Story of the years

1890s

1899 L.A.’s Jim Jeffries knocks out Bob Fitzimmons to win the heavyweight title.

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1900s

1902 In the first football game for the Tournament of Roses, Michigan defeats Stanford, 49-0, at Tournament Park. The game was replaced by a chariot race the next year. Football would not return until 1916.

1903 The Los Angeles Angels begin more than 50 years of play in the Pacific Coast League.

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1920s

1923 USC defeats Penn State, 14-3, before 43,000 in the first Rose Bowl game played in the Rose Bowl.

• Another first for USC, with the first football game at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. USC defeats Pomona, 23-7.

1926 Red Grange and the barnstorming Chicago Bears defeat the L.A. Tigers at the Coliseum before 65,270, the largest crowd to see a pro football game.

1928 USC wins its first football national championship with a 9-0-1 record.

1929 California center Roy Riegels recovers a fumble but runs 70 yards in the wrong direction, setting up a safety in the Bears’ 8-7 Rose Bowl loss to Georgia Tech.

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1930s

1931 USC ends Notre Dame’s 26-game unbeaten streak with a 16-14 victory before the first sellout at Notre Dame Stadium. The Trojans are greeted by 300,000 fans on their return to L.A.

1932 USC defeats Tulane, 21-12, in the Rose Bowl to win the national championship.

• The Summer Olympics open at the Coliseum. Babe Didrikson wins gold medals in the javelin and the 80-meter hurdles, and ties for first in the high jump.

1933 USC makes it consecutive national titles and completes a 10-0 season with a 35-0 victory over Pittsburgh in the Rose Bowl.

1934 Santa Anita opens. The Santa Anita Handicap is the first $100,000 race.

1935 USC wins its first of nine consecutive NCAA men’s track titles under Coach Dean Cromwell.

1938 They’re off and running at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, the second major track in the area.

1939 Duke hadn’t been scored on all season until USC backup quarterback Doyle Nave threw a touchdown pass to Al Krueger in the final seconds for a 7-3 Trojan victory in the Rose Bowl.

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1940s

1940 Seabiscuit comes back from injury and wins the Santa Anita Handicap, becoming the highest-earning horse in history. It is the final race for the crowd favorite. Might make a good movie.

1944 USC defeats Washington, 29-0, in the only Rose Bowl that is not intersectional because of wartime restrictions.

1946 The NFL-champion Cleveland Rams become the Los Angeles Rams.

1947 Pasadena’s (and UCLA’s) Jackie Robinson breaks baseball’s color barrier by playing with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

1948 Ben Hogan wins the U.S. Open at Riviera Country Club with a record score of 276. It his Hogan’s third win in 18 months at the course, which still goes by the nickname “Hogan’s Alley.”

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1950s

1951 The Rams win their only NFL championship in Los Angeles, beating the Cleveland Browns, 24-17, at the Coliseum on a 73-yard pass from Norm Van Brocklin to Tom Fears in the fourth quarter.

1954 UCLA, under Coach Red Sanders, wins its only national championship in football, scoring a 34-0 victory over USC to finish 9-0.

1956 Sugar Ray Robinson knocks out Carl “Bobo” Olson in the fourth round at Wrigley Field to retain the world middleweight championship.

1957 Brooklyn owner Walter O’Malley officially announces that the Dodgers will move to L.A. in time for the 1958 season.

1958 The Dodgers play their first home game in the L.A. Coliseum against the San Francisco Giants in front of 78,672 fans. The Dodgers win, 6-5.

1959 A baseball record 93,103 fans pack the Coliseum to pay tribute to catcher Roy Campanella, who was paralyzed in a car accident before the Dodgers moved to the West Coast.

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1960s

1960

The expansion Los Angeles Angels join the American League.

1961 Jim Murray writes his first column for The Times.

1962 The Dodgers play their first game at Dodger Stadium, losing to the Reds, 6-3, in front of 52,564.

1962 USC goes 11-0 and wins its first national football title under John McKay.

1964 UCLA goes 30-0 and wins its first NCAA men’s basketball title.

1965 Sandy Koufax pitches his fourth no-hitter, and first perfect game, in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium. He later wins Game 7 of the World Series against Minnesota.

