How it unfolded
By 39, John Lowe already had two world titles, but what made him known beyond darts was the nine darts he threw on 13 October 1984 in Slough. His opponent was Keith Deller, world champion the year before. Lowe put his first three darts all into treble 20 for 180, and his second three also made 180, leaving 141. That number isn't reachable in three darts starting from treble 20 — it requires starting on treble 17. He cleared 51 with treble 17, then 54 with treble 18, and finished the last dart on double 18, closing out 501 in nine darts. The tournament's nine-darter bonus was £102,000, comfortably more than a decent English professional footballer's salary at the time. It was the first perfect leg ever thrown live on camera.
Why it still matters
The nine-darter became darts' defining feat from this day on. Unlike a hole-in-one in golf, luck plays almost no part, so nine darts show exactly what that player was capable of in that moment. The £102,000 Lowe received also first showed how far prize money in darts could go, and the bar has since risen so far that several nine-darters now turn up across the circuit in a single season.