Athletics

Marathon

International Races

• August 23 — European Championships Marathon, Brussels, Belgium
• Men's Winner: Jack Holden (ENG) 2:32:14

• December 10 — Fukuoka Marathon, Japan
• Men's Winner: Shunji Koyanagi (JPN) 2:30:47

National Champions

• May 21 — United States
• Men's Winner: — 2:45:55

• July 22 — Netherlands
• Men's Winner: Adri Moons — 2:58:12

• July 22 — England
• Men's Winner: Jack Holden — 2:31:03

• July 23 — Finland
• Men's Winner: Vilho Partanen — 2:39:59

• August 5 — Germany
• Men's Winner: Wilfried Hogrefe — 2:46:48

• August 28 — Canada
• Men's Winner: Paul Collins — 2:45:11

• October 8 — Japan
• Men's Winner: Yoshikazu Noda — 2:47:17

• September 24 — Hungary
• Men's Winner: Mihály Esztergomi — 2:37:25

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Bill Rexford
• AAA Racing:
• Henry Banks won the series championship
• Johnnie Parsons won the Indianapolis 500
• Formula One Champion: The first World Championship for drivers under the jurisdiction of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is contested. The first race of the World Championship series is the British Grand Prix won by Giuseppe Farina, driving an Alfa Romeo. Farina would go on to become the first FIA World Champion.
• 24 hours of Le Mans - Louis Rosier/Jean-Louis Rosier driving a Talbot-Lago
• Rally racing:
• M. Becquart/H. Secret won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Hotchkiss
• Drag racing - June 19: The first commercial drag strip, the Santa Ana Drags, begins at Orange County Airport (now John Wayne Airport) in Santa Ana, in Southern California. Admission is 50 cents -- or 75 cents if the ticket holder wanted to watch the mechanics work.

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 0 over the Philadelphia Phillies

Basketball

• First FIBA World Championship. Argentina World Champion

Boxing

• January in London, Joey Maxim won the light-heavyweight world title, stopping champion Freddie Mills in 10 rounds.
• September 27 - Ezzard Charles retains his World Heavyweight Championship with a 15 round unanimous decision over Joe Louis in New York City.

BOBCycling

• Giro d'Italia - Hugo Koblet of Switzerland
• Tour de France - Ferdinand Kubler of Switzerland
• Vuelta a España – Emilio Rodriguez of Spain
• World Cycling Championship - Briek Schotte of Belgium

Figure skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
• Men's champion: Dick Button, United States
• Ladies' champion: Aja Zanova, Czechoslovakia
• Pair skating champions: Karol Kennedy & Michael Kennedy, United States

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Cleveland Browns win 30-28 over the Los Angeles Rams
• Oklahoma Sooners - college football champions.

Football (Australian rules football)

• Victorian Football League
• Essendon wins the 54th VFL Premiership (Essendon 13.14 (92) d North Melbourne 7.12 (54))
• Brownlow Medal awarded to Allan Ruthven (Fitzroy)

Football (Canadian)

• Grey Cup: Toronto Argonauts win 13-0 over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Football (soccer)

FIFA World Cup

• 1950 World Cup held in Brazil. Uruguay are the winners after beating Brazil in the final group decider.
• United States defeats England 1-0 in one of the great upsets in sports history

England

• First Division - Portsmouth win the 1949-50 title.
• FA Cup: Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 man u also ate a donut

Golf

• April 6-9 - Masters Tournament - Jimmy Demaret
• June 8-11 - U.S. Open - Ben Hogan
• June 27 - PGA Championship - Chandler Harper
• July 4-7 - British Open - Bobby Locke
• PGA Tour money leader - Sam Snead - $35,759

Men's amateur

• British Amateur - Frank Stranahan
• U.S. Amateur - Sam Urzetta

Women's professional

• Thirteen women golfers found the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
• Women's Western Open - Babe Zaharias
• U.S. Women's Open - Babe Zaharias
• Titleholders Championship - Babe Zaharias
• Babe Zaharias named Woman Athlete of the Half-Century by the Associated Press.
• LPGA Tour money leader - Babe Zaharias - $14,800

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• The United States National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in Saratoga Springs, New York.
• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Comic Court
• Canada - Queen's Plate - McGill
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Tantieme
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Dark Warrior
• English Triple Crown Races:
1. 2,000 Guineas Stakes - Palestine
2. Epsom Derby - Galcador
3. St. Leger Stakes - Talma

• United States Triple Crown Races:
1. May 6 - Kentucky Derby - Middleground
2. Preakness Stakes - Hill Prince
3. Belmont Stakes - Middleground

Harness Racing

• Little Brown Jug for pacers - Dudley Hanover
• Hambletonian for trotters - Lusty Song
• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
• Pacers: Captain Sandy

PP LP

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Ted Lindsay, Detroit Red Wings
• Hart Memorial Trophy: for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Charlie Rayner, New York Rangers
• Stanley Cup: Detroit Red Wings win 4 games to 3 over the New York Rangers
• World Hockey Championship
• Men's champion: Canada's Edmonton Mercurys

• NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship - Colorado College Tigers defeat Boston University Terriers 13-4 in Colorado Springs, CO

Snooker

• World Snooker Championship: Walter Donaldson beats Fred Davis 51-46.

