North Road was a football stadium and cricket field in Newton Heath, Manchester, England. It was the first home of Manchester United Football Club, then known as Newton Heath Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Football Club. The club was formed in 1878 at the request of the railway company's employees at its carriage and wagon works, and the ground (which was owned by Manchester Cathedral) adjoined the works. Initially the ground consisted only of the pitch, around which an estimated 12,000 spectators could congregate, and it was often clouded by steam from passing trains. Players had to get changed at a nearby public house. The addition of stands in 1891 increased the capacity to about 15,000. The football club signed its first professional players in 1886 and began to break from its sponsoring railway company, but without the company's financial support it was unable to afford the rent on the ground and was evicted. In 1893, the club moved to a new ground at Bank Street, Clayton. The North Road site is now part of the North Manchester Business Park, having previously been used as playing fields and as the site of a school.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Road_(football_ground)
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1279:
Emperor Bing, the last emperor of the Song Dynasty, died during the Battle of Yamen, bringing the dynasty to an end after three centuries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emperors_of_the_Song_Dynasty
1921:
Irish War of Independence: About 1,300 British troops attempted to encircle about 100 IRA volunteers at Crossbarry in County Cork. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossbarry_Ambush
1932:
The Sydney Harbour Bridge (pictured), a major landmark in Sydney, Australia, and the world's tallest steel arch bridge, was formally opened. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Harbour_Bridge
1954:
American pool (pocket billiards) player Willie Mosconi set a record of 526 consecutive balls sunk without a miss during an exhibition of straight pool. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Mosconi
1987:
American televangelist Jim Bakker resigned as the head of The PTL Club in the midst of a sex scandal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bakker
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
vaguery: 1. (uncountable) Vagueness, the condition of being vague. 2. (countable) A vagueness, a thing which is vague, an example of vagueness. 3. (countable, in the plural) An eggcorn for vagaries. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vaguery
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
 I am an individual … a circle touching and intersecting my neighbours at certain points, but nowhere corresponding, nowhere blending. … But my individuality, however all-sufficient for myself, is an infinitesimal point, an atom subject in all things to the Law of Storms called Life. I feel, I know that Fate is. But I cannot know what is or what is not fated to befall me. Therefore in the pursuit of perfection as an individual lies my highest, and indeed my only duty, the "I" being duly blended with the "We." … I am bound to take careful thought concerning the consequences of every word and deed. When, however, the Future has become the Past, it would be the merest vanity for me to grieve or to repent over that which was decreed by universal Law. --Richard Francis Burton https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton
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