1966 UCLA gets its first Rose Bowl victory by upsetting top-ranked Michigan State, 14-12.

1967 In the first Super Bowl, at the Coliseum, Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs of the upstart American Football League, 35-10.

1968 UCLA’s 47-game men’s basketball winning streak ends at the Astrodome against Houston, 71-69, before the largest crowd to see a basketball game, 52,693. But the Bruins go on to win the national title.

1969 UCLA wins an unprecedented third consecutive NCAA basketball title. It will win the next four.

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1970s

1970

Ontario Motor Speedway (“the Indy of the West”) opens with the California 500. Jim McElreath wins before a crowd of 180,223. The track closes a decade later.

1971 USC goes 24-2 in basketball, with both losses to UCLA, and the Trojans don’t qualify for the NCAA tournament. UCLA beats Villanova for its fifth NCAA title in a row.

1972 The Lakers win their first NBA title in Los Angeles.

1973 The Angels’ Nolan Ryan throws two no-hitters, striking out a total of 29 batters against Kansas City and Detroit. He goes on to break Sandy Koufax’s season record with 383 strikeouts.

1974 Notre Dame defeats UCLA, 71-70, ending the Bruins’ 88-game basketball winning streak. Later that year, Dodger pitcher Al Downing gives up Hank Aaron’s record 715th home run in Atlanta.

1975 UCLA defeats Kentucky, 92-85, in the NCAA title game and John Wooden’s final game. It is his 10th NCAA title in 12 years.

• The Lakers bring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar back to L.A., trading Elmore Smith, Dave Meyers, Junior Bridgeman and Brian Winters to Milwaukee.

1976 After 23 years at the helm, Walter Alston retires as Dodger manager and is replaced by Tom Lasorda.

1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew suffers his first loss, finishing fourth, 16 lengths behind winner J.O. Tobin, in the Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park.

1978 The Dodgers become the first team to draw 3 million fans. They win the NL pennant but lose the World Series to the New York Yankees in six games.

1979 The Lakers, who have the first pick in the draft, reach an agreement with a 19-year-old, tall, skinny point guard from Michigan State: Earvin “Magic” Johnson.

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1980s

1980 It’s Showtime! Rookie Magic Johnson, playing center in place of an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, has 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists as the Lakers defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, 123-107, to win the NBA title in six games.

1981 The Dodgers rally from a series deficit for the third straight time in the playoffs and defeat the Yankees in six games to win the World Series.

1982 Cheryl Miller scores 105 points for Riverside Poly in a 179-15 girls’ high school basketball victory over Norte Vista.

• Magic Johnson is the MVP of the playoffs as the Lakers defeat the 76ers in the Finals for the second time in three years. Johnson was also MVP of the 1980 Finals.

1983 USC’s women’s basketball team, led by Cheryl Miller, wins the first of two consecutive NCAA titles.

1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar breaks Wilt Chamberlain’s career scoring record of 31, 419 points in a game played at Las Vegas. Abdul-Jabbar finished with 38,387.

• The Summer Olympics return to Los Angeles and are a rousing success, athletically and financially, despite a boycott by Eastern Bloc nations that leaves the U.S. dominating the medal count. Carl Lewis wins four gold medals in track and field, equaling Jesse Owens’ record.

• The Rams’ Eric Dickerson breaks O.J. Simpson’s NFL season rushing mark in the second-to-last game of the season. Dickerson’s record of 2,105 yards still stands.

1985 After eight failed attempts (including in Minneapolis), the Lakers end the Boston mystique, defeating the Celtics in Game 6 at the Boston Garden, 111-100, to win the NBA title.

1986 USC loses at Hawaii, 5-3, in the final game of Rod Dedeaux’s 45-year baseball coaching career. Dedeaux won 11 national championships and sent 59 former players to the major leagues.

