William McGregor (1846–1911) was an association football administrator
in the Victorian era, who is regarded as the founder of the Football
League, the first organised football league in the world. After moving
from Perthshire to Birmingham to set up business as a draper, McGregor
became involved with local football club Aston Villa, which he helped
to establish as one of the leading teams in England. He served the club
for over twenty years in various capacities, including president,
director and chairman. In 1888, frustrated by the regular cancellation
of Villa's matches, McGregor organised a meeting of representatives of
England's leading clubs, which led to the formation of the Football
League, giving member clubs a guaranteed fixture list each season. This
was instrumental in the transition of football from an amateur pastime
to a professional business. McGregor served as both chairman and
president of the Football League and was also chairman of the Football
Association (the FA). He was recognised by the FA for his service to
the game shortly before his death in 1911, and was posthumously
honoured by the local football authorities and Aston Villa.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McGregor>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1138:
A massive earthquake, one of the deadliest in recorded history, struck
Aleppo, Syria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1138_Aleppo_earthquake>
1852:
The University of Sydney, Australia's oldest university, was
inaugurated in Sydney two years after the New South Wales Legislative
Council established it with the passage of the University of Sydney
Act.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Sydney>
1865:
The Morant Bay rebellion, led by Paul Bogle and George William Gordon,
began in Jamaica, but eventually it was brutally suppressed by Governor
Edward John Eyre.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morant_Bay_rebellion>
1962:
Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council, the first Roman
Catholic ecumenical council in 92 years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Vatican_Council>
1968:
Apollo 7 , the first manned mission of NASA's Apollo program, and the
first three-man American space mission, launched from Complex 34 in
present-day Cape Canaveral, Florida.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_7>
1987:
Sri Lankan Civil War: The Indian Peace Keeping Force began Operation
Pawan to take control of Jaffna from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam in order to enforce their disarmament as a part of the Indo-Sri
Lankan Accord.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pawan>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
histrionics (n):
Exaggerated, overemotional behaviour, especially when calculated to
elicit a response; melodramatics
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/histrionics>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
--Eleanor Roosevelt
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt>
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