80px|Hod Stuart

Hod Stuart (1879–1907) was a Canadian professional ice hockey cover-point (now known as a defenceman) who played nine seasons for several teams in different leagues. He also played briefly for the Ottawa Rough Riders football team. With his brother Bruce, Stuart played in the first professional ice hockey league, the American-based International Professional Hockey League (IPHL), where he was regarded as one of the best players in the league. Frustrated with the violence associated with the IPHL, he left the league late in 1906 and returned to Canada, where in 1907 he helped the Montreal Wanderers win the Stanley Cup, the championship trophy for hockey. Two months later, he died in a diving accident. To raise money for his widow and children, the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association hosted an all-star game, the first of its kind to be played in any sport. In an era where defencemen were expected to stay behind during the play, Stuart became known for his ability to score goals while playing a defensive role, and for his ability to remain calm during matches that often turned violent. His efforts were acknowledged when the Hockey Hall of Fame was created in 1945 and he became one of the first twelve players to be inducted. (more...)

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1542:

Anglo-Scottish Wars: England captured about 1,200 Scottish prisoners with its victory in the Battle of Solway Moss. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Solway_Moss

1859:

On the Origin of Species by British naturalist Charles Darwin was first published, and sold out its initial print run on the first day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species

1906:

A local newspaper accused members of two American football teams of conspiring to deliberately lose games, the first known case of professional gamblers attempting to fix a professional sport. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canton_Bulldogs%E2%80%93Massillon_Tigers_betting_scandal

1963:

Businessman Jack Ruby shot and fatally wounded Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, during a live television broadcast, fueling conspiracy theories on the matter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ruby

1974:

A group of paleoanthropologists led by Donald Johanson discovered a 3.2-million-year-old skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis in the Afar Depression in Ethiopia, nicknaming it "Lucy" after The Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_%28Australopithecus%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

trepanation (n): The practice of drilling a hole in the skull as a physical, mental, or spiritual treatment http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trepanation

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

The ultimate aim of government is not to rule, or restrain, by fear, nor to exact obedience, but contrariwise, to free every man from fear, that he may live in all possible security; in other words, to strengthen his natural right to exist and work without injury to himself or others.

No, the object of government is not to change men from rational beings into beasts or puppets, but to enable them to develop their minds and bodies in security, and to employ their reason unshackled; neither showing hatred, anger, or deceit, nor watched with the eyes of jealousy and injustice. In fact, the true aim of government is liberty. --Baruch Spinoza http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza