1588: Sir Francis Drake took part in the most famous game of bowls in history on Plymouth Hoe when he received news that the Spanish Armada was off the coast of Cornwall.
1948: The first Olympic Games since 1936 - the Games had been suspended due to World War II - opened at Wembley Stadium.
1973: British driver Roger Williamson died in a fire at the Zandvoort Circuit in Holland, his second Formula One race.
1978: Penny Dean swam the English Channel in a record seven hours 40 minutes.
1989: Cuban high jumper Javier Sotomayor became the first man to clear eight feet (2.44m) at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
1995: Monica Seles beat Martina Navratilova at an exhibition match in Bucharest, Romania. It was Seles' first tennis match in two years after she was stabbed in the back by a Steffi Graf fan during an encounter between the two in Hamburg.
1998: Cliftonville were defeated 8-0 by Slovakian side FC Kosice in a Champions League preliminary round.
2001: Galway defeated Derry 4-23 to 1-11 in the Quarter-Final of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championships at Croke Park, Dublin.
2006: Westmeath beat Galway 1-8 to 0-10 in a Round 4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier at Pearse Stadium, Galway.
2006: Kerry beat Longford 4-11 to 1-11 in a Round 4 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifier at Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney.
2010: Great Britain's Phillips Idowu won the gold medal in the triple jump at the European Championships in Barcelona.
2012: Chinese shooter Yi Siling won the first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games in the women's 10m air rifle.
2015: James Anderson took an Ashes career best of six for 47 as England dominated the opening day of the third Test against Australia at Edgbaston.
2015: Famed racing commentator Sir Peter O'Sullevan - known as the 'Voice of Racing' - died at home in London after a long illness, aged 97.
BIRTHDAYS
Jim Beglin (soccer) - former Liverpool defender turned television summariser, born 1963.
Graham Poll (soccer) - formerly one of Britain's leading referees, now retired, born 1963.
Sally Gunnell (athletics) - former 400 metres hurdler who won gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, born 1966.
Corrado Grabbi (soccer) - former Blackburn striker, born 1975.
Fernando Gonzalez (tennis) - big-hitting Chilean who reached the Australian Open final in 2007, born 1980.
Fernando Alonso (motor racing) - two-time Formula One champion who races for McLaren, born 1981.
Andy Reid (soccer) - Nottingham Forest's former Republic of Ireland midfielder, born 1982.
Eoin Cotter (gaelic games) – Senior footballer for Cork since 2010, born 1987.
Jay Rodriguez (soccer) - Southampton striker, born 1989.
QUICK QUIZ BLITZ
1 When was the last year Kerry had no All-Stars?
2 How many gold medals did Britain win at the 1996 Olympics?
3 When was the last time Offaly won the Leinster Championship?
4 Who are the current Northern Ireland Football League champions?
5 New York has two Major League Baseball teams - what are their names?
(see answers at bottom)
SPORT ON TV
Today (Friday, July 29)
SOCCER: International Champions Cup from Melbourne, Tottenham v Atletico Madrid - Sky Sports 1 1045; Airtricity League - eir Sport 1 1930.
GOLF: US PGA Championship from Baltusrol - Sky Sports 4 1900; Women's British Open from Woburn - BBC2 England 1300; King's Cup from Pattaya - Sky Sports 4 0530.
MOTOR RACING: Formula One, German Grand Prix practice - Sky Sports F1 0845 and 1245, eir Sport 1 0855 and 1255; World Rally Championship, Rally Finland - BT Sport/ESPN 1830.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Challenge Cup semi-final, Wigan v Hull - BBC2 England 1930.
TENNIS: ATP Tour, Rogers Cup from Toronto - Sky Sports 1 1600 and 2330; WTA Tour, Rogers Cup from Montreal - BT Sport 2 1730, BT Sport 1 2330.
SNOOKER: World Open from Yushan - Eurosport 1 0700 and 1230.
RACING: Glorious Goodwood - Channel 4 1335.
EQUESTRIAN: Royal International Horse Show from Hickstead - Sky Sports 2 1400, eir Sport 1 1430.
BASEBALL: MLB, Chicago Cubs v Seattle Mariners - BT Sport/ESPN 1930.
Tomorrow (Saturday, July 30)
SOCCER: International Champions Cup from Dublin, Celtic v Barcelona - Sky Sports 1 1730, Inter Milan v Bayern Munich from Charlotte - Sky Sports 3 2200, Liverpool v AC Milan from Santa Clara - Sky Sports 1 0300 (Sun), Paris St Germain v Leicester from Carson - Sky Sports 1 0500 (Sun); Betfred Cup tie TBC - BT Sport 1 1430.
GOLF: US PGA Championship from Baltusrol - Sky Sports 4 1600; Women's British Open from Woburn - BBC2 England 1400; King's Cup from Pattaya - Sky Sports 4 0530.
CRICKET: First day of the second Test from Kingston, West Indies v India - Sky Sports 5 1730; Royal London Cup, Somerset v Sussex Sharks - Sky Sports 2 1055.
MOTOR RACING: Formula One, German Grand Prix final practice and qualifying - Sky Sports F1 0945 and 1200, eir Sport 1 1255.
RUGBY LEAGUE: Challenge Cup semi-final, Warrington v Wakefield - BBC 2 England 1400.
RUGBY UNION: Super Rugby semi-final, Hurricanes v Chiefs - Sky Sports 1 0830.
TENNIS: ATP Tour, Rogers Cup from Toronto - Sky Sports 2 2000 and 2300; WTA Tour, Rogers Cup from Montreal - BT Sport 2 1800, BT Sport 1 2300.
SNOOKER: World Open from Yushan - Eurosport 1 0700 and 1230.
CYCLING: RideLondon Women's GP - Eurosport 2 1700; RideLondon Classique - BBC2 England 1800; Clasica San Sebastian - Eurosport 2 1430.
BOXING: WBC international featherweight title fight from Leeds, Josh Warrington v Patrick Hyland - Sky Sports 1 2030.
RACING: Channel 4 1330.
EQUESTRIAN: Royal International Horse Show, Hickstead - Sky Sports 5 1400.
MOTORCYCLING: Suzuka 8 Hours - Eurosport 2 0330 (Sun).
SPEEDWAY: World Cup Final from Manchester - BT Sport 1 1900.
BASEBALL: MLB, Toronto Blue Jays v Baltimore Orioles - BT Sport/ESPN 1800, San Francisco Giants v Washington Nationals - BT Sport/ESPN 2100, Miami Marlins v St Louis Cardinals - BT Sport/ESPN 0000 (Sun).
QUICK QUIZ BLITZ Answers: 1 2012; 2 One; 3 1997; 4 Crusaders; 5 The Mets and The Yankees.
