January 4
1970 — The Minnesota Vikings become the first expansion team to win the NFL title, beating the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in 8-degree weather in Bloomington, Minnesota.
1970 — Kansas City's defense, highlighted by four interceptions, including three in the final quarter, carries the Chiefs to a 17-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders in the final AFL title game .
1976 — The Dallas Cowboys become the first wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl with a 37-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC title game.
1986 — Eric Dickerson breaks the NFL playoff record with a 248-yard rushing performance and two touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a 20-0 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
1991 — Fu Mingxia, a 12-year-old Chinese girl, becomes the youngest world champion in the history of an aquatic event by winning the gold medal in the women's platform at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia .
1992 — Mike Gartner of the New York Rangers scores his 1,000th NHL point with a power play goal in the third period of a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils.
1997 — The second-year Jacksonville Jaguars defeat the Broncos in Denver to advance to the AFC Championship Game.
2000 — One day after accepting the job as head coach of the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigns and joins the New England Patriots.
2000 — Top-ranked Florida State, the preseason number one, holds off Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to finish 12-0 and win the national championship. Florida State is the first team to go wire-to-wire in the Associated Press poll since preseason rankings began in 1950.
2001 — Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes the 4th player in NBA history to score 30,000 career points; makes a free throw in the 2nd quarter of an 89-83 victory against his former team, the Chicago Bulls.
2003 — Bode Miller wins his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, to move into first place in the overall World Cup standings. This is the first time an American has topped the overall rankings since Phil Mahre in 1983.
2005 — Matt Leinart throws five touchdown passes and Southern California beats Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. USC (13-0) is the first team to repeat as AP national champion since Nebraska in 1994-95 and joins Florida State in 1999 as the only team to go from wire to wire. other – from preseason to post-bowl – as No. 1. .
2006 — Second-ranked Texas ends Southern California's 34-game winning streak, defeating the two-time defending national champion 41-38 in the Rose Bowl. The Longhorns also break USC's record 33 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 team in the Associated Press Top 25. The Longhorns, a unanimous choice, win a national championship for the first time since 1969.
2012 — Geno Smith ties a record for any bowl game with six touchdown passes, including four to Tavon Austin, and West Virginia sets a bowl scoring record by beating Clemson 70-33 in the Orange Bowl.
2013 — Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the first American woman to win two World Cup races before turning 18. The 17-year-old wins a slalom in Zagreb, Croatia, by a whopping 1.19 seconds. His first victory came last month in Sweden.
2014 — Andrew Luck throws four touchdown passes in the second half and scores on a fumble recovery, leading the Indianapolis Colts from a four-touchdown deficit to a historic 45-44 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in a game with joker.