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
1. Australian Open - Frank Sedgman
2. French Open - Budge Patty
3. Wimbledon championships - Budge Patty
4. US Open - Arthur Larsen

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
1. Australian Open - Louise Brough
2. French Open - Doris Hart
3. Wimbledon championships - Louise Brough
4. US Open - Margaret Osborne duPont

• Davis Cup in world tennis: Australia won 4 to 1 over the United States

Multi-sport events

• British Empire Games held in Auckland
• Coaches Poll established to rank top 20 American college football and basketball teams

Awards

• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year: Jim Konstanty, Major League Baseball
• Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year: Babe Didrikson Zaharias, LPGA golf

Births

January

• January 3 — Robert Oliver, New Zealand road and track cyclist
• January 15 — Marius Trésor, French football player
• January 18 — Gilles Villeneuve, Canadian F1 race driver (d. 1982)
• January 19 — Eshetu Tura, Ethiopian long-distance runner

February

• February 7 — Mauro Bellugi, Italian football player
• February 10 — Mark Spitz, American swimmimg Olympic champion
• February 13 — Rita Marchisio, Italian long-distance runner
• February 14 — Phil Dent, Australian tennis player
• February 22 — Julius Erving, American basketball Hall of Famer
• February 25 — Francisco Fernández-Ochoa, Spanish alpine skier (d. 2006)

March

• March 9 — Danny Sullivan, American automobile racer
• March 13 — Joe Bugner, British and Australian heavyweight boxer
• March 21 — Anders Linderoth, Swedish football player
• March 28 — Roland Andersson, Swedish football player

April

• April 1 — Paolo Conti, Italian football player
• April 8 — Grzegorz Lato, Polish football player
• April 14 — Joseph Nzau, Kenyan long-distance runner
• April 24 — Henryk Maculewicz, Polish football player
• April 26 — Elizabeth Chase, Zimbabwean field hockey player
• April 27 — Paolino Pulici, Italian football player

May

• May 9 — James Butts, American triple jumper
• May 9 — Louk Sanders, Dutch tennis player
• May 15 — Renate Stecher, East German athlete
• May 18 — Rodney Milburn, American hurdler

June

• June 3 — Marlene Elejarde, Cuban 4x100m runner (d. 1980)
• June 3 — Douglas Rodríguez, Cuban boxer
• June 5 — Bonifacio Avila, Colombian boxer
• June 5 — Adrian Cosma, Romanian handball player
• June 11 — Pokey Watson, American backstroke swimmer
• June 13 — Chris Taylor, American freestyle wrestler (d. 1979)
• June 15 — István Szabó, Hungarian canoer
• June 18 — Annelie Ehrhardt, Germann 100m hurdler
• June 25 — Tatyana Averina, Soviet speed skater
• July 12 — Gilles Meloche, Canadian hockey player
• June 27 — Benjamin Peterson, American heavyweight boxer

July

• July 6 — Sultan Rakhmanov, Soviet weightlifter
• July 9 — Adriano Panatta, Italian tennis player
• July 13 — Rod Dixon, New Zealand middle distance runner
• July 16 — Dennis Priestley, British darts player
• July 18 — Sandor Pinter, Hungarian football player
• July 21 — Ubaldo Fillol, Argentinian football goalkeeper
• July 23 — Ramon Quiroga, Peruvian football goalkeeper
• July 29 — Maricica Puică, Romanian middle distance athlete

August

• August 3 — Waldemar Cierpinski, German marathon runner
• August 4 — Alex Olmedo, Peru-born tennis player from the United States
• August 5 — Rosi Mittermaier, German alpine skier
• August 7 — David Wottle, American track and field athlete
• August 8 — Mart Bras, Dutch water polo player and referee
• August 12 — Shirley Haig, New Zealand field hockey player
• August 17 — Vasudevan Baskaran, Indian field hockey player and coach
• August 22 — Celia Breckenridge, British lacrosse player
• August 28 — Robert Kasting, Canadian butterfly and freestyle swimmer

September

• September 12 — Juan Francisco Rodríguez, Spanish boxer
• September 16 — Raisa Smekhnova, Soviet long-distance runner
• September 18 — Phil Bayton, British road cyclist
• September 23 — David Torosyan, Soviet-Armenian boxer
• September 24 — Duane Bobick, American boxer

October

• October 3 — Andrzej Szarmach, Polish football player
• October 5 — Hugo Hovenkamp, Dutch football player
• October 12 — Miguel Oviedo, Argentinian football player
• October 13 — Annegret Richter, German athlete
• October 14 — Kurt Jara, Austrian football player
• October 24 — Asa Hartford, Scottish football player

November

• November 1 — Jan Evert Veer, Dutch water polo player
• November 4 — Benny Wendt, Swedish football player
• November 11 — Rex Sellers, New Zealand yachtsman
• November 16 — Héctor Baley, Argentinian football player
• November 17 — Roland Matthes, East German backstroke swimmer
• November 22 — Lyman Bostock, American Major League Baseball player
• November 22 — Domingo Tibaduiza, Colombian long-distance runner
• November 26 — Dieter Burdenski, German football goalkeeper

December

• December 3 — Alberto Juantorena, Cuban athlete
• December 3 — Peter Trump, German field hockey player
• December 4 — Vladimir Bure, Soviet swimmer
• December 27 — Roberto Bettega, Italian football (soccer) player
• December 28 — Patrick Burris, American judoka

Deaths

• April 16 - Arnaud Massy, champion golfer
• September 23 - Sam Barry, Hall of Fame basketball coach
• October 9 - George Hainsworth, NHL Hockey Hall of Fame, goaltender
• November 4 - Grover Cleveland Alexander, Major League Baseball pitcher (1911-1930)
• November 30 - Billy Burch, Hockey Hall of Fame player
• December 5 - Bill Dahlen, Major League Baseball player (1891-1911)