• April 8 down the years

Tiger bags the lot

Tiger Woods succeeded Vijay Singh as Masters champion in 2001 © Getty Images

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2001
Tiger Woods won the Masters to become the only golfer to hold all four Majors at the same time. The previous year, he'd won the US Open by a record margin on June 18, and finished a record number of shots under par at the British Open on July 23. Then the going got tougher. He survived a play-off at the US PGA on August 20 and was nearly dragged into another one today. He scored 68 in the final round of the Masters to finish on 16 under - but had company until the end. David Duval shared the lead until he bogeyed the 16th, then missed a four-foot birdie putt at the last which would have brought him level again. Phil Mickelson also bogeyed the 16th to fall two shots behind Woods, who birdied the last. He won the Masters again the following year.

At the other end of the 2001 Masters, 1970 champion Billy Casper finished last of the golfers who completed the first two rounds, scoring 87 and 80. The 1973 winner Tommy Aaron finished second-last (81, 82). And four-time champion Arnold Palmer finished third-last with 82 and 76. Casper did even worse on April 10, 2005.

2010
The same Tiger was back on the spotlight in 2010, as his absence of five months following an off-course scandal came to an end with an appearance at the Masters. He produced one stunning shot on the ninth to remind everyone of what they had been missing.

1935
Gene Sarazen won the Masters to become the first golfer to win all four Majors. To do it, he had to produce one of the most famous shots of all time. He trailed by three with four to play, then holed a 220-yarder for an albatross two and went on to win a play-off by five shots.

1990
Nick Faldo became the first golfer to retain the Masters green jacket since Jack Nicklaus on April 11, 1966. Again Britain's best kept his head while America's finest were losing theirs. On April 9, 1989, Scott Hoch missed a tiny putt which would have won him the title. Now Faldo came from four shots down to catch Ray Floyd at the 17th. Floyd, who dominated the Masters on April 11, 1976, was 47 by now but still as cool as ever. So it was a shock when he crumbled in the sudden-death play-off. After Faldo had made a brave save at the first extra hole, Floyd hit his second shot into the water at the next. Faldo won the Masters for the third time on April 14, 1996, thanks to even bigger breakdown.

2007
The highest winning score in any Masters. With wet weather turning the greens into sponges, Stuart Appleby of Australia led after the third round despite shooting 75-70-73, while Tiger Woods was only one shot behind despite no rounds under 72, and Britain's Justin Rose shared second place with two 75s. On the last day, Appleby fell away with 75; Rose hit 73 to finish equal fifth; and Woods tied for second with 72. Meanwhile unheralded Zach Johnson made three birdies over the last six holes to finish on 289 and win a Major for the first time. He finished two shots clear despite shooting an over-par score.

1956
Young amateur Ken Venturi led by four shots going into the last day of the Masters but had a horrendous back nine, making six bogeys in a round of 80 that left him just one stroke behind. He came equally close to winning the same event on April 10, 1960.

1974
Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth's Major League record. He hit his run at home, in front of 53,000 Atlanta Braves fans, off Los Angeles Dodger pitcher Al Downing. The ball landed among the relief pitchers in the Braves bullpen. Aaron's final total of 755 home runs was beaten by the controversially beefed-up Barry Bonds.

1912
Sonja Henie was born in Oslo and started performing when she wasn't much older. Finishing last at the 1924 Winter Olympics doesn't seem an auspicious start - until you consider she was only 11. In the next twelve years, she became the most successful individual ice skater of all time. She won three Olympic golds by overwhelming margins and ten world titles in a row before moving to Hollywood and making a vast fortune from naff films and 'ice skating extravaganzas'. Her friendship with a Herr Hitler cost her a few friends in her occupied homeland.

2001
The 17-year-old Leon Haslam of Britain became the youngest motorcyclist to score World Championship points in a 500 cc race when he finished 13th at the Japanese GP.

