1974
· The Women's Sports Foundation is established by Billie Jean King, its founder; Donna de Varona, first president; and other champion female athletes to become a collective voice for women in sport.
· WomenSports magazine is founded by Billie Jean King.
· Little League allows girls to play baseball and softball.
· Phyllis Ackerman becomes the first woman to do sports commentary for a professional basketball team.
· The first women's professional football league begins with a seven team, ten game schedule. Each player earns twenty-five dollars a game.
1975
· Olympian and national team member Debbie Green becomes volleyball's youngest All-American at the age of 16.
· Reporter Robin Herman is one of the first women to enter a male player's dressing room. The players, in this case, are not notified in advance. As a result of this event, the wives of the New York Rangers asks their husbands to petition to bar women from the players' locker room and the team members comply.
· Virginia Public Television broadcasts the game, the first time the women's national collegiate championship game is televised.
1976
· First women's crew and basketball competitions in the Olympics.
· The U.S. Field Hockey Association becomes the only Olympic governing body to exclude men.
· Speedskater Sheila Young becomes the first American athlete to win three medals at a Winter Olympics.
1977
· Janet Guthrie is the first woman to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
1978
· Amateur Sports Act passes prohibiting gender discrimination in open amateur sport in the U.S.
· Jean Balukas becomes the first woman to qualify and enter the ""Men's World Open Pocket Billiards Championship.""
· The Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) opens in Milwaukee.
· UCLA wins the AIAW basketball title at Pauley Pavillion before 9,351, an attendance record. NBC pays a $7,500 rights fee to televise the women's championship game for the first time.
· Tina Sloan Green becomes the first African-American to coach Division I women's lacrosse.
· Judicial decision allows female sportswriters equal access to male athlete's locker rooms in the U.S.
1979
· UCLA's Ann Meyers is signed by the Indiana Pacers men's professional basketball team to try out at a free-agent camp.
· The nation witnesses Old Dominion's defeat of Louisiana Tech in the AIAW final, the first time NBC televises the game live.
· Cathy Hearn becomes the first U.S. woman to win an individual world championship in kayak.
1980
· Hundreds of American women are denied the opportunity to participate in the Summer Olympics when the United States decides to boycott the Moscow Games.
· Field hockey becomes a medal sport for women in the Olympics.
· Nancy Lieberman is the number one draft choice for the Women's Professional Basketball League.
· At the age of 17 years and three months, Tracy Austin is the youngest player to reach the number one position. She also makes history by becoming the youngest player (at the age of 17) to earn over one million dollars.
1981
· American Anita DeFrantz becomes the first female member admitted to the International Olympic Committee.
· At the national Pitch, Hit and Run Championships, eleven-year-old Crystal Fields defeats seven boys in the nine to 12-year-old age group to become the first girl to win the title.
· Betty Ellis is the first woman to officiate at a professional soccer match.
· Kathy Whitworth reaches the one million dollar milestone in golf earnings, the first woman on the LPGA tour to achieve this.
1982
· The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is formed.
· The NCAA sanctions its first national championship tournaments for women in basketball, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis and outdoor track.
· The U.S. Postal Service issues a commemorative stamp to honor Babe Didrikson Zaharias.
· Cheryl Miller scores 105 points in one basketball game for Riverside (Calif.) Polytechnic High School, a record that still stands.
· The Supreme Court upholds that Title IX does cover employees (coaches, etc.) as well as students.
· Mary Decker is the first woman to win the Jesse Owens Award.
1984
· Cycling, rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming are added to the Olympic Games.
· Joan Benoit wins the first Olympic marathon for women.
· The United States wins its first Olympic gold medal in women's basketball under the tutelage of Pat Head Summit.
· Connie Carpenter wins the women's cycling road race becoming the first American cyclist to win a medal in the Olympics since 1912.
· Mary Lou Retton captures America's heart as the first U.S. woman gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal.
· Beth Anders becomes the first American woman to compete in 100 international field hockey matches and sets an Olympic scoring record with a total of eight goals in five matches.
· Tracie Ruiz wins the first gold medal ever awarded in synchronized swimming for her solo and team routines.
· 1,779,972 girls participate in high school sports.
· Darlene May becomes the first woman official of a men's basketball game in the Olympics.
· Sandra Baldwin is elected the first female president of the U.S. Swimming Association.
· Georgeann Wells scores college basketball's first dunk by a woman.
1985
· Kansas' Lynette Woodard becomes the first woman to play with the Harlem Globetrotters Basketball Team. She scores seven points in her debut game.
· Ann Bancroft becomes the first woman to walk to the North Pole.
· The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is captured for the first time by a woman, Libby Riddles.
· Bertha Teague, Senda Berenson Abbott and Margaret Wade become the first women ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
· Women's basketball sets a new collegiate record for attendance - the University of Iowa with 22,157 fans.
1986
· Nancy Lieberman becomes the first woman to play in a men's professional basketball league - the United States Basketball League (USBL). She played for the Springfield Fame.
· Jeana Yeager becomes the first woman to fly around the world without refueling. She and co-pilot Dick Rutan set a world record with this 26,000-mile flight.
· Susan Butcher wins her first of four Iditarod Sled Dog Races.
· The National Women's Volleyball League is the first ever professional women's volleyball league in the U.S.
1987
· Soccer forward Mia Hamm debuts against China at the age of 15 making her the youngest woman ever to play with the U.S National Team.
· NBC's Gayle Gardner becomes the first woman to do play-by-play in a telecast of the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs/Seattle Seahawks game.
· The Civil Rights Restoration Act which would restore the power of Title IX fails to pass in Congress.
· Jackie Joyner-Kersee is the only female athlete to be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated (aside from the swimsuit edition).
· NCAA re-establishes the Committee on Women's Athletics to study opportunities for women in athletics at the institutional, conference and national levels, as well as other issues directly affecting women's collegiate athletics.
· Sandy Knapp is appointed vice chairman of the Pan American Games Organizing Committee, the highest position that a woman has ever held in that organization.
· Maria Dennison is named executive director of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the first woman to hold that position.
· The Association for Women in Sports Media is formed to identify and combat discrimination against women in sports journalism.
· Stanford diver Simone LeVant sues the NCAA for declaring her ineligible after refusing to submit to a urine test. Stanford joined LeVant in her suit. She is the first collegiate athlete to take legal action against the NCAA mandatory drug testing program.
· The Women's Sports Foundation spearheads an intense effort to publicize the discriminatory effects of the proposed cuts in college sports and to restore the balance between academics and athletics. The NCAA proposal would disproportionately reduce scholarships for women. The strong collective effort yields results. The NCAA votes to postpone consideration of the scholarship reduction proposals indefinitely.
1988
· Civil Rights Restoration Act passes -- puts the ""teeth"" back in Title IX.
· Ski Racing U.S. Female Alpine Skier of the Year is given to disabled athlete Diana Golden.
· Swimmer Tricia Zorn becomes the first athlete, male or female, to win 12 gold medals in one Paralympics competition.
· The highest world ranking for a U.S. squash player, male or female, is achieved by 14th ranked-Alicia McConnell.
· Stacy Allison is the first American woman to climb Mt. Everest.
· Speedskater Bonnie Blair wins the first of five Olympic winter gold medals. She is the only American woman to win five gold medals in Summer or Winter Olympics.
· Two hundred and twenty seven U.S. women (227) compete in the Olympic Games in Seoul.
· Phyllis Holmes of Greenville College in Illinois becomes the first woman president of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
· Judith Davidson is named athletic director for Central Connecticut State University becoming the only woman A.D. at a Division I school, in charge of all sports including men's football and basketball.
· Julie Krone becomes the first woman to ride in the prestigious Breeder's Cup races and breaks the overall record for most wins at the Meadowlands with 132.
· The first person to ever swim all five of the Great Lakes is Vicki Keith.
1989
· Debi Thomas becomes the first African-American woman to win a world championship in figure skating.
· Julie Croteau is the first woman to play in an NCAA baseball game when she starts at first base for Division III St. Mary's College.
· Victoria Bruckner is the first girl to play in the Little League World Series, playing first base, batting in the cleanup position and pitching in the final game.
· The first tennis player, male or female, to reach 1000 wins is Chris Evert.
1990
· Sara Lee becomes the first corporation to make a major commitment solely to female athletics at the collegiate level with a six million dollar donation to the NCAA.
· Brenda Gilmore is the first African-American female to be nationally ranked in wheelchair tennis.
· Jodi Haller becomes the first woman to pitch in a college baseball game as a member of Pennsylvania's St. Vincent College team.
· The first women's only triathlon, introduced by Danskin, is held in Long Beach, Calif. with more than 2,000 women competing. Lisa Lahti wins the race.
· Tennis player Jennifer Capriati becomes the youngest player (14) to reach a Grand Slam semifinal (French Open) and the youngest player to win a match at Wimbledon.
· Bernadette Locke becomes the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position for a men's team at an NCAA Division I school when she is hired as an assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.
1991
· Judith Sweet becomes the first woman president of the NCAA.
· The entire women's Final Four is televised live on CBS for the first time.
· Kristi Yamaguchi leads a U.S. sweep of the World Figure Skating Championship ladies' event. With Tonya Harding (silver) and Nancy Kerrigan (bronze), the three Americans write themselves into history. It is the first time in the 73-history of the women's championships that three skaters from the same country sweep the medals.
· Goalie Jenny Hanley of Hamline University in Minnesota becomes the first woman to play on a men's college hockey team.
· The U.S. women's soccer team wins the first-ever Women's World Cup
1992
· 1,997,489 girls participate in high school sports.
· Barbara Hedges becomes the first woman to head an athletic department at Washington University, a Division IA school.
· The Supreme Court rules that monetary damages are available under Title IX in the Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public School case.
· Diana Golden wins her 10th world championship in disabled skiing.
· Launi Meili is the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the prone shooting event.
· Women's biathlon makes its Olympic debut with the 7.5-km race in Les Saisies, France.
· Donna Weinbrecht becomes the first women's freestyle skiing Olympic gold medalist.
· Bonnie Blair is the first American woman to win three gold medals in the Winter Olympics as well as the first U.S. woman to win gold medals in the same events in consecutive Winter Olympics.
· The first Asian-American to win a gold medal in figure skating at the Winter Olympics is Kristi Yamaguchi.
· At the Olympic Games, gymnast Shannon Miller wins five medals (two silver and three bronze), the most by any U.S. athlete.
· Lyn St. James becomes only the second woman to compete in the Indy 500. She wins Rookie of the Year.
· Two hundred and three U.S. women (203) compete in the Olympic Games in Barcelona.
· For the first time ever, girls sweep all three divisions in the All-American Soap Box Derby. The winners are Bonnie Thorton of Las Vegas, Nev.; Carolyn Fox of Salem, Ore. and Loren Hurst of Akron, Ohio.
1993
· Julie Krone becomes the first woman to win a triple-crown horse race when she wins the Belmont Stakes.
· Daughter of a Major League Baseball (MLB) general manager, Karey Schueler is the first woman drafted by a MLB team, the Chicago White Sox, in the 43rd round.
· Women's ice hockey debuts at the U.S. Olympic Festival in San Antonio.
· Rosalie Kramm becomes the first female on-field soccer referee after serving as an off-field referee in the Major (Indoor) Soccer League and North American Soccer League.
1994
· The Colorado Silver Bullets, the first women's professional baseball team to play in men's minor league baseball, play their first game.
· Chris Kromer, Santa Maria (Texas) Junior High School, starts as quarterback for her football team.
· Women's aerial skiing makes its Olympic debut.
· Twelve-year-old Vicki Van Meter completes a trans-atlantic flight in a single engine plane from Augusta, Maine to Glasgow, Scotland.
· Dominique Dawes wins the all-around national championship and all four individual events, becoming the first gymnast to do so in a quarter of a century.
· In an effort to reclaim its status as a world power in women's basketball, USA Basketball announces that it will form a women's national team one year prior to the Olympics. The team will consist of 10 players, each compensated $50,000 for the year. Previously, the Olympic Team was selected two or three months prior to the Games.
· Karolyn Kirby becomes the winningest player in the history of the Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Tour, when she teams up with Liz Masakayan to claim the Women's Pro Beach Volleyball Association's Coors Light Title. It is Kirby's 42nd victory.
1995
· First time women out-spend men in the purchase of athletic shoes: $6 billion compared to $5.6 billion.
· Kendra Wecker becomes the first female to compete in the national finals of the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick program. She finishes second in the 12-year-old age class, passing the football 130 feet, punting it 76'6"", and place-kicking it 94'7.
