KU History
Building Community through Shared History - A KU Memorial Union Program
  • Saturday, April 21, 1923

    The Great Race

    At 1:00 in the afternoon, on cinders still soaked by the previous day’s rain, the first events of the inaugural Kansas Relays get underway in the newly completed Memorial Stadium.
  • Thursday, January 1, 1948

    Orange You Just Crushed?

    The football Jayhawkers become the first college team from the state of Kansas to play in a bowl game, squaring off against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
  • Sunday, September 27, 1896

    Primary Colors

    The University of Kansas football team dons crimson and blue uniforms for the first time.
  • Sunday, February 3, 2013

    Former KU Basketball Standout B.H. Born Dies

    All-American B.H. Born, a member of the 1952 NCAA National Championship basketball team, died on February 3, 2013, in Peoria, Ill.  The 6-foot-9 center played for three conference champion teams which won 63 games, losing only 14. He was named the most outstanding player during the 1953 NCAA title game where KU lost to Indiana 69-68.  Click on the story to read more.
  • Saturday, November 14, 1896

    A Football Fatality

    With less than a minute to go in a football game at McCook Field between Nebraska’s Doane College and the University of Kansas, Bert Serf, a member of the visiting team, suffers a fatal injury while making a touchdown-saving tackle.
Saturday, October 31, 1891
A Rivalry Is Born
The flagship universities of Kansas and Missouri initiate what will become one of the oldest rivalries in NCAA Division IA football. Unfortunately, with MU's seceding from the Big 12 in 2011, the rivalry is on hold.
Thursday, November 30, 1893
Tiger By The Tail
KU’s football squad squares off against its bitter rivals from the University of Missouri in the first Thanksgiving Day game between the two schools, inaugurating an 18-year tradition in which the Jayhawkers would dominate the Tigers.
Sunday, September 27, 1896
Primary Colors
The University of Kansas football team dons crimson and blue uniforms for the first time.
Saturday, November 14, 1896
A Football Fatality
With less than a minute to go in a football game at McCook Field between Nebraska’s Doane College and the University of Kansas, Bert Serf, a member of the visiting team, suffers a fatal injury while making a touchdown-saving tackle.
Saturday, November 6, 1909
Touchdowns And Tragedy
Quarterback Tommy Johnson runs his way into Jayhawk immortality with a 70-yard punt return for the only score in a KU gridiron victory over Nebraska.
Friday, January 28, 1910
The Day They Almost Abolished Football
J.W. Gleed, a member of the Board of Regents, sparks a campus-wide debate when he proposes abolishing KU’s participation in intercollegiate football.
Thursday, February 8, 1912
They've Come A Long Way, Maybe
Sports-minded females at the University of Kansas organize the Women’s Athletic Association.
Saturday, April 21, 1923
The Great Race
At 1:00 in the afternoon, on cinders still soaked by the previous day’s rain, the first events of the inaugural Kansas Relays get underway in the newly completed Memorial Stadium.
Friday, July 8, 1932
KU's Greatest Grappler
KU football and wrestling star Pete Mehringer qualifies for the 1932 Olympics.
Monday, February 20, 1939
The Return Of Jarring Jim
More than six years after breaking Jim Thorpe’s decathlon record, James Bausch – KU football, basketball, and track star extraordinaire – makes an unexpected visit to his alma mater.
Saturday, April 20, 1940
Cunningham Calls It A Career
Glenn Cunningham, the nation’s most popular Depression-era track star, competes in his final race at the Kansas Relays.
Thursday, January 1, 1948
Orange You Just Crushed?
The football Jayhawkers become the first college team from the state of Kansas to play in a bowl game, squaring off against Georgia Tech in the Orange Bowl.
Wednesday, March 26, 1952
KU's Greatest Team?
The University of Kansas men’s basketball team wins its first NCAA national title.
Monday, December 3, 1956
Center Of Attention
Wilt Chamberlain, arguably the most dominant player in the history of basketball, makes his spectacular KU debut by scoring 52 points as the Jayhawks crush Northwestern in Allen Field House.
Saturday, October 27, 1962
Sayers Soars
Sophomore tailback Gale Sayers sets a new KU and Big Eight Conference record by rushing for 283 yards against a porous Oklahoma State defense.
Saturday, April 23, 1966
Ryun's Run
KU freshman track star Jim Ryun knocks nearly eight seconds off the Kansas Relays record for the mile run in a race that launches perhaps the greatest three-month stretch of his remarkable career.
