May 6, 1954 – Great Britain’s distance-runner, Roger Bannister became the first person to record a run of a sub-4 minute mile. According to reports, Bannister ran the mile at Iffley Road Track in Oxford at a time of 3:59:4. For comparison, the current world record for one mile is 3:43.13, set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.
Apparently a fourth-place finish at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, prompted Mr Bannister to push on in his run times to try and accomplish the lofty goal of getting his mile time under 4 minutes.
To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.
