Daniel "Doc" Adams (1814–1899) was an American baseball player and
executive who is regarded as an important figure in the sport's early
years. He began his career with the New York Knickerbockers in 1845 and
played for the club into his forties (pictured, center, in 1859).
Researchers have called Adams the creator of the shortstop position, and
as club president six times between 1847 and 1861, Adams advocated rule
changes that resulted in nine-man teams and nine-inning games. When the
National Association of Base Ball Players was formed in 1858, he led the
rules and regulations committee of the new organization. In his role,
Adams ruled that the field's bases should be 90 feet (27 m) apart, the
modern distance, and supported eliminating the "bound rule", which
allowed for balls caught after one bounce to be recorded as outs. Adams'
contributions in creating baseball's rules went largely unrecognized for
decades after his death, but in 1980 a letter about him appeared in The
New York Times and by 1993, researcher John Thorn had written about
Adams' role. His nickname came from his medical work; he later became a
bank president and member of the Connecticut legislature.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doc_Adams>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
996:
Holy Roman Emperor Otto III issued a document containing the
earliest known use of "Osterrîchi", the Old High German name of
Austria.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_of_Austria>
1611:
The first recorded performance of William Shakespeare's play
The Tempest was held at the Palace of Whitehall in London, exactly seven
years after the first certainly known performance of his tragedy Othello
was held in the same building.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Othello>
1876:
The Colony of New Zealand dissolved its nine provinces and
replaced them with 63 counties.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_of_New_Zealand>
1950:
Two Puerto Rican nationalists attempted to assassinate U.S.
President Harry S. Truman (pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truman_assassination_attempt>
1963:
Lê Quang Tung, loyalist head of the South Vietnam Special
Forces, was executed in a US-backed coup against President Ngô Đình
Diệm following a period of religious unrest.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1963_South_Vietnamese_coup>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
auton:
(science fiction) A machine or robot, usually in the form of a living
being, designed to follow a precise sequence of instructions.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/auton>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Now two punctilious envoys, Thine and Mine, Embroil the earth
about a fancied line; And, dwelling much on right and much on wrong,
Prove how the right is chiefly with the strong. ☳☶ ䷊䷋
☳☶
--Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux>