3rd On this day in 1767 Norway’s oldest newspaper still in print Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published. Today in 1886 the New York Tribune became the first newspaper to use a linotype machine for printing. Prior to this, typesetting was done by hand. Linotype became the industry standard for decades until it too was replaced by offset lithography. The machine made setting print for daily newspapers possible to complete by just a few people. The onerous task of hand typesetting meant that no newspaper in the world was ever more than eight pages. After this technique became popular, it was possible to increase the news disseminated daily. French Olympic rugby union player and Tug of War competitor Jean Collas was born today in 1874.  A member of both French teams that competed at the 1900 Olympics, winning rugby gold and tug of war silver. The 18th Wimbledon Women’s tennis final saw Charlotte Cooper beat Blanche Bingley: 6-2, 6-2,in 1901. Bramhall Lane, Sheffield, became England’s seventh Test cricket ground when it staged the third Test between England and Australia in 1902. Australia’s Clem Hill scored the only century on the ground, which was not used again for Test cricket. The world heavyweight boxing title fight between Melvin Hart and Jack root at Nevada in 1905 was the first to have a former champion as the referee, James J Jeffries. The contest was to find his successor. In 1908 at the 25th edition of the Women’s championship at Wimbledon Charlotte Cooper was once again victorious this time getting the better of Miss A Morton (6-4, 6-4).  Miss Moreton lost again the following year, 1909, this time succumbing to Dora Boothby in 3 sets: 6-4, 4-6, 8-6.  In 1920 ‘Big’ Bill Tilden beat Gerald Patterson of Australia to become the first American winner of the men’s singles title at Wimbledon The most prolific wicket-taker in Test cricket, former New Zealand and Nottinghamshire captain Sir Richard Hadlee, was born in 1951.  He became the first man to take 400 wickets in Test cricket in 1990. He was knighted for services to cricket in the same year.  The 1966 Us Women’s Open Golf Championship, the 21st edition, was won by Sandra Spuzich. Britain’s Barry Sheene won the 500cc race at the 1977 Belgian Grand Prix at an average speed of 135.07mph (217km/hr), the fastest ever recorded speed at a world championship motor-cycle race.  Back to the tennis and this time the 100th Wimbledon Women’s Open in 1993 which was won by Steffi Graf who beat a tearful Jana Novotna 7-6, 1-6, 6-4.  Tim Flood, Irish hurler died at the age of 87 in 2014. Born in Clonroche, County Wexford, Flood first arrived on the inter-county scene at the age of 22 when he first linked up with the Wexford senior team. He made his senior debut in the 1947/48 National Hurling League and went on to win three All-Ireland medals, six Leinster medals and two National Hurling League medals. He was an All-Ireland runner-up on three occasions. As a member of the Leinster inter-provincial team on a number of occasions, Flood won two Railway Cup medals in 1954 and 1956. At club level he won three championship medals with Cloughbawn. His career tally of 26 goals and 59 points marks him out as Wexford’s fourth highest championship scorer of all-time. Throughout his inter-county career, Flood made 38 championship appearances for Wexford and he retired at the conclusion of the 1962 championship. His brother-in-law, Oliver “Hopper” McGrath, and his son, Seán Flood, also enjoyed All-Ireland success with Wexford. After retirement Flood became involved in team management and coaching. He served as coach of the Cloughbawn junior hurling team before later serving as a selector. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest hurlers of his era and has been voted onto teams made up of the sport’s greats, including at left corner-forward on a specially-chosen greatest ever Wexford side in 2002. After finishing with hurling, Flood was heavily involved in sheepdog trials, and represented Cloughbawn, Wexford, Leinster and Ireland on numerous occasions. He competed in his first national trial in 1970 and made his debut on the Irish team in 1972. He and a collie called Cosy won the national title in 1975, the first of his twelve All-Ireland titles. Six of the dozen were in the singles event, while six were doubles, working with a brace of dogs. Flood also made several appearances on the BBC’s One Man and His Dog.

 

4th American circus ringmaster James Anthony Bailey was born on this day in 1847, as James Anthony McGinnis. Orphaned at the age of eight, McGuiness was working as a bellhop in Pontiac, Michigan, when he was discovered by Frederic Harrison Bailey (a nephew of circus pioneer Hachaliah Bailey) as a teenager. Bailey gave McGuiness a job as his assistant and the two travelled together for many years. James Anthony eventually adopted Bailey’s surname to become James A. Bailey. He later associated himself with James E. Cooper, and by the time he was 25, he was manager of the Cooper and Bailey circus. He then met with PT Barnum, and together they established Barnum and Bailey’s Circus (for which Bailey was instrumental in obtaining Jumbo the Elephant) in 1881.On this day in 1907 Tommy Burns knocked out Bill Squires in the first to take the heavyweight boxing title. Jack Dempsey beat Jess Willard to become world heavyweight boxing champion on this day in 1919. Willard retired in the third round after being knocked down no fewer than seven times during their bout at Toledo, Ohio. Tibor Varga, German violinist and conductor and a pedagogue of worldwide renown was born today in 1921. Varga took his first lessons at the age of two and a half with his father Lajos Varga, who had been an excellent violinist. However, due to an injury during the War, Lajos Varga had to abandon his projects to be a concert artist and became a violin maker. Varga was six years old when he made his first public appearance. At ten, he took on his first solo role with an orchestra, performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto op. 64. At the age of 13, he made his first recordings. At 14, he took on his first concert tours abroad, until his career had abruptly been interrupted by World War II. After the War he continued his concert activities, becoming one of the most prominent soloists. Varga collaborated with eminent conductors such as Ernest Ansermet, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and many others. He performed with the greatest orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra London and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded for labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and EMI. A recording of the Bartok Violin Concerto no. 2 with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Ferenc Fricsay as well as his versions of the Violin Concertos by Max Bruch, Mozart,Carl Nielsen, Paganini, Tchaikovsky etc. have become major references of musical interpretation. After World War II, Varga in his home town Győr was co-founder and first professor of a Music Academy associated to the Budapest Franz Liszt Academy. In 1947, he established himself in London. In 1949, he became professor at the newly founded Detmold High School of Music (Hochschule für Musik Detmold). Charged to establish the String Department, for which he was asked to become the Head. Retired Belgium Marathon runner Aurèle Vandendriessche was born in 1932; he won the silver medal at the1962 European Championships, behind Great Britain’s Brian Kilby. Four years later at the same event Vandendriessche once again claimed the second place. Twice winner of the Boston Marathon (1963 and 1964), he represented Belgium at three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1956. Two days after Helen Wills-Moody won her record with Wimbledon title in 1938, another darling of the centre court, Suzanne Lenglen of France, died of leukaemia at the age of 39. She won a total of 15 titles between 1919 and 1925, six of them at Wimbledon in the ladies’ singles. Fred Daly took the 76th British Golf Open in 1947 after shooting a 293 at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Martina Navratilova’s doubles partner, Pam Shriver, was born in 1962. With Navratilova she won five Wimbledon titles and 21 Grand Slam doubles titles.  Carol Mann proved too good for all the other competitors when she won the 20th edition of the US Women’s Open Golf Championships in 1965.  Heading back to SW1 where in 1969 Ann Jones became Wimbledon champion when she beat Billie-Jean King 3-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the final. The 30-year old Briton had been unsuccessful in her 13 previous attempts, including a final against King two years earlier. On this day in 1968 Yachtsman Alec Rose received a hero’s welcome as he sailed into Portsmouth after his 354-day round-the-world trip. The 59-year-old was escorted into Portsmouth harbour by 400 motor-boats, yachts, catamarans and canoes blowing sirens and whistles. A crowd of more than 250,000 people gathered to congratulate the Portsmouth greengrocer on his 28,500-mile solo trip around the globe. On this day in 1973 Pope Paul VI praised athletes who “offer the magnificent show of a healthy, strong, generous youth”. He spoke these words during an audience with Italian cyclists.  American professional tennis player, Jill Craybas, was born on this day in 1974. At 39 years of age, she was one of the oldest players on the WTA Tour, as well as the longest serving, having turned pro in 1996. From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws, her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships where she reached the fourth round which included wins over Marion Bartoli and Serena Williams. Craybas was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she played for coach Andy Brandi’s Florida Gators women’s tennis team in National Collegiate Athletics Association NCAA) and Southeastern Conference (SEC) competition from 1993 to 1996. As a senior in 1996, she won the NCAA women’s singles tennis championship. She was the 1995–96 recipient of the Honda Sports Award for Tennis, recognising her as the outstanding collegiate female tennis player of the year. Craybas graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications in 1996, and has said in interviews that she hopes to enter film or television production when her playing career ends. She was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a “Gator Great” in 2008. Craybas credits her achievements to her long-time coach, Raja Chaudhuri. Chaudhuri has worked with her from the start of her tennis career. Craybas turned professional in 1996. She has won one WTA title at the Tokyo Japan Open. Craybas represented the United States at the 2008   Olympics in the singles. She became the last qualifier for the event, replacing Tamira Paszek of Austria. The opening came available when fellow American Ashley Harkleroad elected to skip the games after she became pregnant. At the US Open 2013, Craybas announced her retirement from tennis. On this day in 1977 Manchester United manager Tommy Docherty was sensationally sacked by the club’s directors. A statement from the football club’s board found him in breach of his contract following a meeting earlier in the day. Docherty caused shock at the club two weeks previously when he announced he was leaving his wife after 27 years for a woman 18 years his junior. After United won the FA Cup against Liverpool in May the manager thought his job was safe. “The board want me to stay and that’s terrific,” he said after admitting his affair. The directors’ announcement did not mention the 49-year old Scot’s controversial affair with the wife of the club’s physiotherapist, Laurie Brown. On hearing the news of his dismissal Docherty said he was “a bit shattered”. “I certainly did not expect this. It was a bombshell. I thought I would have been judged on my playing record, like Wembley in two successive years,” he said. Club directors recalled him from holiday in the Lake District last week after coming under pressure from players’ wives. He admitted he had been asked to resign but refused because he did not think he had done anything wrong. Tommy Docherty – known as the Doc – joined United in December 1972 and still had ten months of his £20,000-a-year contract to run. He had just renegotiated another four year contract, said to be worth £100,000, but that remains unsigned. Docherty, in consultation with solicitors over compensation from United, would not comment on rumours of a move to Derby County, who tried to lure him with a lucrative deal a few weeks before. Within days of his dismissal Docherty appeared in public with a black eye, apparently received from jilted Laurie Brown. After approaches from clubs in the Middle East and Norway, Docherty eventually signed for Derby County in September 1977.In the 1980s and 1990s he worked as a football pundit and after-dinner speaker. Vladimir Gusev Russian professional road racing cyclist was born on this day in 1982. He has been a professional since 2004, spending two years each at Team CSC and Discovery Channel before moving to Astana in 2008. On 25 July 2008 team Astana fired Gusev for showing “abnormal” values during an internal doping check, a decision the Court of Arbitration for Sport found to be unjust in a ruling the following June.At the 2006 Paris–Roubaix, Gusev finished fourth but was later one of three riders disqualified by the race jury for illegally riding though a closed level-crossing. Gusev eventually joined Team Katusha in 2010 after not riding for a trade team since his dismissal from Astana. Cricket and in 1984 Alvin Kallicharan set a Gillette/NatWest cup record with an innings if 204 for Warwickshire against Oxfordshire. While a few years later in 1987 Imran Khan took his 300th Test Cricket wicket, the only Pakistani to do so.

