reply to Pakistan 328, day 3 of 3rd Test Cricket

• 1960US wins 1st ever Winter Olympics gold medal in hockey by defeating Czechoslovakia

• 1967 Wilt Chamberlain sinks NBA record 35th consecutive field goal

• 1970Caroline Walker runs world female record marathon (3:02:53)

• 1971 PGA Championship, PGA National East: Jack Nicklaus leads wire-to-wire for his 2nd career grand slam; wins by 2 from Billy Casper

Happy Birthday to Laker great James Worthy.

Tonight we celebrate the sporting career of Dennis Lillie.

Happy Birthday to Sth African Cricketer Herschelle Gibbs

On This day in:

• 1874Major Walter Clopton Winfield patents a game called "sphairistike" (lawn tennis)

• 1906 Tommy Burns beats Marvin Hart in 20 for heavyweight boxing

• 1938 Joe Louis KOs Nathan Mann in 3 for heavyweight boxing title

• 1939Lou Thesz beats Everett Marshall in St Louis, to win National Boxing Association world heavyweight title for 2nd time

• 1958 5-time F1 World Drivers champion Juan Manuel Fangio is kidnapped by Cuban rebels from Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement; released soon after Cuban GP

• 19646th Daytona 500: Race winner Richard Petty leads for record 184 of the 200 laps

• 1968 Wilt Chamberlain becomes 1st NBAer to score 25,000 points

• 196911th Daytona 500: LeeRoy Yarbrough driving for Junior Johnson, catches Charlie Glotzbach on final lap to win; first Daytona 500 won on a last lap pass

• 1971Boston Bruins begin 13 NHL game win streak

• 1980American speed skater Eric Heiden wins Olympic 10,000m in world record 14:28.13; sweeps all 5 speed skating events at Lake Placid; only athlete to win 5 gold medals at one Winter Games

• 1985Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight throws a chair during a game

• 1985 Goaltender Patrick Roy makes his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens