3000 BC Earliest board game - senet
The world's earliest known board game, senet, is played in Egypt

2500 BC Royal family enjoys backgammon
The ruling family of Ur plays a board game which appears to be the same as modern backgammon

1850 BC Wrestling in Egypt
Wrestlers are painted on the walls of an Egyptian tomb, performing most of the holds and falls still in use today

776 BC Olympic games
The traditional date for the first athletic contest at Olympia

704 BC Wrestling in Olympic games
Wrestling is included in the Olympic games, followed by a terrifying form of all-in wrestling from 652 BC

688 BC Boxing in Olympic games
Boxing is included in the Olympic games, with each bout going on until one fighter gives up

550 BC Polo in Persia
Polo originates in the Persian empire, probably as part of the training of the imperial cavalry

500 BC More games in Greece
The Isthmian games at Corinth are by now a regular event, as are the Pythian games and the Nemean games

500 BC Hockey played in Persia
Hockey, like polo, is a team game in the Persian empire

472 BC Five-day Olympic games
The Olympic games are extended to five days, the first and last of which are taken up with religious ceremonies

50 BC Boxing gloves with metal studs
Gladiators have metal studs on their boxing gloves, and a public bout is expected to go on until the loser dies

23 BC First Sumo wrestling
Sukune, according to tradition, wins the first sumo wrestling contest and becomes patron saint of the sport

80 Colosseum grand opening
The Colosseum is inaugurated by the emperor Titus with games lasting 100 days, in which some 9000 large animals are killed

393 Olympic games banned
The ancient games at Olympia, with an unbroken tradition of more than 1000 years, are brought to an abrupt end by the emperor Theodosius

550 Chess played in India
Chess is first played at about this time, in India, before spreading west to Persia

735 Go reaches Japan
Japanese tradition gives this as the year in which the game of I-go, known in the west as go, is introduced from China

900 Card games in China
Playing cards are in use in T'ang dynasty China.

1250 Palio in Siena
The Palio, in which horses race round the Campo in Siena, is held from this time

1299 First bowling green
Southampton boasts the earliest known bowling green, mentioned in a document of this year

1425 Tarot cards in great demand
Packs of tarot playing cards are among the most popular products of Europe's first printing presses

1511 Earliest curling stone
The earliest surviving curling stone, discovered in Scotland, dates from this year

1547 Spanish rules for draughts
The first book describing the game of draughts, or checkers, is published in Spain

1590 Tennis the craze in Paris
Royal (or real) tennis is so popular in France that there are now said to be 250 courts in Paris alone

1598 Earliest known reference to cricket
A manuscript, the Guildford Book of Court, uses the word 'creckett' for a game played in a Guildford school

1710 Thoroughbred sires reach England
The Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and Godolphin Arabian, ancestors of all thoroughbred racehorses, are imported into England

1740 Boxing academy opens in London
Jack Broughton, champion of England, opens an academy to teach 'the mystery of boxing, that wholly British art'

1742 Hoyle's rules for whist
Edmond Hoyle publishes the definitive rules of whist

1789 Mendoza's Art of Boxing
England's champion pugilist, the Jewish prize-fighter Daniel Mendoza, publishes The Art of Boxing

1823 Rugby schoolboy picks up the ball
A Rugby schoolboy, William Webb Ellis, picks up the football and runs with it in rugby union's founding myth

1829 Oxford and Cambridge in first university boat race
Oxford and Cambridge compete against each other in the first university boat race, held at Henley

1838 Brunel's Great Western crosses Atlantic
Brunel's Great Western, a wooden paddle-steamer, arives in New York the day after the Sirius, with the record for an Atlantic crossing already reduced to 15 days

1838 Kicking and biting disallowed in boxing
The London Prize Ring rules disallow kicking, gouging, head-butting and biting in the sport of boxing

1845 Baseball rules established
New Yorker Alexander Cartwright devises the set of rules that become the basis of the modern game of baseball

1864 Overarm bowling allowed in cricket
The Marylebone Cricket Club, arbiter of cricket, finally rules that overarm bowling is legitimate

1867 First croquet tournament
The world's first croquet tournament takes place in Evesham and is won by Walter Jones-Whitmore

1867 Queensberry rules OK
The Queensberry rules, named after the Marquess of Queensberry, introduce padded gloves in boxing, and rounds of three minutes

1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati, Ohio, fielding the first baseball team in which every member is a hired professional, wins every match of the year

1870 W.G. Grace captains Gloucestershire
The all-round English cricketer W.G. Grace begins a 28-year career as captain of Gloucestershire

1871 National Rifle Association
Civil War veterans in the USA establish the National Rifle Association to promote marksmanship

1874 Wingfield patensts lawn tennis
Major Walter Wingfield secures a patent for Sphairistike, a game he has developed at his home in Wales, from which lawn tennis evolves

1876 W.G. Grace makes a record 344 against Kent
English cricketer W.G. Grace scores a record 344 runs, playing for the Marylebone Cricket Club against Kent at Canterbury

1877 First Test match
The first Test match is played in Melbourne between English and Australian cricket teams, with victory going to Australia

1877 Lawn-tennis at Wimbledon
The first lawn-tennis championships are organized by the All-England Croquet Club at Wimbledon

1879 Hurling gets official status
The ancient Irish game of hurling is formalized by the newly founded Irish Hurling Union

1882 Ashes of English cricket
When Australia win the second Test match, in London, the Sporting Times declares that they will take home with them 'the ashes of English cricket'

1884 Gaelic athletics encouraged in Ireland
The Gaelic Athletic Association is founded in Ireland to promote indigenous games such as hurling

1891 Basketball is invented
Canadian athlete James Naismith, at a YMCA college in Springfield, Massachusetts, invents basketball as an indoor winter game

1892 First pro in US football
Pudge Heffelfinger becomes the first football pro when the Allegheny Athletic Association pay him $500 to play a game in their team

1893 Rules for shinty
The Scottish game of shinty is provided with a standardized set of rules

1894 Motor race in France
The first competitive event for cars is held over a distance of 78 miles from Paris to Rouen

1895 National golf championships in USA
The USGA (US Golf Association) stages the first national amateur and open championships

1896 First modern Olympics
The first modern Olympic Games, organized by Pierre de Coubertin, are held in Athens

1898 Professional basketball
US basketball becomes a professional game with the establishment in Philadelphia of the National Basketball League

1899 Electric car sets new record
Belgian racing driver Camille Jenatzy is the first to drive faster than a mile a minute, reaching 65 mph in an electric car at Achères in France

1899 Ranjitsinhji scores 3000
Ranjitsinhji becomes the first cricketer to score 3000 runs in a single season

1900 Rolls wins gruelling car race
Charles Stewart Rolls wins the Automobile Club's Thousand Mile Trial in a 12 horse-power Panhard

1900 American League in US baseball
The American League emerges from baseball's Western League, before going national in 1901

1901 C.B. Fry hits six centuries
The British batsman C.B. Fry hits a record six consecutive centuries in first-class cricket

1901 Human blood types
The Austrian biochemist Karl Landsteiner discovers that human blood is of varying types

1903 World Series in baseball
The first World Series is played between nine leading baseball teams from the National League and the American League

1906 The first Grand Prix
The first Grand Prix of motor-racing is held near Le Mans over a 64-mile course

1907 Motor racing at Brooklands
The world's first custom-built motor-racing track opens at Brooklands, near Weybridge in Surrey

1907 Horse Show at Olympia
The first International Horse Show takes place in London's Olympia stadium

1908 First black heavyweight champion
US boxer Jack Johnson becomes the first black heavyweight champion when he knocks out Tommy Burns in Australia

1909 Twickenham Rugby Ground opens
Rugby Union acquires new headquarters and a state-of-the-art stadium at Twickenham

1911 Indianapolis 500
US driver Ray Harroun wins the first Indianapolis 500 motor race

1911 Cy Young retires
Baseball pitcher Cy Young retires with a record achievement of 511 wins in 22 professional seasons

1914 Babe Ruth
George Ruth acquires the nickname Babe when he joins the baseball team the Baltimore Orioles

1914 Vardon wins another Open
British golfer Harry Vardon wins his sixth Open, a record still unbroken

1915 Johnson loses title to "Great White Hope"
Black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson loses his title, in the 26th round, to the "Great White Hope", Jess Willard

1916 Babe Ruth sets a record
In his first World Series for the Boston Red Sox, 21-year-old Babe Ruth sets a still unbroken record, pitching 13 successive scoreless innings

1919 Dempsey wins heavyweight title
US boxer Jack Dempsey defeats Jess Willard for the world heavyweight title, sending him from the ring with a broken jaw

1919 Babe Ruth joins the Yankees
Boston Red Sox sell their star player, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees for $125,000

1921 The schooner Bluenose
The schooner Bluenose begins a long series of international racing victories for Canada

1922 Hagen wins Open for first time
US golfer Walter Hagen wins the first of his four victories in the British Open

1924 Cheltenham Gold Cup
Britain's most prestigious steeplechase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, is run for the first time

