Harry Trott (1866–1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test
matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Trott was a versatile
batsman, spin bowler and fielder. As a captain, he was assertive,
respected by teammates and opponents alike and quick to spot a weakness
in opponents. Trott made his Test debut in 1888 and toured England four
times; on his last tour, he was elected captain by his team-mates.
England won the series and retained The Ashes, but Trott's captaincy was
praised by the likes of Ranjitsinhji and Wisden. In the return series in
Australia, Trott led his side to victory, regaining The Ashes in a win
credited as aiding the federation of the Australian colonies. A
mysterious illness in 1898 abruptly ended Trott's Test career. After
more than a year in Kew Asylum, he recovered and returned to first-class
cricket for nearly 10 years. After retirement from cricket Trott served
as a selector for the Victoria cricket team. A good-humoured man, Trott
once played a joke on his friends by giving each a cigar butt supposedly
smoked by royalty. When he died, well-wishers contributed to a monument
over his grave.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Trott>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
25:
Guangwu claimed the throne as emperor of the Han dynasty after
Wang Mang, who had seized the throne himself and proclaimed the Xin
dynasty, died when peasant rebels besieged Chang'an.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_the_Han_dynasty>
1772:
Russia, Prussia and Habsburg Austria began the First Partition
of Poland to help restore the regional balance of power in Eastern
Europe among those three countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Partition_of_Poland>
1888:
Bertha Benz made the first long-distance automobile trip, going
106 km (66 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, Germany, in a Benz Patent-
Motorwagen, returning the next day.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertha_Benz>
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine
Campaign began with a victory in the Battle of Romani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani>
1981:
US President Ronald Reagan fired the 11,345 striking members of
the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization en masse.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_(1968)>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
only game in town:
(idiomatic, almost always preceded by the) The only opportunity,
activity, or resource available.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/only_game_in_town>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I do believe in this evolution of consciousness as the only thing
which we can embark on, or in fact, willy-nilly, are embarked on; and
along with that will go the spiritual discoveries and, I feel, the
inexhaustible wonder that one feels, that opens more and more the more
you know. It’s simply that this increasing knowledge constantly
enlarges your kingdom and the capacity for admiring and loving the
universe.
--Conrad Aiken
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Conrad_Aiken>