 

5th – English Chess Master Horatio Caro was born in Newcastle upon Tyne.but spent most of his chess career in Berlin.In 1892, he drew with Curt von Bardeleben (+2 –2 =2), lost to Szymon Winawer (+2 –3 =1). In 1897, he lost to Jacques Mieses (+3 –4 =3). In 1903, he drew with Bardeleben (+4 –4 =0). In 1905, he won against Moritz Lewitt (+4 –3 =5).In tournaments, he won in Berlin (1888, 1891, 1894, 1898 (jointly), and 1903).as well as being placed in many other competitions across Europe. His claim to fame is linked to the opening Caro-Kann Defence which he analysed along with Marcus Kann and jointly published about in the German journal Bruederschaft in1886. Caro died in London at age 58.  Dwight F Davis, the man who allegedly gave the Davis Cup to tennis, (see the work of Dr Simon Eaves whose research disputes this claim (Link), was born in 1879. The one and only Test Cricket match ever played at Sheffield was won by Australia on this day in 1902.  Tennis and in 1904, at the 4th David Cup the British Isles beat Belgium at Wimbledon, 5-0. There have been some notable achievements at Wimbledon on 5th July in bygone years: In 1906 at the 30th instalment of the Men’s Tennis Championships Laurence Doherty beat Frank Riseley (6-4 4-6 6-2 6-3) and in 1919 Suzanne Lenglen became the first non-English speaking ladies’ champion; it was the first of five consecutive titles for the French woman. The 50th Men’s Title was played for in 1930 with Bill Tilden getting the better of W Allison in 3 sets 6-3, 9-7, 6-4. In 1952 ‘Little Mo’, Maureen Connolly, won the ladies crown at the age of 17, beating Louise Brough.  Arthur Ashe became the first black men’s champion in 1975 when he beat Jimmy Connors. In 1980 Bjorn Borg won his fifth consecutive title, getting the better of John McEnroe in a four-hour five-set cliff-hanger rated as one of the best Wimbledon finals of all time.  Back to my chronology now and on this day in 1929 former England spin-bowler Tony Lock was born. He took 174 wickets in 49 Tests between 1952 and 1968. He was a member of the successful Surrey county side in the 1950s. At the 75th playing of the British Golf Open in 1946 in St Andrews, Sam Snead shot a 290 to claim the title. Also on this day in 1946, a new type of swimwear was revealed in Paris. July 1, 1946 saw the first nuclear bomb explosion at an atoll in the Pacific Ocean. Car engineer and part-time designer Louis Réard claimed his new beachwear would cause as much excitement as one of the explosions in the Pacific. He named his creation after the detonation site and gave the world the bikini – again. Bikinis, or two-piece bathing suits were first worn in antiquity during the Chalcolithic and the Greco-Roman eras. Çatalhöyük, a mother-goddess worshiped by inhabitants of Anatolia, was shown astride two leopards wearing the two piece suit. The same outfit is seen worn by women engaging in sporting event and painted on Greek urns. Romans of the Diocletian period were also known to scantily dress while exercising. Venus is seen wearing a bikini in the ruins of Pompeii. Today in 1954 the BBC broadcast its first daily television news programme.The 20-minute bulletin was read by Richard Baker and was introduced as an “Illustrated summary of the news… followed by the latest film of events and happenings at home and abroad.” At the time the Television Newsreel programme, which was to be discontinued, was prepared in advance and contained news items which are often days old. The new service was intended to be more up-to-date and would also eventually include studio interviews. The first edition began with news of truce talks being held near Hanoi and an item on French troop movements in Tunisia. Richard Baker could be heard reading the news while a series of headlines, still photographs and maps were shown on the screen. BBC Director General Sir Ian Jacob acknowledged there had been significant difficulties producing the new television bulletins. “News is not at all an easy thing to do on television. A good many of the main news items are not easily made visual – therefore we have the problem of giving news with the same standards that the corporation has built up in sound.” He added that the format of the programme was likely to change, but said the BBC was committed to television news. “This is a start on something we regard as extremely significant for the future,” he said. The programme was not met with universal approval, being variously described as “absolute ghastly”, “crazy” and “as visually impressive as the fat stock prices”. BBC Radio was also very sceptical of the new service and insisted it retain editorial control over the headlines and story content. But between 1954 and 1955 the amount of television time devoted to news was doubled and in September 1955 Independent Television News launched its first service. BBC television news has expanded considerably since its early days and is now available round-the-clock on BBC News 24. In July 2004, the corporation celebrated 50 years since the first daily 20-minute bulletin. Today in 1954 saw Pakistani cricketer Khalid Hassan represent his national side in a Test match at the tender age of 16 years and 356 days. He was then and remains the youngest player to play only a single Test match. A right-arm leg spinner, he played 17 first-class matches in total, 14 of which came on Pakistan’s 1954 tour of the UK.  The 25th US Women’s Open Golf in 1970 was won by Donna Caponi Young. One of the best known and widely respected cricket umpires – Dickie Bird – made his Test Cricket umpiring debut on this day in 1973 when England played New Zealand at Leeds. On this day in 1980 Sweden’s Bjorn Borg won his fifth Wimbledon title and became the first male tennis player to win the championships five times in succession (1976-1980). Today in 2015 the USA women’s national soccer team won the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

 

