Blackburn Olympic F.C. was an English association football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, in the late 19th century. Although it was only in existence from 1878 to 1889, it is significant in the history of football in England as the first club from the north of the country and the first from a working-class background to win the Football Association Challenge Cup (better known as the FA Cup, trophy pictured). The cup had previously been won only by teams of wealthy amateurs from the home counties, and Olympic's victory against Old Etonians F.C. in 1883 marked a turning point in the sport's transition from a pastime for upper-class gentlemen to a professional sport. Olympic, however, proved unable to compete with wealthier and better-supported clubs in the professional era. Most of Olympic's home matches took place at the Hole-i'-th-Wall stadium, named after an adjacent public house. One Olympic player, James Ward, was selected for the England team while playing for the club. Six other former or future England internationals played for Olympic, including Jack Hunter, who was the club's coach at the time of Olympic's FA Cup win.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackburn_Olympic_F.C.

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1807:

In an effort to avoid engaging in the Napoleonic Wars, the United States Congress passed the Embargo Act, forbidding American ships from engaging in trade with foreign nations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embargo_Act_of_1807

1944:

World War II: US Army General Anthony McAuliffe responded to the German ultimatum of surrender during the Battle of the Bulge with a single word, "NUTS!" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe

1947:

The Constitution of the Italian Republic was enacted by the Constituent Assembly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Italy

1997:

Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquished the disputed title of President of Somalia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_Farrah_Aidid

2001:

Burhanuddin Rabbani of the Northern Alliance handed over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by Hamid Karzai. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Karzai

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

rebirth: 1. Reincarnation, new birth subsequent to one's first: rebirth of the soul in a new body. 2. Revival, reinvigoration: the rebirth of feminism, the rebirth of the Handelian oratorio. 3. Spiritual renewal: rebirth in Christ, the doctrine of rebirth through baptism. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rebirth

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So it's not so much which road you take, as how you take it. --Charles de Lint https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Lint