June is a big month in sports, with MLB, the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Final, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open Golf Championship, the Canadian Grand Prix, and various track and field events. Over the years, there have been many outstanding achievements and significant sporting occasions on June 5, and these are some of them.
Unforgettable Games and Remarkable Records
Notable milestones and performances on June 5 include:
- 1879: George Evans won the Belmont Stakes riding Spendthrift with a time of 2:42:75.
- 1902: Golfer Sandy Herd won the British Open by one stroke.
- 1925: Willie Macfarlane took out the U.S. Open Golf Championship, securing his only major title.
- 1927: René Lacoste won the second of his three French Open (tennis) titles.
- 1927: Johnny Weissmuller set records in the 100- and 200-yard freestyle swims.
- 1931: Tommy Armour won his only British Open title. It was his third and final major championship.
- 1933: Margaret Scriven became the first female British tennis player to win the French Open singles title.
- 1933: Jack Crawford won the French Open men’s singles championship, making him the first non-Frenchman to win.
- 1941: Sandor Szabo defeated Bronko Nagurski by DQ to win the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship.
- 1943: Johnny Longden won the Belmont Stakes aboard Count Fleet in 2:28:2.
- 1948: Richie Ashburn achieved a National League rookie hitting streak record of 23 games.
- 1952: Jersey Joe Walcott defeated Ezzard Charles in 15 rounds to win the National Boxing Association Heavyweight Title. This was the first athletic event to be televised nationally.
- 1955: Mickey Mantle hit a 550-foot home run off of Chicago pitcher Billy Pierce.
- 1966: Leo Cardenas hit four home runs in a doubleheader.
- 1966: Tennis great Tony Roche won the French Open, his only Grand Slam title.
- 1966: Ann Haydon-Jones won her second French Open singles title.
- 1971: Evonne Goolagong secured her first Grand Slam singles title, winning the French Open.
- 1976: Angel Cordero Jr. recorded his only Belmont Stakes victory aboard Bold Forbes.
- 1977: The Portland Trailblazers beat the Philadelphia 76ers 4-2 to win the NBA Championship.
- 1977: Guillermo Vilas won his first Grand Slam, the French Open.
- 1981: Nolan Ryan became the all-time walk leader with 1,777.
- 1988: Mats Wilander won his third French Open title.
- 1993: Steffi Graf earned her third of six French Open titles.
- 2005: Rafael Nadal won his first French Open title.
- 2016: Novak Djokovic secured his first French Open title.
- 2018: Forbes magazine reported that Floyd Mayweather Jr. topped its annual list of the world’s highest-paid athletes at $285 million.
The names that stand out from these June 5 events are Nolan Ryan, Rafael Nadal, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Ryan is known as one of the most dominant and intimidating pitchers in baseball history, with a blazing fastball. Nadal is a famous Spanish tennis player widely referred to as the King of Clay thanks to his supremacy on clay courts. Mayweather Jr. is the most accurate puncher among professional boxers, having the highest plus-minus ratio in recorded boxing history.
