Dec. 31
1961 — Paul Hornung, on leave from the Army, scores 19 points to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 37-0 win over the New York Giants for their seventh NFL championship. Green Bay’s Bart Starr throws three touchdown passes in the first title game ever played in Green Bay.
1962 — The American Basketball League folds. The ABL played one full season, 1961-1962, and part of this season. The ABL is the first basketball league to have a three point shot for baskets scored far away from the goal. The league also had a 30-second shooting clock and a wider free throw lane, 18 feet instead of the standard 12.
1973 — Third-ranked Notre Dame edges top-ranked Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl. Notre Dame’s Bob Thomas kicks a 19-yard field goal with 4:26 left to give the Irish a one-point lead. With two minutes left, the Irish clinch the victory when on third-and-8 from the their own 3, Tom Clements completes a 35-yard pass from his own end zone to Robin Weber, and Notre Dame runs out the clock.
1982 — Jockey Pat Day edges Angel Cordero Jr. by two races to capture leading rider honors. Day rides Dana’s Woof and Miltons Magic to victory during the evening program at Delta Downs for 399 wins for the year.
1988 — A blinding fog rolls in during the second quarter of the Chicago Bears’ 20-12 NFC semifinal victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field in Chicago. The fog obscures the game from most of the 65,534 fans present and a national television audience that could watch only ground-level shots.
1989 — Jockey Kent Desormeaux sets the world record for most number of wins in a single season. His 598th win is aboard 2-year-old East Royalty in the Inner Harbor Stakes at Laurel Racecourse.
2005 — Harness drivers Catello Manzi and Brian Spears each set single-season records. Manzi, 55, becomes the oldest harness driver to lead North America in victories (727), even without a win on the last day. Sears becomes the first driver to surpass $15 million ($15,085,991) in pursue earnings.
2013 — Johnny Manziel lives up to his nickname “Johnny Football,” leading 20 Texas A&M to another comeback win, 52-48 over No. 22 Duke in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. The Aggies are down 38-17 at halftime but with Manziel at the helm they came back in the highest-scoring game in the bowl’s history. The 2012 Heisman trophy winner throws four touchdown passes, completes 30 of 38 passes for 382 yards and runs for 73 yards and a touchdown.
2016 — Top-ranked Alabama relies on a stifling defense and the bruising runs of Bo Scarbrough to wear down Washington for a 24-7 victory in the Peach Bowl semifinal game.
2016 — Deshaun Watson runs for two touchdowns and throws another and No. 3 Clemson crushes No. 2 Ohio State 31-0 on in the Fiesta Bowl to set up a rematch with Alabama for the College Football Playoff national championship.
2017 — The Cleveland Browns complete the second 0-16 season in NFL history with a 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
2017 — The Buffalo Bills snap the longest current non-playoff streak in North American pro sports with a 22-16 victory at Miami and Cincinnati’s victory at Baltimore. The Bills hadn’t made the postseason since 1999.
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