1995
Larry Holmes's last attempt to win a kosher world heavyweight title - at the age of 45. After losing the IBF belt in a landmark bout on September 21, 1985, he lost title attempts against Mike Tyson on January 22, 1988 and Evander Holyfield four years later. Now, unbeaten in seven fights, he took on Oliver McCall, who was making the first defence of the WBC title he'd taken from Lennox Lewis on September 24. McCall had knocked Lewis out, but Holmes was made of harder stuff even in his old age, and he went the distance after surviving a battering in the ninth round. The decision was unanimous but honourably close. McCall's next defence was against Frank Bruno on September 2. Holmes had one last crack at the IBO nonsense on January 24, 1997.

On the same day that Holmes lost to McCall, Bruce Seldon won the vacant WBA heavyweight title by puffing Tony Tucker's eyes so badly that the fight was stopped after the seventh round. Seldon beat one Joe Hipp before losing the title to WBC champ Mike Tyson in the first round.

Floyd Mayweather Jnr taunted Zab Judah in their fight © Getty Images

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2006
High jinks at a world title fight. When a desperate Zab Judah hit Floyd Mayweather Jnr with a low blow followed by a rabbit punch to the back of the neck, Mayweather's uncle and trainer Roger climbed into the ring looking for retribution. He had to be held back by the referee and the crowd of folk who suddenly filled the ring. When the dust settled, Mayweather junior got back to the task of winning the vacant IBF welterweight title easily on points. He was still unbeaten as a professional when he faced Ricky Hatton on December 8 the following year.

1978
Geoff Hunt won the British Open squash for the third year in a row and the fifth time in all. The first game of the final lasted an incredible 49 minutes 33 seconds. The 1975 champion Qamar Zaman won it 9-7 and took a terrible toll on the Australian, exhausting him with his brilliant strokeplay. Under all this physical stress, the accuracy of Hunt's returns was marvellous - but Zaman hit 13 winners, and he was four years younger. He seemed to have set things up for the kill. And sure enough. Incredibly, shattered as he was, Hunt upped the tempo. Taking the ball earlier, he showed that the first game had taken something out of Zaman too. Before long, Zaman was looking for quick winners, which usually spells doom in squash. Driven from corner to corner, he lost the next three games 9-1 9-1 9-2. Hunt retained the title for the next three years.

1896
The cycling events at Olympic Games included a 100 kilometre track race. The track was only 333⅓ metres round, so the riders had to do a mind-numbing 300 laps. There was a mass start, which led to bumps and falls. To add to the confusion, the Greeks and French used pacemakers, who weaved in and out of the traffic for a few laps at a time. When the other entrants realised they couldn't win without being paced, they dropped out, leaving only two finishers. When local boy Georgios Koletis had problems with his bike, France's Léon Flameng stopped and waited for him. Flameng fell off near the end but still won by eleven laps. He wasn't bad at shorter distances either. In the 10 kilometres, he finished a very close second to team mate Paul Mason, who paced him in the 100k. Flameng also came third in the 2k. The previous year, he'd completed a personal 3,000 kilometre tour of France. He died when his parachute failed to open during the First World War.

1989
The Major League baseball debut of pitcher Jim Abbott, who was born without a right hand. He played for the California Angels today and later for the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox - so the missing hand can't have been too much of a handicap. He had to undergo a complicated routine involving a thrower's glove on the end of his forearm, but was a good catcher and thrower. He helped the USA win the Final of the demonstration event at the Olympic Games in 1988.

1995
Necula Nichitean achieved the rare feat of landing three drop goals in an international rugby match. He also kicked two penalties as Romania led 12-6 at half-time against a full-strength France. But the visitors scored two tries to none and won 24-15. Classy centre Romeo Gontineac won the first of his 75 caps for Romania.

1979
Canada's Sandra Post became the only women to retain the Colgate Dinah Shore golf tournament until Annika Sörenstam in 2002.

On the same day in 1984, Julie Inkster won the same tournament, by now renamed the Nabisco Dinah Shore. It became the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2002. Very tasty.

1922
France got a grateful reception from the Dublin crowd when they ran onto the pitch for the rugby international at the height of the Troubles. The locals got the result they wanted, too. George Stephenson's converted try put them 5-0 up just before half-time, and although Jep Pascot scored one for France after 50 minutes, a penalty by winger Tommy Wallis won the match 8-3. The sides finished joint bottom of the Five Nations table and Wallis didn't play for Ireland again.

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