AP Sportlight

AP Sportlight

Aug. 31

1895 — The first professional football game is played at Latrobe, Pa., between Latrobe and Jeannette, Pa. Latrobe pays $10 to quarterback John Brallier for expenses.

1934 — The Chicago Bears and the College All-Stars played to a 0-0 tie before 79,432 in the first game of this series.

1950 — Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges ties a major league record by hitting four homers in the Dodgers’ 19-3 rout of the Boston Braves. Hodges added a single for 17 total bases.

1959 — Australia beats the defending champion U.S. 3-2 to take the Davis Cup.

1984 — Pinklon Thomas wins a 12-round decision over Tim Witherspoon in Las Vegas to win the WBC heavyweight title.

1985 — Prakas, driven by Bill O’Donnell, sets a trotting mile record with a clocking of 1:53 2-5 at Du Quoin, Ill.

2001 — Pitcher Danny Almonte, who dominated the Little League World Series with his 70 mph fastballs, is ruled ineligible after government records experts determine he actually is 14, and that birth certificates showing he was two years younger are false. The finding nullifies all the victories by his Bronx, N.Y., team, the Rolando Paulino Little League All-Stars.