Blackburn Olympic F.C. was an English association football club based in
Blackburn, Lancashire, in the late 19th century. Although it was only in
existence from 1878 to 1889, it is significant in the history of
football in England as the first club from the north of the country and
the first from a working-class background to win the Football
Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup, trophy pictured).
The cup had previously been won only by teams of wealthy amateurs from
the home counties, and Olympic's victory against Old Etonians F.C. in
1883 marked a turning point in the sport's transition from a pastime for
upper-class gentlemen to a professional sport. Olympic, however, proved
unable to compete with wealthier and better-supported clubs in the
professional era. Most of Olympic's home matches took place at the
Hole-i'-th-Wall stadium, named after an adjacent public house. One
Olympic player, James Ward, was selected for the England team while
playing for the club. Six other former or future England internationals
played for Olympic, including Jack Hunter, who was the club's coach at
the time of Olympic's FA Cup win.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Olympic_F.C.>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1807:
In an effort to avoid engaging in the Napoleonic Wars, the
United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships
from engaging in trade with foreign nations.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_of_1807>
1944:
World War II: US Army General Anthony McAuliffe responded to
the German ultimatum of surrender during the Battle of the Bulge with a
single word, "NUTS!"
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe>
1947:
The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the
Constituent Assembly.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Italy>
1997:
Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquished the disputed title of
President of Somalia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Farrah_Aidid>
2001:
Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power
in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
rebirth:
1. Reincarnation, new birth subsequent to one's first: rebirth of the soul
in a new body.
2. Revival, reinvigoration: the rebirth of feminism, the rebirth of the
Handelian oratorio.
3. Spiritual renewal: rebirth in Christ, the doctrine of rebirth through
baptism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rebirth>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So it's not so
much which road you take, as how you take it.
--Charles de Lint
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lint>