The 1980 World Snooker Championship was a ranking professional snooker tournament played from 22 April to 5 May 1980 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The total prize fund was £60,000, of which £15,000 went to the winner. There were 53 entrants to the competition, and the main stage featured 24 players: the 16 top-ranked players and 8 qualifiers. The defending champion Terry Griffiths lost in his first match, to Steve Davis. Cliff Thorburn (pictured) won the final 18–16 against Alex Higgins, the champion in 1972. Both Kirk Stevens and Steve Davis made breaks of 136, the highest of 11 century breaks compiled during the main championship. The tournament was sponsored by the cigarette manufacturer Embassy, and received 70 hours of television coverage by the BBC in the United Kingdom. Coverage of the final was interrupted by a live broadcast of the Iranian Embassy siege, which caused numerous complaints to the broadcaster. The end of the final attracted 14.5 million viewers.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980_World_Snooker_Championship
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1782:
The Badge of Military Merit, the precursor to the U.S. Purple Heart, was established as a military decoration of the Continental Army. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badge_of_Military_Merit
1897:
Mahdist War: Anglo-Egyptian soldiers clashed with Mahdist Sudanese rebels in the Battle of Abu Hamed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Abu_Hamed
1955:
Hurricane Diane, the first Atlantic hurricane to cause more than $1 billion in damages, formed between the Lesser Antilles and Cape Verde. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Diane
1987:
Lynne Cox became the first person to swim between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, crossing from Little Diomede to Big Diomede in the Bering Strait in 2 hours and 5 minutes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynne_Cox
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
tall story: (idiomatic) Synonym of tall tale (“a tale or story which is fantastic and greatly exaggerated; also, an account of questionable veracity; a lie, an untruth”) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tall_story
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There can be no self-government without self-discipline. There can be no self-government without self-control. There can be no liberty unless it is grounded in moral discipline and the ability to do what is right. --Alan Keyes https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alan_Keyes