1859 in sports

[edit] Baseball

A group in southern Ontario adopts the New York rules in place of the Canadian. The Niagara club of Buffalo, New York joins the National Association (by participating in the meeting) although it plays only locally.<ref>The next two members by distance from the New York City meeting — the Union and Liberty clubs merely in Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey— also played no matches within the association. The other 47 of 50 members were from Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey and from modern New York City.

Marshall D. Wright, The National Association of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870, Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2000, 31-40 (1859 data).</ref>

In Brooklyn, Jim Creighton moves from the local Niagara club, to Star at midseason, on to Excelsior for next year, perhaps for monetary reward.

Australian rules codified 1858-1859
Geelong Football Club is founded in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. It is the second oldest surviving football club of any code in the world.

The third Harvard-Yale Regatta following 1855 and 1852 (and Harvard's third win). Contested again in 1860 and 1864, the event from 1859 might be called annual with war-time interruptions.
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race - Oxford