Bodyline was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team
for their 1932–33 tour of Australia, specifically to combat the
extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman. It involved
bowlers deliberately aiming the cricket ball at the bodies of batsmen.
This caused several injuries to Australian players and led to
ill-feeling between the countries that rose to diplomatic levels.
Following the 1932–33 series, several authors, including many of the
players involved in it, released books expressing various points of
view about Bodyline. Many argued that it was a scourge on cricket and
must be stamped out, while some claimed not to understand what all the
fuss was about.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodyline
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1301:
Edward of Caernarvon, the future King Edward II, became the first
English heir apparent to hold the title as Prince of Wales.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_II_of_England)
1940:
Pinocchio, the Academy Award-winning Disney animated film based on a
story by Carlo Collodi, was first released.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinocchio_%281940_movie%29)
1984:
NASA astronaut Bruce McCandless II performed the first untethered
spacewalk using a Manned Maneuvering Unit.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra-vehicular_activity)
1992:
The Maastricht treaty, which led to the formation of the European
Union, was signed in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht_treaty)
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Wikiquote of the day:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age
of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was
the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter
of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we
were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other
way— in short, the period was so far like the present period, that
some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for
good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." --
Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens)