Luis Figo could do no wrong at Barcelona, earning the nickname ‘Lion King’ as he captained the Catalans to success and scored 30 goals in 172 appearances.

This was all to change on this epoch-making day 16 years ago as the Portugal icon crossed football’s greatest divide. A then world-record £37 million (Dh178.2m) fee was paid by Real Madrid to activate his release clause and take him across Spain.

This was to mark a historic day in modern football, as president Forentino Perez’s ‘Galacticos’ vision was first brought to life. Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham were to follow in the preceding years, as Los Blancos brought a touch of glamour to the sport.

Here’s what other memorable sporting events happened on this day:

1883: Matthew Webb, the first man to swim the English Channel, died aged 35 while attempting to swim the rapids above Niagara Falls.

1926: The first greyhound meeting with a mechanical hare took place.

2005: Australia won the first Ashes Test at Lord’s by 239 runs.

2005: Lance Armstrong won a historic seventh-successive Tour de France, a record later stripped.