John Wark (born 1957) is a Scottish former footballer who spent most of his playing time with Ipswich Town. He won a record four Player of the Year awards before becoming one of the four inaugural members of the club's Hall of Fame. Wark had long spells at the club, which bookended his career, and a third, brief interlude dividing his briefer periods at Liverpool and Middlesbrough. A versatile player, Wark played most of his professional games as a midfielder, although he sometimes played as a central defender and on occasion as a striker. Born in Glasgow, Wark represented Scotland in international football, winning 29 caps and scoring seven goals. This included selection for Scotland in the 1982 FIFA World Cup in which he made three appearances and scored twice. During his playing career, Wark appeared in the film Escape to Victory. Since retiring as a professional player in 1996, he has continued to work for Ipswich Town—since April 2009 in the corporate hospitality department. His autobiography was published in 2009.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1493:

Christopher Columbus wrote an open letter describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World, which was widely distributed upon his return to Portugal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus%27s_Letter_on_the_First_Voyage

1949:

Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux began excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves in the West Bank region of Jordan, the location of the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qumran_Caves

1965:

Canada adopted the Maple Leaf flag , replacing the Canadian Red Ensign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada

1979:

Don Dunstan resigned as Premier of South Australia, ending a decade of sweeping social liberalisation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Dunstan

2003:

In one of the largest anti-war rallies in history, millions around the world in approximately 800 cities took part in protests against the impending invasion of Iraq. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_15%2C_2003_anti-war_protest

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

sherpa (n): 1. A male of the Sherpa people employed as a mountain guide or porter. 2. An expert sent by a country's leader to a summit meeting. 3. A synthetic fabric with a long, thick pile, similar to faux fur, imitation lamb wool, or fleece http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sherpa

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A religious education is an education which inculcates duty and reverence. Duty arises from our potential control over the course of events. Where attainable knowledge could have changed the issue, ignorance has the guilt of vice. And the foundation of reverence is this perception, that the present holds within itself the complete sum of existence, backwards and forwards, that whole amplitude of time, which is eternity. --Alfred North Whitehead http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead