29 Sep 1951: first nationwide live sporting event

On this day in 1951, a football game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers was the first sporting event broadcast live coast-to-coast.

Here are some other notable sporting-broadcast firsts:

• First American radio broadcast: baseball, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh, 1921
• First worldwide sporting event: 1936 Berlin Olympics
• First American televised baseball game: Princeton Tigers vs. Columbia Lions, New York City, 1939
• First American televised football game: Waynesburg Yellow Jackets vs. Fordham Rams, New York City, 1939

Image: Notre Dame team in the 1950s. Hy Peskin Collection via Helmet Hut