1956 in sports

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (Soccer) 8 Football (American) 9 Football (Rugby) 10 Canadian Football League 11 Golf 12 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 13 Harness Racing 14 Ice Hockey 15 Skiing 16 Tennis 17 General sporting events 18 Births 19 Deaths

Auto Racing

• NASCAR Championship - Buck Baker
• The United States Auto Club (USAC) was founded to take over race sanctioning from the American Automobile Association (AAA).
• USAC Racing:
  • Pat Flaherty won the Indianapolis 500
  • Jimmy Bryan won the season championship
• Formula One Championship - Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina
• 24 hours of Le Mans: the team of Ron Flockhart / Ninian Sanderson won, driving a Jaguar D-Type
• Rally racing:
  • the team of Ronnie Adams / Frank Biggar won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Jaguar Mk VII
• Drag racing:
  • Art Arfons' Allison-powered "Green Monster #6" become the first member of Hot Rod Magazine's new 150-mph Club.
  • Melvin Heath won the NHRA "Top Fuel" Championship at the Nationals

Baseball

• World Series: New York Yankees win 4 games to 3 over the Brooklyn Dodgers Yankees pitcher Don Larsen, pitches the first and only "perfect game" in World Series history, earning himself MVP honors.

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • San Francisco wins 83-71 over Iowa

• NBA Finals:
  • Philadelphia Warriors won 4 games to 1 over the Fort Wayne Pistons

• April 27 - Rocky Marciano retires as the only undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the world with a perfect record (49-0).

• November 30, in Chicago, Illinois - Floyd Patterson knocks out Archie Moore in the 5th round to win the vacant World Heavyweight title.

• Giro d'Italia won by Charly Gaul of Luxembourg
• Tour de France - Roger Walkowiak of France
• World Cycling Championship: Rik Van Steenbergen of Belgium

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: Hayes Alan Jenkins, (United States)
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss, (United States)
  • Pairs champions: Sissy Schwarz & Kurt Oppelt, (Austria)

• England - FA Cup: Manchester City won 3-1 over Birmingham City

• NFL Championship: New York Giants won 47-7 over the Chicago Bears

• Test Series: New Zealand All Blacks defeat South African Springboks 3-1.

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Edmonton Eskimos win 50-27 over the Montreal Alouettes

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters - Jack Burke, Jr
  2. June - US Open - Cary Middlecoff
  3. July - British Open - Peter Thomson
  4. August - PGA Championship - Jack Burke

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Ted Kroll - $72,836

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Kathy Cornelius
• LPGA Championship - Marlene Hagge
• Marlene Hagge: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $20,235.

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Evening Peal
• Canada - Queen's Plate - Canadian Champ
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Ribot
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Talgo

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Gilles de Retz
  2. Epsom Derby - Lavandin
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Cambremer

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Needles
  2. Preakness Stakes - Fabius
  3. Belmont Stakes - Needles

• TheUnited States Pacing Triple Crown races is created with the addition of the Messenger Stakes.
  1. Cane Pace - Noble Adios
  2. Little Brown Jug - Noble Adios
  3. Messenger Stakes - Belle Acton

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - The Intruder
  2. Yonkers Trot
  3. Kentucky Futurity

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Gentleman John

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadiens

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Detroit Red Wings

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Soviet Union defeated the United States

• Alpine Skiing
• The men's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Toni Sailer, Austria
  • Slalom: Toni Sailer, Austria
  • Giant Slalom: Toni Sailer, Austria

  • The women's Olympic Gold Medal:
  • Downhill: Madeleine Berthod, Switzerland
  • Slalom: Renee Colliard, Switzerland
  • Giant Slalom: Ossi Reichert, West Germany

• ISF World Championships:
  • Men's combined champion: Toni Sailer, Austria
  • Women's combined champion: Madeleine Berthod, Switzerland

• Grand Slam in tennis men's results:
  1. Australian Open - Lew Hoad
  2. French Open - Lew Hoad
  3. Wimbledon championships - Lew Hoad
  4. US Open - Ken Rosewall

• Grand Slam in tennis women's results:
  1. Australian Open - Mary Carter
  2. French Open - Althea Gibson
  3. Wimbledon championships - Shirley Fry
  4. US Open - Shirley Fry

• Davis Cup Australia wins 5-0 over the United States in world tennis.

• January 26 - 1956 Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
• Fred Davis retained the World Professional Snooker Championship
• Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia

• February 14 - Dave Dravecky, American baseball player
• March 29 - Kurt Thomas, gymnast
• June 6 - Björn Borg, tennis great
• June 11 - Joe Montana, American football great
• August 22 - Paul Molitor, Baseball Hall of Famer
• October 18 - Martina Navratilova, tennis great
• December 7 - Larry Bird, basketball great

• March 2 - Fred Merkle, Major League Baseball player (1907-1926)
• May 26 - Al Simmons, Major League Baseball player (1924-1944)
• September 7 - C. B. Fry, England international cricketer and rugby player, long jump champion
• September 22 - Jesse Tannehill, Major League Baseball pitcher (1894-1911)
• October 16 - Jules Rimet, a founding father of the Football World Cup
• November 27 - Charlie Peete 27, MLB baseball player, St. Louis Cardinals, plane crash