William Wurtenburg (1863–1957) was an American college football player and coach. Born to German parents and raised in western New York, Wurtenburg played for Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University. The 1887 Yale squad outscored their opponents 515–12, and the 1888 squad, which he quarterbacked, held all opponents scoreless; both teams were later recognized as national champions. Wurtenburg received his medical degree from Yale's Sheffield Scientific School in 1893. He coached football for a year at the United States Naval Academy and then for five years at Dartmouth College. In his first four years at Dartmouth, the teams had perfect records against both of their Triangular Football League opponents. Wurtenburg spent several years refereeing for Yale's football team, then had a practice as an ear, nose and throat specialist in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1904 until at least 1920. He is particularly remembered for a 35-yard run in a close game in 1887 against rival Harvard, a game that was described as "undoubtedly the finest ever played in America".
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wurtenburg
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1294:
Boniface VIII began his papacy, replacing St. Celestine V, who had declared that it was permissible for a Pope to resign, and then promptly did so. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII
1865:
Six Confederate veterans of the American Civil War founded the Ku Klux Klan, which would later become a white supremacist group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
1914:
British and German soldiers interrupted the First World War to celebrate Christmas, beginning the Christmas truce. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce
1955:
The NORAD Tracks Santa program began when children began calling the Continental Air Defense Command Center to inquire about Santa Claus' whereabouts due to a misprinted phone number. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NORAD_Tracks_Santa
2008:
The Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group, began attacks on several villages in Haut-Uele District, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 400 deaths and numerous atrocities. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Christmas_massacres
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
wreath: 1. Something twisted, intertwined, or curled. 2. An ornamental circular band made, for example, of plaited flowers and leaves, and used as decoration; a garland or chaplet, especially one given to a victor. 3. (heraldry) An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest. It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the coat of arms. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wreath
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure. Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness. Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts. And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace. --Frank Borman https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Borman