• May 10 down the years

Hagen lands fourth Open

Walter Hagan captained the US Ryder Cup team six times © Getty Images

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1929
Walter Hagen won the Open for the fourth time. It was the 11th time he won a Major, a record until Jack Nicklaus appeared - and Hagen played before the Masters existed. Here at Muirfield, he broke the field as early as the second round, when his 67 equalled the lowest in any Major and broke the Open record set by JH Taylor, 25 years earlier. Two closing rounds of 75 gave Hagen the title by six shots from US Open champion Johnny Farrell.

1966
Jonathan Edwards was born in London and became the ultimate before-and-after man. By the end of 1994, his biggest achievement was winning the World Cup, with its restricted entry. He'd just finished second in the Commonwealth Games for the second time, and his longest jump was only 17.44 metres, not even a British record. Then, out of nowhere, at the age of 29, he suddenly exploded across 1995. He jumped a personal best 17.72 in the European Cup - but also a monstrous 18.43 in the same competition. Wind assisted but still unprecedented. He achieved two more 17.70s the following month, base camps for his world record 17.98 in Spain and the two he set at the World Championships, culminating in the 18.29 that's likely to be with us for a while yet. Hot favourite for the 1996 Olympics, Edwards lost to the second-longest jump of all time, but won the gold four years later when he was 34. He also hoovered up the European outdoor title (with a giant 17.99) and even that elusive Commonwealth gold. A committed Christian for a while, he missed the 1991 World Championships because he wouldn't compete on a Sunday, but changed that approach in time for the 1993 Worlds.

1960
Merlene Ottey was born in Jamaica. One of the most consistently fast 200 metre runners of all time, she won bronze at the Olympics in 1980, 1984, and 1992 before blowing her big chance in 1996. In the absence of any great specialists, she finished second to Marie-José Perec, the double 400 metre champion. Ottey came even closer in the 100 metres. Bronze in 1984 and 2000 sandwiched by an agonising silver in 1996, when she clocked the same time as the winner. She won silver in the sprint relay in 2000, 20 years after her first Olympic medal. By the time Jamaica won the gold four years later, Ottey was gone - though she did compete for Slovenia at the 2006 European Championships when she was 46 years old. She won nine Olympics medals but no golds, although she had more success in the World Championships, winning the 200 metres in 1993 and 1995, and the Commonwealth Games, where she won the 200 in 1982 and did the sprint double in 1990. Her fastest times of 10.74 and 21.64 will probably remain Commonwealth records for the foreseeable future. She tested positive for the steroid nandrolone in 1999 but was cleared by the IAAF.

Mika Hakkinen was known as the Flying Finn © Sutton Images

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1998
Mika Häkkinen won the Spanish Grand Prix. David Coulthard finished second in the race and third in the Championship. Michael Schumacher finished third in the race and second in the Championship.

1959
Jack Brabham won a Formula One race for the first time. The Monaco Grand Prix was the first of the season, and he set the fastest lap on the way. Britain's Tony Brooks finished second in the race and the Championship. Brabham won a Grand Prix for the last time on March 7, 1970.

1964
The true Prince of Monaco, Britain's Graham Hill, won the Grand Prix for the second year in a row but didn't go on to regain the world title. He won in Monaco for the fifth time on May 18, 1969.

1937
Tamara Press was born in Ukraine. The equally scary Irina Press was born there on March 10, 1939. The Press sisters are still notorious in track and field, Tamara exclusively in field. In the discus, she won Olympic silver in 1960 and gold in 1964, gold in two European Championships, and set six world records. But she was even more dominant in the shot, winning two Olympic golds and one in the Europeans. She didn't set more than five world records only because she improved it in great chunks, from someone else's 16.76 metres to 18.59. Legend has it that her weight training routines put many male throwers to shame. She and Irina disappeared from international competition when gender tests were introduced in 1966.

1870
Two British boxers fought for the American heavyweight title. Yes, you read that right. Tom Allen had been living in the States for some time. He claimed the title when another claimant refused to fight him, and now met Jem Mace, boxing's greatest pioneer. Mace taught boxing all over the world, organising tournaments and developing fighters. As a boxer himself, he had all the skills and a wicked punch. Above all, he kept himself fit, so he had a long career. By the time he faced Allen, he was 39 but visibly trim and hard whereas the younger man looked distinctly flabby. That lack of conditioning told from the start. Allen did well to last 45 minutes, because it was a massacre all the way through. Mace knocked him down in the second round, and although the old man was on the floor in the ninth, Allen could barely see by then. There were a lot of wrestling holds in those days, and the last of these left Allen with a dislocated shoulder and his corner throwing in the sponge.

1970
The Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup by winning four games to nil against the St Louis Blues, who lost the finals for the third year in a row, the only times they've gone that far.

1973
Complete revenge in basketball's NBA finals. Last year the LA Lakers beat the New York Knicks 4-1. Today the Knicks beat the Lakers by the same score.

1938
Manuel Santana was born in Madrid. A toothy and artistic clay court player, he won the French singles title in 1961 and 1964, beating the equally filigree Nicola Pietrangeli each time. Not for them the biffing and bashing of Borg and Courier in later years. Santana's skills transferred to Wimbledon, where he won the singles in 1966 - but only because Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall were banned as professionals and defending champion Roy Emerson was injured in an earlier round. Santana's game wasn't ideal for fast courts against top players: he led Spain to the Davis Cup Challenge Round in 1965 and 1967, but the ties were played on grass in Australia, and he lost both his singles matches that mattered.

1883
Victor Johnson was born in Warwickshire. One of the top sprint cyclists of his day, he won the world amateur title in 1908 less than two weeks after his gold medal in the 660 yards race at the Olympic Games in London. He set three world records, including 28.0 seconds for 440 yards from a standing start, which lasted 21 years.

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