•Boxing became a legal sport in 1901.

•More than 100 million people hold hunting licenses.

•Jean Genevieve Garnerin was the first female parachutist, jumping from a hot air balloon in 1799.

•In 1975, Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the top of Mount Everest.

•The record for the most Olympic medals ever won is held by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina. Competing in three Olympics, between 1956 and 1964, she won 18 medals.

•The record for the most Major League Baseball career innings is held by Cy Young, with 7,356 innings.

•The first instance of global electronic communications took place in 1871, when news of the derby winner was telegraphed from London to Calcutta in under five minutes.

•In 1898, one of the first programs to be broadcasted on radio was a yacht race that took place in British waters.

•Sports command the biggest television audiences, led by the Summer Olympics, FIFA World Cup and Formula 1 racing.

•Gymnasiums were introduced in 900 B.C., and Greek athletes practiced in the nude to the accompaniment of music. They also performed naked at the Olympic Games.

•The very first Olympic race, held in 776 B.C., was won by Corubus, a chef.

•The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. There were 311 male, but no female, competitors.

In his time, Michael Schumacher was the highest paid sportsman, ahead of Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer. (Not including sponsorship endorsements.)