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A man making fists, ready to box.

Storm of Blows

In the 1890s, boxing went from lower class brawling to upper class show of masculinity.
by Melissa Haley via Commonplace on January 1, 2003
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Black Champions: Interview with Wilma Rudolph

An Olympic runner reflects on segregation and her first experiences with integrated sports events.
via American Archive of Public Broadcasting on April 11, 1985
Military members exercising at a CrossFit gym.

CrossFit and the Frontier Spirit

The gunslinging mojo of a fitness craze.
by Katie Rose Hejtmanek via Arc: Religion, Politics, Et Cetera on October 13, 2025
Postcard of West Texas State College, 1946.
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The Most Integrated Institution in West Texas

What happened after West Texas State College desegregated its football team in the 1960s.
by Jeff Roche via HNN on October 8, 2025
Hank Thompson baseball card

Hank Thompson Lived A Wild, Tragic, Forgotten Life In Baseball

A baseball’s forgotten pioneer was MLB’s third Black player. A war hero and gifted hitter, his troubled life defied the halo.
by Robert Weintraub via Defector on September 17, 2025
A teacher holds a students feet while the student does situps as part of a fitness test.

Can President Trump Run a Mile?

By reviving the Presidential Fitness Test, Trump is joining his predecessors in setting forth a competition that he would likely fail at.
by Zach Helfand via The New Yorker on August 12, 2025
Aerial view of the atomic bomb's destruction in Nagasaki.

The Poet Who Watched a Football Game on Nagasaki’s Atomic Killing Field

On William W. Watt’s experience in the aftermath of nuclear devastation.
by Greg Mitchell via Literary Hub on August 8, 2025
Images of historical figures including Bejamin Franklin and Albert Einstein are overlaid on a green and white background.

Who’ll Be in Trump’s Hero Garden? There Are a Few Surprises.

The list of nearly 250 includes the famous, the obscure and, in some cases, the intentionally controversial.
by Bonnie Berkowitz, Hannah Dormido, Kati Perry via Washington Post on July 15, 2025
March Madness basketball
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How Sports Betting Took Over March Madness

For decades, the NCAA vigorously opposed sports gambling. Now, March Madness is one of the most bet-on sporting events.
by Johnathan D. Cohen via Made By History on March 20, 2025

The Naval Scientist Who Wanted To Know How Football Players Would Survive Nuclear War

It wouldn’t take much, the fan explained, just some radioactive material inside the players, who would then undergo a physical examination.
by Chris Roberts via Defector on January 24, 2025
Illustration of Willie Mayes holding a baseball bat, while men watch from the city.

A Giant of a Man

The legacy of Willie Mays and the Birmingham ballpark where he first made his mark.
by Eric Wills via The American Scholar on October 10, 2024
A colorful collage of Chicago Hustle basketball players during games.

When Chicago Hustled

In the late ’70s, a pro women’s hoops team briefly captivated the city by living up to its name. Then it all unraveled.
by Jarrett Van Meter via Chicago Magazine on September 18, 2024
Runners on a track and crowds in the stands at the All Africa Games, 1973.
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Afraid of an Inspiring Olympics Story

How Europe reacted when Ethiopia tried to join the famed global sporting tradition at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
by Hannah Borenstein via HNN on July 16, 2024
A team photograph of the Homestead Grays.

The Negro Leagues Are Officially Part of MLB History — With the Records to Prove It

The MLB incorporated the statistics of 2,300 Black athletes who played in the segregated Negro Leagues, making the Josh Gibson its new all-time batting leader.
by Rachel Treisman via NPR on May 29, 2024
Picture of the book, "Cracks in the Outfield Wall," by Chris Holaday.

American Legion Baseball, Episode 1

The story of an incident that may have been the first time the issue of race was ever addressed on a baseball field in the Carolinas.
by Chris Holaday via UNC Press Blog on April 25, 2024
The Civic Arena that hosted basketball teams from 1961-1972.

Pittsburgh Was Briefly a Basketball Town. Could It Happen Again?