Tuesday, October 15, 1968
Four For Four
Former Jayhawk Al Oerter uncorks a toss of 212 feet, 6.5 inches in the discus finals at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City, becoming the first person to win a gold medal for the same event at four consecutive Olympics.
Monday, November 18, 1968
Year Of The Pigskin
“Pepper” Rodgers, KU’s head football coach, announces via telephone to a crowd of 1,000 students gathered in front of Strong Hall that the Jayhawks are bound for their second Orange Bowl appearance.
Tuesday, January 6, 1981
Wonder Woodard
In the opening moments of a home game against Stephen F. Austin University, KU women’s basketball phenom Lynette Woodard sinks a shot from the top of the key that gives her a total of 3,206 career points and moves her into sole possession of the AIAW career scoring record.
Friday, March 20, 1981
Shocked!
In the first meeting between the two schools in a quarter century, Wichita State hits a last-second shot to upend KU in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
Saturday, April 21, 1984
Mills' Moment
The University of Kansas inducts Olympic gold medallist Billy Mills into its Athletics Hall of Fame.
Monday, April 4, 1988
Danny And The Miracles
Danny Manning leads the Jayhawk basketball team to its first NCAA championship in 36 years.
Friday, March 21, 1997
March Sadness
In one of the most painful losses KU basketball fans have endured, Arizona upsets the No. 1 ranked Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.
Monday, April 23, 2012
KU, Lawrence To Rename Stretches of Two Streets After Don Fambrough
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The University of Kansas and the City of Lawrence will rename stretches of two streets after former KU football coach and player Don Fambrough at a ceremony on Saturday, April 28.
Monday, June 18, 2012
In the Olympic Spotlight
The Summer Olympics are just around the corner (opening ceremonies on Friday, July 27th), but before we make the leap to London, KUHistory.com looks back 80 years to the Olympics of 1932.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Sasha Kaun, Olympian
Former KU basketball center Sasha Kaun, member of the 2008 national champion team, is a member of the Russian national team and will be competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Friday, November 30, 2012
A Star Shines for the First Time
Due to freshman ineligibility rules of the time, Wilt Chamberlain's first appearance was as a sophomore.  Today we are very happy with a new member of the team scoring as many as 14 points on their first appearance as a Jayhawk, but the amazing Chamberlain scored 52 in his debut.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Former KU Basketball Standout B.H. Born Dies
All-American B.H. Born, a member of the 1952 NCAA National Championship basketball team, died on February 3, 2013, in Peoria, Ill.  The 6-foot-9 center played for three conference champion teams which won 63 games, losing only 14. He was named the most outstanding player during the 1953 NCAA title game where KU lost to Indiana 69-68.  Click on the story to read more.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Three Enshrined in Kansas Sports Hall of Fame
Three members of KU's 1952 National Championship team, Al Kelley, Bob Kenney and Bill Lienhard, were inducted into the State of Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita on Sunday.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
'Jayhawkers' To Premiere Feb. 14th
University of Kansas Film & Media Studies Professor Kevin Willmott’s latest film, "Jayhawkers," will premiere at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at the Lied Center.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Former KU Basketball Player Ron Loneski Dies
Ron Loneski, a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain in the mid-1950s, died Friday, August 1, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital at the age of 77. Arrangements will be announced by Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Clyde Lovellette Dies
Clyde Lovellette, a two-time All-American center for the Kansas Jayhawks basketball squads of the early 1950s, died last Wednesday at the age of 86. Read more about the former USA Olympian at KUathletics.com.
Subscribe to Athletics

KU Today
Far Above

Give to KU »

Why KU
Apply »
One of 34 U.S. public institutions in the prestigious Association of American Universities
44 nationally ranked graduate programs.
—U.S. News & World Report
Top 50 nationwide for size of library collection.
—ALA
5th nationwide for service to veterans —"Best for Vets: Colleges," Military Times