· America3 showcases the first time women compete in the America's Cup Race. They defeat perennial winner Dennis Connor in the first race of round one by 69 seconds. The crew, sailing ""the Mighty Mary"" is one of only three teams that makes it to the final round, eventually losing to Team Dennis Connor after taking a four-minute lead in the final race.
· At the age of 13, Dominique Moceanu becomes the youngest champion in U.S. history to win the U.S. Gymnastics Championships.
· Making history on the court, Kerri Ann McTiernan becomes the first woman head coach of a men's college basketball team.
· Skier Picabo Street becomes the first American woman to win a World Cup downhill series.
1996
· The 1996 Olympics heralded the largest number of American female participants (277) in the history of the 100-year event.
· The U.S. women's basketball, soccer and softball teams win Olympic gold medals, marking the first time any country has won gold medals in all three team sports at one Olympics.
· High school sports participation hits an all-time high with 2,367,936. There are 819 girls playing high school football, 1,164 high school wrestlers and 1,471 high school ice hockey players.
· Tickets for the 1997 NCAA Women's Final Four sell out in less than six hours, one year prior to the event - the earliest sell-out in the history of the event.
· Becky Oakes is elected president of the National Federation of State High School Associations, the first woman to hold this elected position in the organization's 77-year history as the national governance organization for high school sports.
· Robin Roberts becomes the first woman to anchor a network NFL studio show.
· Teresa Edwards is the first U.S. player to compete on four Olympic basketball teams.
· The NCAA votes crew into history by elevating its women's division - but not it's men's division - to championship status, which means that the NCAA will pay for the sports national championship. Thus, it becomes the first sport in which there's strong participation by both men and women, but only the women's is NCAA sanctioned and has championship status.
· A record crowd of 8,795 watches the U.S. women's soccer team play against Norway at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. The previous record, also against Norway, is 7,083.
· Jetta Schantz breaks all three hot-air ballooning records: distance (292 miles), altitude (32,657 feet) and duration (15 hours, 11 minutes).
· Christy Martin is the first female professional fighter to be televised on premium TV.
· CBS broadcaster Michelle Tafoya becomes the first woman to do play-by-play in the NCAA men's basketball tournament when she takes over for an ill Sean McDonough for four minutes.
· Olympic basketball player and ABL Richmond Rage Dawn Staley is the first woman to have her likeness painted on a building.
· Tammy Holmes is believed to be the first woman to homer in an organized professional baseball game, hitting an inside-the-park grand slam in the Colorado Silver Bullets' 14-11 win against the Atlanta Mustangs.
· Women's beach volleyball, softball and soccer debut at the Olympic Games.
· The NCAA women's basketball championship game on ESPN reaches 2.6 million households, making it the highest-rated men's or women's game on ESPN since 1993.
· Gymnast Shannon Miller, with her gold medal performance on the beam, retires after the 1996 Olympic Games as America's most decorated gymnast.
· Swimmer Amy Van Dyken becomes the first U.S. woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games.
· Olympic gold medal winners Teresa Edwards, Jennifer Azzi, Venus Lacey, Carla McGhee, Nikki McCray, Katie Steding and Dawn Staley earn $125,000 salaries for playing in the American Basketball League (ABL).
· The NBA announces the formation of a women's national basketball league (WNBA).
· The Women's Professional Fastpatch League (WPF) begins their inaugural season.
1997
· Prize money on the women's pro tennis tour, now sponsored by Corel Corporation, will surpass $38 million.
· The NBA hires its first two female referees, Dee Kantner and Violet Palmer.
· Anita DeFrantz became the first woman and the first African-American to be elected vice president of the International Olympic Committee.
· A professional women's soccer league is announced.
· Nineteen ninety-seven marked the splashy and well-financed launch of three new titles supporting the nation's interest in sports for women: Conde Nast Sports For Women, Jump and Sports Illustrated Women/Sport.
1998
· Women's ice hockey makes its Olympic debut in Nagano, Japan. The U.S. team wins the first gold medal.
· Major League Soccer hires its first two female referees
· The Colorado Silver Bullets cancel their 1998 season because they lack sponsorship.
· The Women's Professional Volleyball Association, the governing body of women's pro beach volleyball disbands.