The 1940s Sports: Chronology

1940:     January 12 The University of Chicago ends its football program, saying that sports are holding back education. Its football stadium later is used for atomic weapons research.

1940:     April 3 The Olympic games in Finland are canceled because of the war. The games will not resume until 1948.

1941:      Brooklyn Dodgers manager Larry MacPhail orders his team to wear batting helmets.

1941:     April 3 Boston University's football team is rocked when all eleven first-string players volunteer for service in the U.S. Naval Corps.

1941:     June 2 Baseball hero Lou Gehrig dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The disease ended his career and his run of 2,130 consecutive playing appearances. The illness has since become known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease."

1941:     July 17 Joe DiMaggio ends his fifty-six-game hitting streak in Cleveland.

1942:     January 9 After successfully defending his heavyweight boxing title for the twentieth time, Joe Louis donates his winnings to the Navy Relief Fund.

1942:     June 19 In baseball, thirty-nine-year old Paul Waner of the Boston Braves reaches three thousand career hits in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

1942:     December 13 The Washington Redskins win the NFL championship, defeating the Chicago Bears by a score of 14-6.

1943:     February 5 Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson is finally defeated by Jake La Motta in ten rounds at Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Robinson had managed to win forty straight bouts up to that point.

1943:     June 28 Champion Thoroughbred racehorse Whirlaway retires after winning thirty-two races and $561,161 in prize money.

1944:     May 23 The University of Chicago withdraws from all intercollegiate athletic competition.

1944:     June 24 The women's Western Golf Open in Chicago is won by Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias.

1944:     November 25 Baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis dies at the age of seventy-eight. He is inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame on December 10.

1944:     December 23 In a measure designed to save labor and materials for the war effort, all horse racing is banned effective January 3, 1945.

1945:     January 31 Five Brooklyn College basketball players admit to each taking $1,000 bribes to throw (intentionally lose) a game against the University of Akron.

1945:     April 24 The position of baseball commissioner, and its $50,000 annual salary, goes to U.S. Senator A. B. "Happy" Chandler.

1945:     May 7 Brooklyn Dodgers co-owner Branch Rickey announces the formation of the six-team Negro Baseball League.

1945:     May 9 The War Mobilization and Reconversion Office lifts the ban on horse racing.

1945:     October 23 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player to compete in organized professional baseball when he signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers farm team in Montreal (part of the International League).

1946:     January 4 NFL rival league the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) votes to begin its season with an eight-team league.

1946:     March 21 The NFL's twelve-year ban on black players ends when Kenny Washington signs with the Los Angeles Rams.

1946:     December 27 Davis Cup tennis resumes after a six-year suspension due to the war. The U.S. team wins the cup for the first time since 1938.

1947:     April 10 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player in major league baseball in the twentieth century, after he signs with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In September, he is named rookie of the year by the Sporting News.

1947:     September 30 The first televised World Series begins. It is sponsored by Gillette Safety Razor and Ford Motor Company, each of whom pay $65,000 for the privilege.

1947:     December 5 Despite being knocked down twice, Joe Louis successfully defends his heavyweight title against "Jersey" Joe Walcott.

1948:     January 30 The fifth Winter Olympiad, and the first Olympic games held since 1936, opens in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

1948:     June 25 In a rematch with Joe Walcott Joe Louis retains his heavyweight title for the twenty-fifth and last time. After knocking out Walcott in the eleventh round, Louis announces his retirement the following day.

1949:     March 7 American League batting champion Ted Williams becomes the highest-paid baseball player ever when he signs with the Boston Red Sox for $100,000 per year.

1949:     August 3 The National Basketball Association (NBA) is formed when the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League merge.

1949:     November 19 Jackie Robinson becomes the first black player to be named the National League's Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers' Association.