This day in history: 15th August

Robin van Persie

Football

2012: Manchester United agreed a £24m deal to sign Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, in one of the most high profile signings that played a major role in United’s victories.

1931: The Dutch football club SV Spakenburg is formed.

Cricket

1964: England’s Fred Trueman becomes the first player to pick up 300 Test wickets. He dismissed Australia’s Neil Hawke by getting him caught at slip, in a match played at the Oval. Fred Trueman was on a hat rick which was averted by Hawke, but the batsman was dismissed later on, to give Trueman his 300th scalp.

1963: Birthday of Jack Russell, the English cricket wicket-keeper. Russell was known for his amazing glove work. He had 11 dismissals in a Test match played in 1995-96 at Johannesburg, which set a record for Test cricket.

2005: Bret Lee and Glenn McGrath put on 24 runs for the last wicket and helped Australia deny England victory, which would have put them ahead in the Test series. Ricky Ponting has scored 156 earlier in the day, and that ensured one of the closest matches in Ashes Test history.

American Football

1970: Patricia Palinkas becomes the 1st woman pro football player in the history of the sport, which is dominated by men. She played for the Orlando Panthers in the Atlantic Coast Football League.

Athletics

1964: Ralph Boston of the United States becomes the first man to record a jump of over 27 feet in the long jump. He set the then long jump record at 27′ 3½”.

1967: Birthday of Moroccan athlete Moulay Brahim Boutaib. He created a surprise by winning the 10,000m race at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, as he was generally considered a 5000m runner.

Baseball

1990: Mark Magwire becomes the first player to score 30 home runs in all of his first four seasons.

Do check out the rest of the ‘This day in history’ series.