August 3, 1852 – It was the first American intercollegiate sporting event that had ever taken place. The Harvard heavyweight rowing crew competed against their rivals Yale on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. Harvard triumphed by 2 lengths in over 2 miles over the Eli rowing group.
This started the competitive athletic rivalry between the two Eastern Universities. Most famously the football rivalry between the schools dates back to 1875 and is the second-oldest rivalry in college football, but as we see these two were rivals long before that.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
More From Sports History Network

Sports History On This Day: September 25
September 25, 1988 – USA, USA, USA those were the chants across the country as

Sports History On This Day: September 24
September 24, 1919 – It was a sign of good things to come when then,

Sports History On This Day: September 23
September 23, 1845 – The first organized baseball team, the NY Knickerbockers formed, after

Sports History On This Day: September 22
September 1927 – As our late friend Frank Reading would say, “This fight was one

Sports History On This Day: September 21
September 21, 1955 – The end of an era in the ring was occurring. It

Sports History On This Day: September 19
September 19, 1901 – The world of sports briefly stopped, at least here in the

Sports History On This Day: September 18
September 18, 1938 – Possibly the lowest scoring victory in NFL history was accomplished. We

Sports History On This Day: September 17
September 17, 1954 – Re-matches in title fights generally have taken a while to reschedule