1884 - In a drawn match at the Oval, Australia’s second Test Captain Billy Murdoch completed his innings of 211, the first double-century in Test cricket. He was dropped three times by George Ulyett in that knock

[caption id="attachment_154843" align="alignnone" width="279"] William Lloyd Murdoch (on right) captained Australia in 16 Tests, between 1880-90. This included four tours of England, one of which, in 1882, gave rise to The Ashes. In 2019 Murdoch was inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. On left is legendary English cricketer William Gilbert (W.G.) Grace, the ninth Test Captain of England[/caption]

1956 - Birth of Sidath Wettimuny, who opened the batting in Sri Lanka’s debut Test, against England in Colombo in 1981-82, and played in 23 Tests in all. His greatest moment was in batting all day in a Test match at Lord’s, making 190 helping Sri Lanka to a draw a historic Test. He and Mithra Wettimuny opened the innings together against New Zealand in 1982-83, a rare achievement for a pair of brothers

[caption id="attachment_154842" align="alignnone" width="420"] Happy birthday Sidath Wettimuny, who played in 23 Tests and 35 ODIs for Sri Lanka during 1982-87! He made the country’s first Test century too, in Faisalabad on 14 March, 1982. Here is Wettimuny (facing camera) runs Sri Lanka’s first Test run with Bandula Warnapura in Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test on 17 February 1982[/caption]

1972 - Australia Captain Ian Chappell and his brother Greg became the first pair of brothers to score centuries in the same Test Innings

1988 - Birth of British professional heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury. Tyson Fury is thus far undefeated in his professional career. From his 31 fights, he has won 30 and drawn one. His record reads as follows: 30-0-1. Fury currently holds the World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight title

[caption id="attachment_154844" align="alignnone" width="455"] Today is the birthday of British professional heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury, the current WBC heavyweight title holder, who is thus far undefeated in his professional career![/caption]

1990 - Birth of Italian soccer striker Mario Balotelli. He was a player with such high potential but his off-field drama led to his career’s demise

1991 - Last day in Test cricket for three giants of West Indies cricket, Jeff Dujon, Malcolm Marshall, and Sir Viv Richards. Dujon finished with 272 dismissals, the record for a West Indies wicket-keeper, Malcolm Marshall with 376 wickets at only 20.94 each, and Sir Viv Richards hit 60 to keep his Test batting average over 50!

1997 - In a drawn match against India at SSC, Colombo, Sanath Jayasuriya became only the fourth batsman to be dismissed for 199 in a Test innings. The others have been Mudassar Nazar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Matthew Elliott, Steve Waugh, Younis Khan, Ian Bell, Steven Smith, Lokesh (KL) Rahul, and Dean Elgar

2002 - Morocco hosted an international cricket match for the first time on this day, when Pakistan and South Africa played the opening game of the Morocco Cup in Tangier. It was South Africa’s first game since the death of Hansie Cronje two months previously

2008 - American swimmer Natalie Coughlin became the first to successfully defend the gold medal in the women’s 100 m backstroke when she won the event at the Beijing Olympics

2016 - American star swimmer Katie Ledecky sets world record 8:04.79 seconds to dominate the women’s 800 m field at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics - a medal tally of four gold and one silver makes her the most decorated US female athlete at one Olympics