Connie Hawkins overcame scandal and setbacks to star for the Pittsburgh Pipers, leading them to an ABA title, paving the way for NBA reforms.
by Jonathan Burdick via Pittsburgh City Paper on April 1, 2024
Christy Mathewson, a pitcher for the New York Giants from 1900-1916.

When New York Made Baseball and Baseball Made New York

The rise of the sport as we know it was centered in Gotham, where big stadiums, heroic characters, and epic sportswriting produced a pastime that bound a city together.
by Adam Gopnik via The New Yorker on March 25, 2024
Moe Berg in his baseball uniform holding a catchers glove

The Baseball Player-Turned-Spy Who Went Undercover to Assassinate the Nazis' Top Nuclear Scientist

During World War II, the OSS sent Moe Berg to Europe, where he gathered intel on Germany's efforts to build an atomic bomb.
by Zachary Clary via Smithsonian Magazine on August 31, 2023
Bruce Lee in a classic pose from the movie ‘Enter the Dragon.'

The Fighting Spirit of Bruce Lee

The actor and martial arts star also wanted to be regarded as a poet-philosopher.
by Jeff Chang via The Wall Street Journal on August 12, 2023
The Milwaukee Turners acrobatic team, 1866.

Socialist Gym Rats Fought to End Slavery in America

Veterans of the 1848 German revolution immigrated to America with three passions burning in their hearts: barbells, beer, and socialism.
by Devin Thomas O’Shea via Jacobin on August 9, 2023
Two horses standing outside of a horse trailer.

A Gallop Through a Horse's Pedigree

An in-depth look at horse breeding.
by Mark Harvey via 3 Quarks Daily on June 5, 2023
A horse and rider diving into a pool.

Remembering When Horse Diving Was an Actual Thing

For 50 years, this bizarre act was one of the Atlantic City's biggest attractions.
by Diana Hubbell via Atlas Obscura on May 9, 2023
Vince McMahon

Vince McMahon Controls Wrestling History in Order to Control All of Wrestling

How the WWE chairman warped pro wrestling all the way to WrestleMania 39.
by Abraham Josephine Riesman via Polygon on March 27, 2023
Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurts shaking hands at Super Bowl 57.
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It Took Until 2023 for Two Black QBs to Start in a Super Bowl. Here’s Why.

Ideas dating back to slavery have minimized opportunities for Black quarterbacks in the NFL.
by Kate Aguilar via Made By History on February 12, 2023
Strongman Eugen Sandow poses in gladiator sandals and a bejeweled belt, standing on an intricately designed rug and leaning on a classical column, a setting designed to present him as civilized rather than as a “mere breaker of stones.”

Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America's Exercise Obsession

A century ago, physical fitness was part of a strange subculture, where strong bodies were extraordinary and meant to placed on pedestals for people to observe.
by Natalia Mehlman Petrzela via The Gotham Center on January 25, 2023
UCLA guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. and USC forward Isaiah Mobley during an NCAA game March 5 in Los Angeles.
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History Explains Why It Makes Sense for USC and UCLA to Join the Big Ten

It's the resurrection of an old dream.
by Andrew McGregor via Made By History on July 11, 2022
Ralph Samuelson water skiing

The Man Who Invented Water Skiing

One hundred years ago, Ralph Samuelson successfully skied across the waters of Lake Pepin.
by Sarah Kuta via Smithsonian Magazine on July 1, 2022
"IX" surrounded by female athletes

The Pursuit of Equal Play: Reflecting on 50 Years of Title IX

How a 37-word clause tucked inside a new education legislation reshape women’s sports forever.
by Maggie Mertens via Sports Illustrated on May 19, 2022
Nixon, sitting in front of a Meet the Press backdrop, gestures to someone out of frame as a production crew member adjusts his chair.

The Secret History Of Richard Nixon, Mets Sicko

The less known story of Richard Nixon and his genuine love and care for his hometown team, the New York Mets.
by Richard Staff via Defector on May 19, 2022
A diagram of early bicycle wheels.

Going Nowhere Fast

The strange past and even stranger future of the stationary bicycle.
by Jody Rosen via The Atlantic on May 18, 2022
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