December 11, 1909 - Films made in Kinemacolor, the first successful color motion picture process, are shown for the first time in the United States by George Albert Smith and Charles Urban.[1]
November 1, 1980 -The first Women's World Judo Championship is held at the Gardens, Jane Bridge (UK) wins the gold medal at under 48 kg
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 editions 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.[2]
July 13 & 15, 2007 - Popular Boston-based indie band Dispatch sells out MSG for three nights in a row and became the first independent band to either headline or sell out MSG.
In 2014, the NCAA basketball tournament comes to the current Garden for the first time, when it hosts the East Regional semifinals and final. These were the first NCAA Tournament games played in the Five Boroughs in 53 years; the current incarnation of MSG had been one of the few big-city arenas to have never hosted an NCAA Tournament game. The old Garden had hosted 71 NCAA Tournament games in its history, including seven Final Fours.[3]
On March 17–19, 2016, the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships were held for the first time at MSG.
November 12, 2016 - UFC 205: Alvarez vs. McGregor is the first UFC event held in NYC. Breaks MSG gate record and Conor McGregor becomes the first fighter in UFC history to hold two world titles in different weight classes simultaneously by defeating Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title.[4]
July 21–August 6, 2017 - Phish plays the longest consecutive residency held by a single artist, topping at 13 nights with zero repeats. Over this run titled 'The Baker's Dozen', they play 237 songs over a span of 26 sets.[5]
On February 20, 1939, a large German American Bund convention is held, prompting riots and protests in and around the arena by American Jews and others. 20,000 Nazi supporters attended.[6]
On July 1, 1982 Rev. and Mr. Sun Myung Moon hold a Blessing Ceremony in the Garden for 2075 couples. This event attracts much public and media attention (including a story in Life), often being called a "mass wedding."
On September 28, 2014, The prime minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, addresses a congregation organised by NRIs inhabiting in USA.
The Garden is the site for a Catholic Mass said by Pope Francis during his first visit to New York City and the United States as Pontiff on September 25, 2015.
Madison Square Garden was one of the primary centers of the boxing universe throughout its history and in all of its incarnations before Las Vegas became the sport's main center starting in the 1980s. However, MSG still hosts many significant fights. Some of the historic fights held at MSG have been:
The unbeaten Marciano, who would become heavyweight champion the following year, knocked out a clearly past-his-prime Louis in the 8th round. After the loss, Louis retired for the second time, this time for good.
One of the most hyped fights in history, with both heavyweight champion Frazier and challenger Ali entering unbeaten. Frazier won by unanimous decision.
A classic showdown between Puerto Rican stars Héctor Camacho and Edwin Rosario for Camacho's lightweight title, with Camacho retaining his title by a controversial split decision.
Though ahead on points, Golota was penalized several times for low blows, and was finally disqualified in the seventh round after a volley of punches to Bowe's testicles. Seconds after Golota was disqualified, Bowe's entourage rushed the ring, attacked Golota with a two way radio, and assaulted Golota's 74-year-old trainer Lou Duva. The entourage began rioting, fighting with spectators, staff and policemen alike, resulting in a number of injuries before they were forced out of the arena in what evolved into a lengthy televised ring spectacle.
After coming in as a 25-1 underdog, Ruiz won the match via technical knockout in the seventh round, ending Joshua's undefeated record and becoming the new unified heavyweight champion.
First women's boxing match to headline Madison Square Garden. In what was described as the 'biggest women's fight of all time', Taylor defeated Serrano by split decision, remaining the undisputedlightweight champion.
Evangelist Billy Graham began his 16-week religious revival at Madison Square Garden.[10]Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the invocation at the Garden in one of the subsequent meetings.[11]
Pastor Joel Osteen has brought attracted 18,000 people to his religious sermons at Madison Square Garden seven times.[12][13][14]
References
^McKernan, Luke (2018). Charles Urban: Pioneering the Non-Fiction Film in Britain and America, 1897-1925. University of Exeter Press. ISBN978-0859892964.
^Buder, Emily (October 10, 2017). "When 20,000 American Nazis Descended Upon New York City". The Atlantic. Retrieved December 6, 2017. In 1939, the German American Bund organized a rally of 20,000 Nazi supporters at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