6th Annette Kellermann, Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, writer, and business owner was born today in 1887. Kellermann was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume, instead of the then-accepted pantaloons, and inspired others to follow her example. Kellerman’s swimming costumes became so popular, that she started her own fashion line of one-piece bathing suits. Kellermann helped popularize the sport of synchronised swimming; and authored a swimming manual. She appeared in several movies, usually with aquatic themes, and as the star of A Daughter of the Gods was the first major actress to appear nude in a Hollywood production. Kellermann was an advocate of health, fitness, and natural beauty throughout her life. At the age of six, a weakness in Kellerman’s legs necessitated the wearing of steel braces to strengthen them. To further overcome her disability, her parents enrolled her in swimming classes at Cavill’s baths in Sydney. By the age of 13, her legs were practically normal, and by 15, she had mastered all the swimming strokes and won her first race. At this time she was also giving diving displays. In 1902, Kellermann won the ladies’ 100yards and mile championships of New South Wales in the record times of 1 minute, 22 seconds and 33 minutes, 49 seconds respectively. During her time at school, Kellermann gave exhibitions of swimming and diving at the main Melbourne baths, performed a mermaid act at Princes Court entertainment centre, and did two shows a day swimming with fish in a glass tank at the Exhibition Aquarium. In June and July 1903, she performed sensational high dives in the Coogee scene of Bland Holt’s spectacular, The Breaking of the Drought, at the Melbourne Theatre Royal. Kellermann and Beatrice Kerr, who was billed as “Australia’s Champion Lady Swimmer and Diver”, were rivals, although Kerr’s public challenges to Kellermann to meet in a competitive race went unanswered. On 24 August 1905, aged 19, Kellermann was one of the first women to attempt to swim the English Channel. After three unsuccessful swims she declared, “I had the endurance but not the brute strength.” The first woman to attempt a Channel crossing had been Austrian Baroness Walburga von Isacescu, in September 1900.  Kellermann later challenged and defeated Isacescu in a Danube race. Kellermann was famous for advocating the right of women to wear a one-piece bathing suit, which was controversial at the time. According to an Australian magazine, “In the early 1900s, women were expected to wear cumbersome dress and pantaloon combinations when swimming. In 1907, at the height of her popularity, Kellermann was arrested on Revere Beach, Massachusetts, for indecency – she was wearing one of her fitted one-piece costumes.” The popularity of her one-piece suits resulted in her own line of women’s swimwear. The “Annette Kellermans”, as they were known, were the first step to modern swimwear. The best-known name in pre-war British motor racing, the Brooklands circuit, was opened in 1907. The world’s first purpose built race track came into being as a result of a ban on racing on Britain’s roads. On the same day in 1907, Tom Reece completed the highest-ever billiards break with a staggering 499,135. The break, which had started on 3rd June, was in the days of the now out-lawed ‘craddle cannon’ whereby a player could push the two object balls around the table all day by making a cannon each time. It must have been gripping stuff to watch!  On this day in 1919 the British dirigible R34 landed in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship. In 1933 the first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The American League defeated the National League 4–2. Northern Ireland track and field star Mary Peters was born in 1939. She was the last-gasp winner of the pentathlon gold at the 1972 Munich Olympics, pipping her great rival Heidi Rosendahl of Germany by 10 points. Retired East German middle-distance runner Gunhild Hoffmeister was born on this day in 1944. She competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics and won two silvers and a bronze medal, becoming the only German distance runner to win three Olympic medals and together with Hans Grodotzki is the only German runner to win two medals at the same Olympics. Her personal best time in 1500m was 4:01.4, achieved in July 1976 in Potsdam. This places her ninth on