THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY: 10/16

1897 – Michigan beats Ohio State 34-0 in the first ever football meeting between the two rivals.

1946 – Playing in his first NHL game, Gordie Howe scores a goal and gets into two fights.

1968 – American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos give the Black Power salute while on the medal podium at the Mexico City Olympics.

1969 – The “Miracle Mets” win the World Series, were once 100-1 odds to win it all. 

1991 – Roy Tarpley of the Dallas Mavericks becomes the seventh NBA player banned from the league for life under the anti-drug policy.

2004 – 17-year old Lionel Messi makes his La Liga debut for FC Barcelona.

2005 – The White Sox beat the Angels in five games to win the ALCS.

2011 – Race car driver Dan Wheldon dies in a fiery 15 car wreck at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

2017 – The University of Louisville fires men’s basketball Rick Pitino after it is announced that the school is under investigation as part of a federal corruption probe.