Joe Warbrick (1 January 1862 – 30 August 1903) was a Māori rugby union player. The youngest person ever to play first-class rugby in New Zealand, he was selected as a 15-year-old to play fullback for Auckland Provincial Clubs. In 1884 he made the first New Zealand representative team, and appeared in seven of their eight matches on their tour of New South Wales. Four years later he conceived of, selected, and led the privately funded New Zealand Native football team, which eventually included several New Zealand-born and foreign-born Europeans. Although the team played 107 matches, including 74 in the British Isles, Warbrick took part in only 21 matches due to injury. The tour, the first from the Southern Hemisphere to visit Britain, remains the longest in rugby's history. In 2008 Warbrick and the Natives were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He effectively retired from rugby after returning from the tour, except for one appearance for Auckland in 1894, and went on to work as a farmer and tourist guide in the Bay of Plenty. In 1903 he was killed along with several others by an eruption of the Waimangu Geyser.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1739:

Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic Ocean, the most remote island in the world, was discovered by French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvet_Island

1801:

Pursuant to the Acts of Union 1800, Great Britain and Ireland merged to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland

1914:

The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line in the U.S. state of Florida became the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg%E2%80%93Tampa_Airboat_Line

1965:

The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which later helped the country become a republic, was founded. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Democratic_Party_of_Afghanistan

2007:

Adam Air Flight 574 crashed into the sea off Polewali, Indonesia, when the pilots inadvertently disconnected the autopilot. All 102 people on board were killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Air_Flight_574

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

Brooklynite: A native or inhabitant of Brooklyn, New York. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Brooklynite

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed.   --Barry Goldwater https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barry_Goldwater