the German all-time list. At the European Championships Hoffmeister won five medals between 1971 and 1974: three outdoors and two indoors. She also won the European Cup in 1973 and placed second in 1970. Domestically she collected 15 outdoor and two indoor East German titles. She set three world records: in the 1000m in 1972 and in the 4×800m relay in 1969 and 1976. Hoffmeister was a sports teacher by training and after retiring from competitions became deputy chief of the Children and Youth School in Cottbus. She was also active in politics and was a member of East German Parliament in 1971–76. Until the German reunification in 1990 she served as a board member of the East German Sports Federation and after that worked as a sports rehabilitation therapist in Berlin. Her daughter Kerstin also became a competitive runner. The Wimbledon crowd at the 60th Men’s Tennis final in 1946 were treated to a 5 set thriller when Yvon Petra claimed the title after beating G Brown: 6-2, 6-4, 7-9, 5-7, 6-4.  Max Faulkner won the 80th British Golf Open, held at Royal Portrush, after shooting a 285 in 1951. After nearly a century of service the tram made its final appearance in London on this day in 1952. The very last tram to rumble along the capital’s streets arrived at south-east London’s New Cross depot in the early hours of this morning. It was driven by John Cliff, deputy chairman of London Transport Executive, who began his career as a tram driver. Trams carried banners all that week proclaiming “Last Tram Week” and special tickets carrying the same message were produced. Conductors punched souvenir tickets and enthusiasts drove or cycled alongside the tram – car number 1951 – for the duration of the journey. The tram’s journey time was extended by almost three hours by crowds of cheering Londoners who surrounded it along the route from Woolwich to New Cross. Meanwhile back at Wimbledon and 1957 when American Althea Gibson became the first black Wimbledon champion when she beat Darlene Hard in straight sets to capture the ladies’ singles title. On this day in 1986 Davis Phinney becomes the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France.  The centenarian Wimbledon Men’s Tennis was celebrated in 1986 and was won by Boris Becker after beating Ivan Lendl in three sets.  On his Test Cricket debut in 1993 Graham Thorpe scored 114 against Australia. The announcement that London was to host the 2012 Olympics was made on this day in 2005. London beat the favourite Paris by 54 votes to 50 at the IOC meeting in Singapore, after bids from Moscow, New York and Madrid were eliminated. Prime Minister Tony Blair called the win “a momentous day” for Britain. Paris had been the front runner throughout the campaign, but London’s hopes were raised after an impressive presentation by Lord Coe, the bid chairman. IOC president Jacques Rogge made the dramatic announcement at 1249 BST. It was to be the first time the Olympics has been held in Britain since 1948.  On this day in 2013 the British Lions defeated Australia 41-16 to win their first rugby Test series since 1997.

 

7thAt the Oval in 1868 Edwin Pooley of Surrey became the first wicket-keeper to dismiss 12 batsmen in one match, against Sussex.  A new long-jump record was set in 1928 by American Edward Hamm when he leaped 25ft 11 inches. In 1928 in Chillicothe, Missouri, the Chillicothe Baking Company was able to sell the best thing ever – sliced bread. The first automatic bread slicing machine for commercial use made possible the new product “Kleen Maid Sliced Bread”. There is a claim that the machine was first put to use in Battle Creek, Michigan but it is unsubstantiated. On this day in 1930 Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, doctor and prolific author, died of a heart attack. Doyle was born in Scotland to Irish parents and was sent to the Jesuit preparatory school Stonyhurst at age nine, which did not have the desired effect. He was an agnostic by the time he left. He went on to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh. His medical practice wasn’t very successful and to fill the time, Doyle began to write. He was published before he turned twenty. Sherlock Holmes, based on Professor Joseph Bell, made his first appearance in 1887 in A Study in Scarlet. In 1891, Doyle started to plan Holmes’s demise. Doyle ended up killing him off in December 1893 so that he could devote more time to his historical novels. Readers revolted and Holmes was resurrected by yet another twisting plot. He appeared in 56 short stories and four novels. Can’t get away from the tennis at this time of year and today in history is no exception with Elizabeth Ryan winning her 12th Wimbledon doubles title in 1934.  Golfer Tony Jacklin was born in 1944. When he won the British Open at Lytham in 1969 he was the first British winner for 18 years. Twelve months later he became the first British winner of the US Open for 50 years. He went on to skipper the European Ryder Cup side, guiding them to victory at The Belfry in 1985, the first by Britain or Europe since 1957, and two years later to an historic first-ever win on US soil. Sticking with golf and 1955 when the inaugural LPGA Championship was won by Beverly Hanson. Lillian Copeland, American track and field athlete, who excelled in weight throwing died in 1964 She has been called “the most successful female discus thrower in U.S. history” and also held multiple titles in shot put and javelin. Until the Beijing Games, she was the only American woman to win the discus at a modern Olympiad.  She was also the first Olympian who was an alumna of the University of Southern California and Los Angeles High School. Copeland competed during the formative decades of women’s competition in track and field. Consequently, her accomplishments are not fully described by the two medals she won in the discus. She excelled in all throwing events; in the shot put, she won the AAU championships 5 times (1924–28, 1931). In addition, she won the AAU discus title in 1926 and 1927, and the javelin title in 1926 and 1931. In the latter event, she broke the world record three times in 1926 and 1927. According to the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, she is said to have set the world record six times each in shot put, javelin and discus from 1925–1932. However, according to the USATF Hall of Fame, she only held one world record, in javelin.  It is unclear why the two sources are so radically different in their accounts. The 1928 Olympics were the first Olympics to include women’s track and field events. In weight throwing Copeland could only compete in the discus, because the shot put and javelin were not yet on the programme (they would follow in 1948 and 1932, respectively). Prior to the Olympiad, she ran the lead leg in the 440-yard (400m) relay in the 1928 Olympic trials. In so doing, she helped the US Women’s team set a new record in the event of 50.0 seconds, and actually qualified for the Olympics in that event. Sources disagree, however, whether it was a world or US national record. Once in Amsterdam, however, she only competed in the discus, where she finished second to Poland’s Halina Konopacka. Because it was the first time the event had been held, she was the sport’s first silver medallist. Returning to America, she enrolled in the University of Southern California law school, and became less focused on sport. Nevertheless, she made the 1932 Olympic team for the discus throw. Competing in her home town, she moved into gold medal position with her last throw. That throw of 133.16 feet (40.59m) was also a new world record; it also meant that it was a new Olympic Record, bettering Konopacka’s mark in Amsterdam. Although she had begun preparations to defend her Los Angeles gold at the Berlin Games, she ultimately chose to boycott them. As a Jew, she was strongly opposed to Adolf Hitler’s edict barring Jews from the German Olympic team. Consequently, Copeland’s appearance at the 1935 Maccabiah Games, where she won the titles in her three events, proved her final major competition. In view of her contributions to women’s track and field, she was made a posthumous member of the USATF Hall of Fame, the Helms Athletic Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. Copeland’s main career off the field was law enforcement. She worked at the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department until 1960 In 1973 Billie Jean King beat Chris Evert (6-0 7-5) to win the 80th Wimbledon Women’s Tennis title, this was the first all-American Women’s Wimbledon final.  On this day in 1974 New Zealand imposed a blanket ban on sports teams from South Africa. American Mark Hayes became the first man to record a round of 63 in the British Open, in 1977 at Turnberry.  Mahendra Singh Dhoni commonly known as MS Dhoni; was born in 1981. The Indian cricketer captained the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket.  He is also regarded to be one of the best wicket-keepers in world cricket and is known to have very fast hands. He made his ODI debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka. Dhoni holds numerous captaincy records such as most wins by an Indian captain in Tests and ODIs, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs. He took over the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2007 and led the team to its first-ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the CB Series of 2007–08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. In the final of the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni scored 91 not out off 79 balls handing India the victory for which he was awarded the Man of the Match. In June 2013, when India defeated England in the final of the Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni became the first captain to win all three ICC limited-overs trophies (World Cup, Champions Trophy and the World Twenty20). After taking up the Test captaincy in 2008, he led the team to series wins in New Zealand and West Indies, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2009, Dhoni also led the Indian team to number one position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings. In 2013, under his captaincy, India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series. In the Indian Premier League, he captained