1901

Baseball

 * The American League declares itself a major league, in direct competition with the 24-year-old National League. Eight teams take the field, three of them in direct competion with teams in the other circuit.  The teams are the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Americans, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Blues, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Athletics, and Washington Senators.
 * 1901 in baseball

Football (Australian Rules)

 * Victorian Football League
 * Essendon wins the 5th VFL Premiership (Essendon 6.7 (43) d Collingwood 2.4 (16))
 * See also Victorian Football League season 1901

England

 * First Division - Liverpool win the 1900-01 title.
 * FA Cup - Tottenham Hotspur beat Sheffield United 3-1 in a replay after drawing 2-2 in the first match. Tottenham are the first (and so far only) non-league side to win the FA Cup.

Ice Hockey

 * Winnipeg Victorias win their 2nd Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Shamrocks 2 games to 0.

Lacrosse

 * Sir Donald Mann donates the Mann Cup.
 * Lord Minto, the Governor General of Canada, donates the Minto Cup.
 * The Ottawa Capitals win the first Mann Cup and the first Minto Cup.

Events

 * March 25 - At the five-day "Week of Nice" race in Nice, France, Mercedes wins its first racing victory.
 * November 15 - James Jeffries defends the heavyweight boxing title in San Francisco against Gus Rublin
 * The first Mann Cup of lacrosse is won by the Ottawa Capitals

Births

 * January 20 &mdash; Cecil Griffiths, British athlete (d. 1973)
 * January 21 &mdash; Ricardo Zamora, Spanish football (soccer) player (d. 1978)
 * May 24 &mdash; José Nasazzi, Uruguayan football (soccer) player (d. 1968)
 * August 1 &mdash; Gérard Blitz, Belgian swimmer and water polo player (d. 1979)
 * August 18 &mdash; Arne Borg, Swedish swimmer (d. 1987)
 * August 26 &mdash; Frankie Genaro, American boxer (d. 1966)
 * December 14 &mdash; Henri Cochet, French champion tennis player (d. 1987)

Deaths

 * October 26 &mdash; Alfred Tysoe (27), British athlete (b. 1874)