1939 - The last day of first-class cricket in England before the declaration of war against Germany two days later. Yorkshire opted to carry on playing against Sussex at Hove. Slow left-armer Hedley Verity finished with the amazing figures of 7/9 to give Yorkshire the County Championship. It was his last match as he died in a war camp in Italy in 1943

1946 - In the first-ever US Open women’s golf, Patty Berg wins after taking a 36-hole final five and four over Betty Jameson

[caption id="attachment_158389" align="alignnone" width="357"] On 1 September 1953, Buck Baker takes lead with 10 laps remaining to win the Southern 500 at Darlington in the most competitive event in NASCAR Grand National history[/caption]

1953 - Buck Baker takes lead with 10 laps remaining to win the Southern 500 at Darlington in the most competitive event in NASCAR Grand National history. During the race, four drivers swap lead a record 35 times

1962 - Birth of Dutch soccer mid-fielder Ruud Gullit. He earned 66 caps for Netherlands,won the Ballon d’Or in 1987 while playing for AC Milan. He also represented Feyenoord, PSV and Chelsea

[caption id="attachment_158390" align="alignnone" width="460"] In 1972, American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer (on right) beats Russian champion Boris Spassky (left) in what was the most publicised world title match ever played[/caption]

1972 - American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer beats Russian champion Boris Spassky 12.5-8.5. It was the most publicised world title match ever played and Fischer was the first American to win the title

1976 - England women’s cricket Captain Clare Connor was born. She led them in the World Cup that year and in the tough series against Australia in 2001. Her greatest achievement was leading England to the women’s Ashes in 2005, the first time Australia had lost the trophy since 1963

1977 - Tracy Austin at age 14 years, eight months, and 20 days, became the youngest female to play in the US Open tennis. She beat German Heidi Eisterlehner 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in a first round match

1977 - Indian women’s cricketer Neetu David was born on this day. In ODIs, she took 141 wickets at 16.34 - the best average among all women who have taken over 100 wickets

1987 - The 15-year-old American tennis player Micheal Chang became youngest man to win a match at the US Open when he beat Australian Paul McNamee in four sets in the opening round

2013 - Wales’ football winger Gareth Bale’s record transfer from Tottenham Hotspur FC to Real Madrid for an estimated fee of £ 85.3 million (Rs. 23.3 b approximately in today’s value)

[caption id="attachment_158391" align="alignnone" width="356"] Ishant Sharma (on left) and Dhammika Prasad had a heated confrontation on the fourth day before India staged a come-from-behind win against Sri Lanka at the SSC in 2015 to record a Test series win in Sri Lanka after 22 years[/caption]

2015 - A come-from-behind win against Sri Lanka at the SSC gave India their first Test series victory in the country since 1993. Sri Lanka were set a target of 386. Angelo Mathews scored a fighting century and Kusal Perera scored an aggressive fifty, but Ravichandran Ashwin and Ishant Sharma combined to give India victory by 117 runs, and with it their first overseas series win since 2011