Cliff Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "the Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the 1980 World Snooker Championship, becoming the first world champion in snooker's modern era from outside the United Kingdom. He remains the sport's only world champion from the Americas. Ranked world number one during the 1981–82 season, he was the first non-British player to top the world rankings. In 1983, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship. He is the first player to win the Masters three times (in 1983, 1985, and 1986) and the first to retain the title. He retired from the main professional tour in 1996. Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Snooker Hall of Fame in 2014, he competed in Snooker Legends events and on the World Seniors Tour, winning the 2018 Seniors Masters. He retired from competitive snooker after the 2022 UK Seniors Championship.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Thorburn

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1780:

Anglo-Spanish War: The Royal Navy gained their first major naval victory over their European enemies in the war when they defeated a Spanish squadron in the Battle of Cape St. Vincent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_St._Vincent_%281780%29

1883:

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is enacted by the U.S. Congress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendleton_Civil_Service_Reform_Act

1905:

Despite being blind in one eye, ice hockey player Frank McGee set the record for most goals in a Stanley Cup game when he scored 14 against the Dawson City Nuggets. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_McGee_%28ice_hockey%29

2016:

After gunmen took hostages the previous night at a restaurant in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, government commandos stormed the premises to bring the situation to an end. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Ouagadougou_attacks

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

tractile: 1. Capable of being drawn or stretched out in length. 2. Pertaining to traction or pulling. 3. (dated) Capable of being guided, influenced, or led. 4. (obsolete, rare) Of financial assets: able to be drawn or procured from a place of deposit; liquid. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/tractile

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Our main goal should be to establish a precedent for a new post- Cold War era, in which the community of nations, working through the United Nations and other organizations, can insure that would-be aggressors do not profit from invasion, coercion and force.   --Paul Nitze https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Nitze