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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 2, 2009

On this date: 1979 — Yankees catcher Thurman Munson is killed in a plane crash


Associated Press

Aug. 2

1864 — The first Travers Stakes at Saratoga is won by Kentucky, a horse that scores 20 consecutive victories.

1912 — John McDermott wins the U.S. Open golf championship for the second straight year with a 294 total.

1952 — Five American boxers win gold medals at the Olympics, marking the first time the U.S. wins the unofficial team title. The five medalists are flyweight Nate Brooks; light welterweight Charley Adkins; middleweight Floyd Patterson; light heavyweight Norvell Lee and heavyweight Eddie Sanders.

1967 — The New Orleans Saints play their first preseason game and lose to the Los Angeles Rams, 77-16.

1979 — New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson is killed in a plane crash practicing takeoffs and landings near his Ohio home.

1986 — Jackie Joyner sets the world record in the heptathlon at the U.S. Olympic Festival in Houston with 7,158 points.

1992 — Vitaly Scherbo of the Unified Team wins gold medals in the vault, rings, pommel horse and parallel bars to give him a total of six gold, the most won by a gymnast in a single Olympics.

1994 — Algerian Noureddine Morceli sets a world record in the 3,000 meters at a meet in Monte Carlo, finishing in 7 minutes, 25.11 seconds. Morceli shaves nearly 4 seconds off the previous record set in 1992 by Kenyan Moses Kiptanui.

1996 — Down to her final long jump attempt and fighting an injured hamstring, Jackie Joyner-Kersee leaps out of sixth place and ends her Olympic career with a bronze medal. Joyner Kersee jumps 22 feet, 11¾ inches for her sixth Olympic medal.

1998 — Brandie Burton closes with an even-par 72 for a tournament-record 18-under 270, and holds on to win the du Maurier Classic by one stroke over Annika Sorenstam. It's the lowest score in relation to par at a women's major, breaking Betsy King's 17-under 267 in the 1992 LPGA Championship.

2005 — In the largest trade in NBA history, Antoine Walker is dealt from Boston to Miami in a transaction involving five teams and 13 players. The Heat acquire point guard Jason Williams and small forward James Posey from Memphis, while the Grizzlies receive guard Eddie Jones from the Heat. The New Orleans Hornets and Utah Jazz also are involved in the deal.