The 1877 Wimbledon Championship, the world's first lawn tennis tournament, was held in Wimbledon, London, at the renamed All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. The club had introduced lawn tennis in 1875 to compensate for waning interest in croquet, and was organising a tennis tournament to raise money for lawn maintenance equipment. The tournament rules were derived from the first standardised rules of tennis issued by the Marylebone Cricket Club. The Gentlemen's Singles competition, the only event of the championship, was contested on grass courts by 22 players. It was held on 9–19 July in front of a crowd of about 200 people who paid an entry fee of one shilling. Spencer Gore, a 27-year-old rackets player, became the first Wimbledon champion by defeating William Marshall in three sets that lasted 48 minutes. He received 12 guineas in prize money and a silver challenge cup, donated by the sports magazine The Field. The tournament made a profit of £10.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1877_Wimbledon_Championship
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
927:
Æthelstan, King of England, secured a pledge from Constantine II of Scotland that the latter would not ally with Viking kings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelstan
1801:
French Revolutionary Wars: A squadron of British Royal Navy ships of the line defeated a larger squadron of ships from the Spanish Navy and French Navy in the Gut of Gibraltar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Battle_of_Algeciras
1917:
Vigilantes forcibly deported about 1,300 striking mine workers, their supporters, and innocent bystanders from Bisbee, Arizona, US, to New Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee_Deportation
1971:
The Australian Aboriginal Flag, one of the official flags of Australia, was flown for the first time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_Flag
2005:
Prince Albert II was enthroned as the current reigning monarch of Monaco. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_II,_Prince_of_Monaco
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
inveterate: 1. Old; firmly established by long continuance; of long standing; obstinately deep-rooted; as, an inveterate disease; an inveterate habit. 2. (of a person) Having habits fixed by long continuance; confirmed; habitual; as, an inveterate idler or smoker. 3. Malignant; virulent; spiteful. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inveterate
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There is more recognition now that things are changing, but not because there is a political move to do it. It is simply a result of the information being there. Our survival won’t depend on political or economic systems. It’s going to depend on the courage of the individual to speak the truth, and to speak it lovingly and not destructively. It’s saying what you really know and feel is the truth, in all directions. Our greatest vulnerability lies in the amount of misinformation and misconditioning of humanity. I’ve found the educations systems are full of it. You have to examine each word and ask yourself, "Is that the right word for that?" — the integrity and the courage of the individual to speak his own truth and not to go along with the crowd, yet not making others seem ignorant. After a while, if enough human beings are doing it, then everybody will start going in the right direction. --Buckminster Fuller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller