Events at Madison Square Garden - Notable Firsts

Notable Firsts

• February 12, 1879 - The first artificial ice rink in North America opens at the Garden.
• August 1898 - Nikola Tesla demonstrated the first remote controlled robot using radio control.
• 1902 - The first indoor professional American football game is played. The World Series of Pro Football, as it was called, was the first attempt at professional American football championship games.
• 1934 - The first college basketball game at the Garden is played, between the University of Notre Dame and New York University.
• February 28, 1940 - Basketball is televised for the first time (Fordham University vs. the University of Pittsburgh).
• March 19, 1954 - Joey Giardello knocks out Willie Tory in round seven at the Garden in the first televised prize boxing fight shown in color.
• February 8, 10, 11, 1979 - The Challenge Cup, a three-game series between the All-Stars of the National Hockey League and the Soviet National Team took place at the Garden. The Soviets won, two games to one.
• November 1, 1980 -The first Women’s World Judo Championship was held at the Gardens, Jane Bridge (UK) won the gold medal at under 48 kg
• January 23, 1984 - Hulk Hogan wins the World Wrestling Federation Championship from The Iron Sheik in five minutes, 40 seconds. The victory kicks off the pop culture movement known as Hulkamania, and ushers in a golden age for the business of professional wrestling.
• March 31, 1985 - The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, today known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE), presents the inaugural WrestleMania. The annual event would return to Madison Square Garden in 1994 and 2004 for WrestleMania X and WrestleMania XX, celebrating the 10th and 20th anniversaries of WrestleMania.
• August 29, 1988 - The WWF presents the first SummerSlam event. The annual events would return to Madison Square Garden in 1991 and 1998.
• June 14, 1994 - The New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden. It is the first time that a Stanley Cup has been won by the Rangers at the Garden.
• October 1995 - Jacky Cheung, Hong Kong singer and the best selling Asian artist in the mid-1990s, is the first Asian artist to perform at the Paramount, Madison Square Garden. His two-show performance in October 1995 is part of his 100-show world tour that year.
• June 29, 1997 - The New York Liberty professional women's basketball team plays its first home game - the first WNBA game to be played at Madison Square Garden.
• March 1, 2003 - Quinnipiac University defeats the University of Connecticut 4-3 in the first college hockey game played at Madison Square Garden since 1977.
• February 4-5, 2006 - Rain held his sold-out concert, Rainy Day New York. He was the first Korean ever to perform at the Madison Square Garden. Celebrities such as P-Diddy and JoJo attend his concert.
• July 13–15, 2007 - Popular Boston-based indie band Dispatch sold out MSG for three nights in a row and became the first independent band to either headline or sell out MSG.
• December 3, 2012 - One Direction sold out MSG on their first year of touring on their Up All Night Tour to promote their albums Up All Night and Take Me Home and sold out in minutes.