Percy Chapman (3 September 1900 – 16 September 1961) captained the
England cricket team between 1926 and 1931. Representing the Cambridge
cricket team in 1920, he once scored centuries against Oxford and in the
Gentlemen v Players match within the space of a week. Chapman made his
Test debut in 1924, although he had yet to play County Cricket. A left-
handed batsman, he went on to play 26 Test matches for England. After he
took over from Arthur Carr as captain in 1926, England defeated
Australia for the first time since 1912. He achieved victory in his
first nine matches in charge but lost two and drew six of his remaining
games. An amateur cricketer, Chapman played first-class cricket for
Kent, eventually as captain. He had a respectable batting record, could
score runs quickly, and was popular with spectators. Contemporaries
rated him highly as a fielder. Although opinions were divided on his
tactical ability as a captain, he was seen as an inspirational leader.
Chapman's success gave him access to fashionable society for a time, but
in the 1930s, his health and cricketing form declined. For the rest of
his life, he suffered from alcoholism.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Chapman>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
36 BC:
Sicilian revolt: A victory by the fleet of Marcus Vipsanius
Agrippa over that of Sextus Pompeius in the Battle of Naulochus ended
Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Naulochus>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: The British Army and their Hessian
allies defeated an American militia in the Battle of Cooch's Bridge.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cooch%27s_Bridge>
1935:
On the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, British racing motorist
Malcolm Campbell became the first person to drive an automobile over
300 mph (480 km/h).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Campbell>
1942:
The Holocaust: In possibly the first Jewish ghetto uprising,
residents of the Łachwa Ghetto in occupied Poland, informed of the
upcoming "liquidation" of the ghetto, unsuccessfully fought against
their Nazi captors.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%81achwa_Ghetto>
2001:
The Troubles: Protestant loyalists began picketing a Catholic
primary school for girls in the Protestant portion of Ardoyne, Belfast,
Northern Ireland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Cross_dispute>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
amateur hour:
(chiefly US, idiomatic) A situation or activity in which the
participants show a lack of skill, sound judgment, or professionalism.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/amateur_hour>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
High ideals make a people strong. … decay comes when ideals
wane.
--Louis Sullivan
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Louis_Sullivan>
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