See also: 1820s in sports, 1840s in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Baseball

• Possible date of the codification of the first rules of baseball by Abner Doubleday (1839)

Boat race

• Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race - Cambridge (1836 and 1839)
• First Henley Royal Regatta rowing race is held (1839)

Horse racing

• Believed to be the first running of the Aintree Grand National, won by The Duke (1836)

Events

• Croquet believed to have been invented in Ireland

Births

Deaths