Today in sports history, September 18

Sept. 18

Today in sports history

Today is Sept. 18. On this date in:

1863: Willie Park Sr. won the British Open at Prestwick, capturing the second Open Championship title of his career.

1897: Cy Young pitched the first no-hitter of his career, leading the Cleveland Spiders past the Cincinnati Reds.

1926: René Lacoste defeated fellow Frenchman Jean Borotra to win the U.S. National Championships men’s singles title, the first of his back-to-back U.S. crowns.

1938: The Chicago Bears defeated the Green Bay Packers 2-0, scoring the game’s only points on a fourth-quarter safety.

1946: Joe Louis knocked out Tami Mauriello in the first round at Yankee Stadium to retain the world heavyweight championship.

1954: The Cleveland Indians beat Detroit and secured the American League pennant during a season that ended with a then-AL record 111 victories.

1956: Mickey Mantle became just the eighth player in major league history to hit 50 home runs in a season.

1962: American League owners considered bringing major league baseball to the Dallas-Fort Worth area but rejected Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley’s proposed move.

1966: Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas threw four touchdown passes in a victory over Minnesota to surpass Y.A. Tittle as the NFL’s all-time career leader in touchdown passes.

1967: The expansion Los Angeles Kings played the first game in franchise history, losing 7-3 to the Minnesota North Stars in a preseason game in Guelph, Ontario.

1968: Ray Washburn pitched a no-hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the San Francisco Giants 2-0, one day after the Giants’ Gaylord Perry no-hit the Cardinals.

1971: Philadelphia’s Rick Wise retired 32 consecutive Chicago Cubs and delivered the winning single in the 12th inning of the Phillies’ 4-3 victory.

1976: Hall of Famer Frank Robinson played the final game of his major league career, concluding a 21-season run that included 586 home runs and two MVP awards.

1984: Montreal’s Tim Raines became the first player in major league history to record four consecutive 70-stolen-base seasons.

1987: Detroit’s Darrell Evans became the first 40-year-old player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season.

1994: The United States defeated the International Team 20-12 in Virginia to win the inaugural Presidents Cup golf competition.

1996: Roger Clemens struck out 20 batters for the second time in his career, pitching a four-hit shutout as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers 4-0.

1999: Félix Trinidad won a majority decision over Oscar De La Hoya in Las Vegas, remaining unbeaten and unifying two welterweight championships.

2003: The Atlanta Braves clinched their 12th consecutive division title, extending one of the great streaks in North American professional league sports.

2004: Bernard Hopkins knocked out Oscar De La Hoya with a ninth-round body shot in Las Vegas to retain the undisputed middleweight championship.

2005: Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre surpassed 50,000 career passing yards, joining Dan Marino and John Elway as the only players to reach the milestone at the time.

2006: The Los Angeles Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the ninth inning to tie San Diego, then won 11-10 on Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run homer in the 10th.

2011: Sixteen-year-old Lexi Thompson won the Navistar LPGA Classic by five strokes, becoming the youngest LPGA Tour winner at the time.

2011: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton passed for 432 yards against Green Bay, giving him an NFL-record 854 passing yards through the first two starts of his career.

2022: Chelsea Gray scored 20 points as the Las Vegas Aces defeated the Connecticut Sun 78-71 to win the WNBA Finals in four games, securing the franchise’s first championship.

2025: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone won the 400 meters at the world track and field championships in 47.78 seconds, the second-fastest women’s time in history and the fastest since 1985.

— USA TODAY Network

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in sports history, September 18