The England national rugby union team is a sporting side that represents England in rugby union. Currently world champions, they compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on twenty-five occasions, twelve times winning the Grand Slam. England also compete for the Calcutta Cup—which they currently hold—with Scotland as part of the Six Nations. They are currently ranked third in the world. The history of the team extends back to 1871 when the English rugby team played their first official Test match. England dominated the early Home Nations Championship (now the Six Nations) which started in 1883. England players traditionally wear white shorts, navy socks with white tops, and a white shirt with a red rose embroidered on it. Their home ground is Twickenham Stadium where they first played in 1910. The team is administered by the Rugby Football Union. Four former players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_national_rugby_union_team

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1740: Maria Theresa assumed the throne of the Habsburg Monarchy in Austria, following the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Theresa_of_Austria)

1818: The United Kingdom and the United States signed the Treaty of 1818, which settled the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_1818)

1827: An allied British, French, and Russian naval force destroyed a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet at the Battle of Navarino, a decisive moment in the Greek War of Independence. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Navarino)

1941: World War II: German soldiers began a massacre of thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in Nazi-occupied Serbia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kragujevac_massacre)

1973: Queen Elizabeth II, in her capacity as Queen of Australia, formally opened the Sydney Opera House on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

churlish: Of or pertaining to a serf, peasant, or rustic. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/churlish)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings Coming down is the hardest thing. -- Tom Petty (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Tom_Petty)