1987 The New York Giants win their first NFL title since 1956 with a 39-20 victory over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI at the Rose Bowl.

1988 Wayne Gretzky is traded to the Kings from the Edmonton Oilers for two players, three first-round draft picks and $15 million.

• A hobbled Kirk Gibson hits a two-out, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Oakland in Game 1 of the World Series. The Dodgers defeat the A’s in five games.

1989 Wayne Gretzky becomes the NHL’s all-time leading point scorer during a 5-4 win over his old team, Edmonton.

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1990s

1990 Loyola Marymount’s Hank Gathers collapses on the court during a West Coast Conference tournament game and dies. The high-scoring Lions then go on a sensational NCAA tournament run to the Elite Eight.

1991 Magic Johnson announces his retirement from the Lakers because he is HIV-positive.

1992 The Golden Boy: Lightweight boxer Oscar De La Hoya of East L.A. wins a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics, fulfilling a promise to his dying mother.

1993 The Kings defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time. They go on to lose to the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

• Former Heisman winner O.J. Simpson leads police on a low-speed chase to his home in Brentwood. He is charged with double murder, but found not guilty in 1995.

• The United States defeats Colombia, 2-1, at a World Cup soccer match at the Rose Bowl. Brazil would go on to defeat Italy in the final at the Rose Bowl.

• The Rams play their final game before moving to St. Louis and lose to the Redskins, 24-21, in front of only 25,705 at Anaheim Stadium. The Raiders lose to the Chiefs, 19-9, at the Coliseum. They would return to Oakland in 1995.

1995 Tyus Edney goes the length of the court in 4.8 seconds as UCLA defeats Missouri, 75-74, in the second round of the NCAA tournament. UCLA, under Coach Jim Harrick, defeats Arkansas, 89-78, to win the Bruins’ first NCAA basketball title since John Wooden’s retirement.

1996 Magic Johnson comes out of retirement and nearly has a triple-double against Golden State. He averages 14.6 points in 32 games.

• The Los Angeles Galaxy makes its debut in Major League Soccer and attracts 69,255 to the Rose Bowl to see a 2-1 victory over the MetroStars.

• The Lakers trade Vlade Divac to Charlotte for the rights to high schooler Kobe Bryant. July 18: Jerry West gets his man, as the Lakers sign free agent Shaquille O’Neal to a $121-million contract.

1997 California Speedway opens in Fontana.

1998 The Dodgers are sold to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., ending 40 years of O’Malley family ownership in Los Angeles.

1999 Brandi Chastain scores the clinching penalty kick in front of President Clinton and another 90,184 fans at the Rose Bowl as the United States edges China, 5-4 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie, to win the women’s World Cup.

• Staples Center, new home of the Lakers and Kings, opens with a Bruce Springsteen concert.

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2000s

2000 Shaquille O’Neal is the Finals MVP for the first of three consecutive years as the Lakers defeat the Indiana Pacers, 116-111, in Game 6 at Staples Center for their first title in 12 years.

2001 The Lakers complete the best postseason in history with a 15-1 record, making it consecutive titles with a 108-96 victory over the 76ers.

2002 After rallying from a 5-0 deficit in Game 6, the Angels beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1, in Game 7 to win the franchise’s first World Series title.

2003 Pele takes the ceremonial first kick as the $150-million Home Depot Center opens on the campus of Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, giving Los Angeles its first soccer-specific stadium.

• Kobe Bryant is charged with felony sexual assault in Colorado. Charges would be dropped a year later.

2004 USC defeats Michigan in the Rose Bowl, 28-14, and wins the Associated Press national championship with a 12-1 record.

2005 No. 1 USC routs No. 2 Oklahoma, 55-19, in the Orange Bowl for its second consecutive national championship and first BCS title.

2006 Kobe Bryant scores 81 points, second-highest in NBA history, in a victory over Toronto. He had scored 62 points against Dallas a month before.

Compiled by Steve Horn and Houston Mitchell, Times staff writers.