1924 Three Olympic golds for Weissmuller
Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller wins three Olympic gold medals in the Paris games, together with a bronze in water polo

1924 Lions tour South Africa
The British rugby team touring South Africa are for the first time called the Lions

1925 Gordon Richards is champion
British jockey Gordon Richards becomes champion jockey for the first of 26 times

1926 Hobbs is 316 not out
The England cricketer Jack Hobbs makes the highest score of his career, 316 not out for Surrey against Middlesex

1926 Culbertson changes to contract bridge
Ely Culbertson devotes his playing skill and his promotional abilities to the new contract version of bridge

1927 Hagen wins fifth PGA
US golfer Walter Hagen wins his fifth PGA Championship, and the fourth in succession

1928 Bradman scores a century
In only his third Test match, 20-year-old Australian cricketer Donald Bradman scores a century

1928 First of Sonia Henie's gold medals
Norwegian figure-skater Sonja Henie wins the first of three individual Olympic gold medals in successive games

1929 Ty Cobb retires
Baseball star Ty Cobb retires with a career record of 2245 runs, that will remain unbeaten into the twenty-first century

1930 Bobby Jones retires
US golfer Bobby Jones retires after winning his thirteenth major in eight years

1930 Phar Lap wins Melbourne Cup
The New Zealand racehorse Phar Lap wins huge popularity after an easy victory in the Melbourne Cup

1931 Matthews plays for Stoke City
16-year-old English footballer Stanley Matthews plays his first League game for Stoke City

1932 'Babe' Didrikson astonishes the world
US athlete Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson breaks four world records in one afternoon in Evanston, Illinois

1932 Larwood in body-line controversy
English fast-bowler Harold Larwood causes outrage using the 'body-line' attack, devised by his captain, Douglas Jardine, in Test matches against Australia

1934 Perry wins at Wimbledon
British tennis player Fred Perry wins the first of three consecutive Wimbledon singles titles

1935 Four world records for Jesse Owens
US athlete Jesse Owens sets three world records and equals a fourth within the space of less than an hour in Ann Arbor, Michigan

1936 Four Olympic golds for Owens
At the Berlin Olympics, attended by Hitler, the African-American athlete Jesse Owens sets three new Olympic records and equals a fourth

1937 Joe Louis is champion
Joe Louis, 'The Brown Bomber', defeats James J. Braddock to become world heavyweight champion

1938 Hammond captains England
Gloucestershire batsman Wally Hammond becomes captain of the England Test team

1938 Hutton's 364 against Australia
Yorkshire batsman Len Hutton scores a record 364 in a Test match against Australia at the Oval

1938 Budge achieves grand slam
US tennis player Donald Budge becomes the first person to achieve the grand slam, winning all four majors in the same year

1945 'Rocket' Richard scores 50 goals
Maurice 'Rocket' Richard is the first to score 50 goals in a Canadian National Hockey League season

1947 Jackie Robinson in major league
Baseball-player Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in a major league team

1948 Bradman retires on 99.94 average
Donald Bradman retires from Test cricket with a tantalizing career average of 99.94 runs

1951 Sugar Ray Robinson is champion
US boxer Sugar Ray Robinson beats Jake Lamotta to take the middleweight title (for the first of five times)

1951 Fangio is world champion
Argentinian driver Juan Manuel Fangio wins the first of five Grand Prix world championship titles

1952 Marciano is champion
US boxer Rocky Marciano becomes world heavyweight champion, defeating 'Jersey Joe' Walcott

1953 Three major titles for Hogan
US golfer Ben Hogan wins the US Open, the US Masters and the British Open in a single year

1954 Dimaggio weds Monroe
Baseball star Joe Dimaggio marries Marilyn Monroe, but the marriage lasts only a year

1954 Four-minute mile
Oxford medical student Roger Bannister runs the first four-minute mile, at the Iffley Road track

1954 Piggott wins Derby
18-year-old English jockey Lester Piggott wins the first of a record nine Derbys

1954 Bobby Charlton joins Manchester United
Seventeen-year-old English footballer Bobby Charlton begins a 19-year career playing for Manchester United

1956 'The Friendly Games'
Melbourne hosts the Olympics, in what becomes known as 'the Friendly Games'

1956 Betty Cuthbert wins three times for Australia
18-year-old Australian sprinter Betty Cuthbert wins three gold medals in the Melbourne Olympics, at 100m, 200m and 400m

1957 Sobers 365 not out
Barbadian cricketer Garfield Sobers, playing in Kingston, Jamaica, against Pakistan, makes a record Test score of 365 not out

1958 Manchester United air disaster
Eight members of the Manchester United football team die in an air crash when flying back to England from Belgrade via Munich

1958 Dodgers and Giants go west
The baseball teams Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California

1959 Brabham wins Formula One
Australian Grand Prix driver Jack Brabham wins the first of his three Formula One titles

1959 Billy Wright's 100th cap
Billy Wright becomes the first football player to win 100 caps for England

1962 Nicklaus turns professional
US golfer Jack Nicklaus turns professional and in the same year wins the first of four US Open titles

1962 Graham Hill wins Formula One
British Grand Prix driver Graham Hill wins the first of two world championship titles

1963 Court and Fletcher win grand slam
Australian tennis players Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher achieve the grand slam in mixed doubles

1963 Clark wins Formula One
Scottish Grand Prix driver Jim Clark wins the first of his two Formula One titles

1964 Ali is heavyweight champion
Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) becomes world heavyweight champion for the first time, defeating Sonny Liston

1964 Trueman's 300 Test wickets
In a match at the Oval, England cricketer Freddie Trueman becomes the first bowler to take 300 Test wickets

1965 Cruyff joins Ajax
18-year-old Dutch footballer Johann Cruyff joins Ajax, the club with which he will be associated in numerous successes

1965 Stanley Matthews retires
Stanley Matthews plays his last game for Stoke City after 34 years as a professional football player

1965 Beckenbauer's debut on world stage
Footballer Franz Beckenbauer plays his first international for West Germany

1966 Billie Jean King wins at Wimbledon
The US tennis player Billie Jean King wins the first of six Wimbledon singles titles

1966 England win World Cup
Alf Ramsey (manager) and Bobby Moore (captain) lead the England football team to victory in the World Cup

1967 Chichester round the world
English yachtsman Francis Chichester completes a record round-the-world voyage, sailing 29,600 miles solo in 226 days

1968 Jim Clark killed
British racing driver Jim Clark is killed in an accident on the Hockenheim circuit, while leading in the world championship

1968 Bob Beamon sets a record
US athlete Bob Beamon sets a world long-jump record of 8.9 metres that will stand for 23 years

1969 Spassky is world champion
Russian chess player Boris Spassky beats Tigran Petrosian to become world champion

1969 J.P.R. Williams plays for Wales
19-year-old rugby player J.P.R. Williams makes his debut for Wales in a match against Scotland

1969 Laver wins second Grand Slam
Australian tennis player Rod Laver is the first to win the Grand Slam a second time

1969 Jackie Stewart wins Formula One
Scottish Grand Prix racing driver Jackie Stewart wins the first of his three world championship titles

1969 George Best excels in Europe
The Northern Irish player George Best is voted European Footballer of the Year

1970 Margaret Court wins second grand slam
Australian tennis player Margaret Court achieves the grand slam in singles, adding it to her previous grand slam in doubles

1971 Frazier beats Ali
Joe Frazier becomes the first boxer to beat Muhammad Ali in a professional fight, at New York's Madison Square Gardens

1971 Goolagong wins at Wimbledon
19-year-old Aboriginal tennis player Evonne Goolagong wins the singles title at Wimbledon

1972 Seven golds for Spitz
US swimmer Mark Spitz wins seven gold medals in the Munich Olympics

1972 Bobby Fischer is world champion
Chess player Bobby Fischer defeats Boris Spassky to become the first US world champion

1974 Evert wins Wimbledon and French Open
US tennis player Chris Evert wins the first of three victories at Wimbledon and of seven in the French Open

1974 Connors wins Wimbledon and US Open
Jimmy Connors wins both Wimbledon and the US Open, on each occasion defeating the veteran Ken Rosewall

1974 Ali beats Foreman to regain world title
Muhammad Ali regains the world heavyweight title, beating George Foreman in Zaire in a fight that becomes known as the Rumble in the Jungle

1975 Karpov succeeds Fischer
Anatoly Karpov becomes world chess champion by default when Bobby Fischer fails to defend his title

1975 Lauda wins Formula One
Austrian racing driver Niki Lauda wins the first of three Formula One world championship titles

1976 Borg wins at Wimbledon
The Swedish tennis player Björn Borg wins the first of five consecutive singles titles at Wimbledon

1976 Keegan captains England
Liverpool football player Kevin Keegan begins six years as captain of England

1976 Ballesteros is number one
19-year-old Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros ends the year as number one in Europe

1978 Ali is world champion for third time
Muhammad Ali is the first boxer to become world heavyweight champion three times, defeating Leon Spinks in a return match a year after losing the title

1978 Navratilova wins at Wimbledon
Czech-born US tennis player Martina Navratilova wins the first of nine singles titles at Wimbledon

1978 Botham's century and 8 wickets
English cricketer Ian Botham sets a new Test record, scoring a century and taking eight wickets against Pakistan at Lord's

1978 Eddie Merckz retires
Belgian cyclist Eddie Merckz retires after a 14-year career with a record 445 victories

1979 McEnroe wins US Open
20-year-old US tennis player John McEnroe wins the singles title in the US Open for the first of four times

1980 Magic Johnson joins Lakers
US basketball champion Magic Johnson begins 12 years with the Los Angeles Lakers

1981 Davis wins snooker championship
British snooker player Steve Davis wins the first of six world championship titles

1982 Maradona sold for record fee
Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona is sold to Barcelona for a new record fee of £5 million, almost double the highest previous figure

1984 Torvill and Dean perfect
British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean earn a perfect score for their Bolero programme in the Sarajevo winter Olympics

1984 Daley Thompson beats world record
English athlete Daley Thompson sets an Olympic and world record in the decathlon at the Los Angeles Olympics

1984 Maradona sold for new record
Diego Maradona is sold to Napoli for a new record fee of about £5 million, two years after being sold to Barcelona for £3 million

1984 Four golds for Carl Lewis
US sprinter and long-jumper Carl Lewis wins four gold medals at the Los Angeles Olympics

1984 Lillee's 351 Test wickets
Australian bowler Dennis Lillee's total of 351 Test wickets sets a new record

1984 Botham's 3000 runs and 300 wickets
Ian Botham is the first player to achieve the double triple, with a total of more than 3000 runs and 300 wickets in Test cricket

1985 17-year-old wins singles at Wimbledon
17-year-old German tennis-player Boris Becker becomes the youngest ever to win the men's singles at Wimbledon

1985 Prost wins Formula One
French racing driver Alain Prost wins the first of his four Formula One titles

1985 Kasparov defeats Karpov
22-year-old Gary Kasparov defeats Anatoly Karpov and becomes the youngest-ever world champion in chess

1986 Maradona's 'hand of God'
Argentina wins the World Cup quarter final against England with help from Maradona and 'the hand of God'

1986 Tyson is champion
20-year-old US boxer Mike Tyson knocks out Trevor Berbick to become the youngest ever world heavyweight champion

1987 Steffi Graf deposes Navratilova
18-year-old German tennis player Steffi Graf deposes Martina Navratilova as world no. 1

1987 Faldo wins his first Open
British golfer Nick Faldo wins the first of three victories in six years in the British Open

1988 Lewis sets 100-metre record
US athlete Carl Lewis sets a new world record for the 100 metres, winning gold at the Seoul Olympics

1988 Senna wins Formula One
Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna wins the first of his three Formula One titles

1990 The three tenors
Three tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras) sing at a concert in Rome to celebrate the World Cup

1991 New 100-metre record for Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis beats his own previous 100-metre world record, winning gold at the World Championships in Tokyo

1993 Sampras wins his first Wimbledon
US tennis player Pete Sampras wins the first of his record-breaking seven Wimbledon singles titles

1994 Senna dies in race crash
Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna dies when the steering column of his car shears during the San Marino Grand Prix

1994 Lara's 501 not out
Trinidadian cricketer Brian Lara sets a new world record, scoring 501 not out when playing for Warwickshire against Durham

1994 Shumacher is world champion
German racing driver Michael Schumacher wins his first world championship title in Formula One

1997 Tiger Woods makes his mark
In his first year as a professional, US golfer Tiger Woods wins both the British Open and the US Masters

2000 Freeman lights Olympic cauldron
Aboriginal sprinter Cathy Freeman lights the cauldron to launch the Sydney Olympic Games

2003 Grand Slam record for Sampras
US tennis player Pete Sampras retires with a record total of 14 Grand Slam titles

2004 Schumacher makes Grand Prix history
Michael Schumacher becomes the first driver to win seven world championship titles in Formula One

2005 Armstrong retires in style
US cyclist Lance Armstrong retires from competition after winning a seventh successive victory in the Tour de France

2016 January 4-5 Record cricket score
The highest ever recorded individual cricket score, 1,009 not out, is made by Pranav Dhanawade.