the Chennai Super Kings to victory at the 2010 and 2011 seasons, along with wins in the 2010 and 2014 editions of Champions League Twenty20. He announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014. Carl Ronald Boenish widely considered the father of modern BASE jumping died on this day in 1984. He was an American freefall cinematographer, who in 1978 filmed the first jumps from El Capitan using ram-air parachutes. These jumps were repeated, not as a publicity exercise or as a movie stunt, but as part of the development of a recurring recreational activity. This approach defined modern BASE jumping. These were the jumps that popularized BASE jumping more widely among parachutists, likely because Boenish filmed them and presented the footage exceptionally well. Boenish also published BASE Magazine to promote safety in this new sport. Boenish’s cinematography work included the 1969 John Frankenheimer parachuting film classic The Gypsy Moths, starring Burt Lancaster and Gene Hackman, and a National Geographic Explorer segment on jumps from El Capitan. His life and death is the subject of the 2015 film, Sunshine Superman. Boenish died in a BASE jump off the “Stabben” pinnacle in Trolltindane range (no Troll Wall proper) in Rauma, Møre og Romsdal, Norway, the day after completing a successful double BASE jump with his wife, Jean Boenish, for a “Guinness World Records” television special hosted by David Frost and young Kathie Lee Johnson, now Kathie Lee Gifford. Jean Boenish did another jump two days after the fatal jump. At Wimbledon in 1985 the unseeded Boris Becker became the youngest men’s singles champion, aged only 17 and in 1990 Martina Navratilova beat Zina Garrison in just 75 minutes to win her record ninth Wimbledon crown. On the same day in 1990 Peter Shilton was ending his international career. He played a record 125th and last time for England in the third place play-off match against Italy at Bari in the World Cup. While Welshman Ian Woosnam equalled David Llewellyn’s European PGA tour record, shooting a four-round 258 during the Torras Monte Carlo Open in 1990. Ellina Anissimova, Estonian hammer thrower was born in 1992. On 29 July 2011, she won the Estonian championship and a few months later in September 2011 she achieved her personal best throw, 60.23 metres (197.6ft), which is still an Estonian national record. Murraymania hits Britain in 2013 as Scotsman Andy Murray beat Novak Đoković (6-4 7-5 6-4) to become the first British man to win a Wimbledon tennis title since 1936.

 

8th Pugilist Tom Cribb was born in 1781. Coincidentally, the last bare-knuckle world heavyweight boxing contest took place on Cribb’s birthday in 1889, when John L Sullivan beat Jake Kilrain over 75 rounds at Richburg, Mississippi. On this day in 1889 The Wall Street Journal began publication. Dow Jones & Company formed in 1882 and published a daily news-sheet called the Customers’ Afternoon Letter hand delivered to subscribers by messengers. Charles Dow, a journalist; Edward Jones, a statistician; and Charles Bergstressor, another journalist, formed Dow Jones & Company which disseminated information about the stock market. By 1884 the company created the Dow Jones Indexes which serve as benchmarks for investors. Circulation of the information via the newsletter grew and the company formed its own newspaper that was four pages and sold for two cents a copy. At the time of its launch, there were fifty employees. English cricketer Kenneth Farnes was born today in 1911, he played in 15 Tests from 1934 to 1939. He made his first-class debut for Essex in 1930, aged only 19. He took 5-36 in his second county match against Kent. He studied at Cambridge University, playing cricket in the University side for three years while also continuing to play for Essex. After graduating, he became a teacher at Worksop College, which limited his opportunity to play for Essex.  He was called up for the 1st Test against Australia in 1934, at Trent Bridge, taking 5-102 and 5-77, although England lost by 238 runs. He also played in the 2nd Test at Lord’s, but was then injured, missing the next 2 tests and only playing again towards the end of the season. After two further Tests on the tour to the West Indies in 1934/35, an injury to his knee prevented him from playing in 1935. The next season, playing for the Gentlemen against the Players, he took three quick wickets, bowling Gimblett, Hammond and Hardstaff, to leave the Players at 33-4. Although rain intervened, so the match was drawn, Gubby Allen selected him for the tour to Australia that winter, where he played in the 4th and 5th Tests. His 6-96 in the 5th Test at the MCG could not prevent Australia scoring 604 in their first innings, and so winning the match by an innings and 200 to take the series 3-2.A tall man of 6’5″, and widely recognised for his fitness, he achieved considerable pace from a short run-up, and sharp lift from a good length. His height also enabled him to take many sharp catches close to the stumps. He was a confirmed tail-ender as a batsman. He achieved his highest first-class score of 97 not out against Somerset at Taunton in 1936, putting on 149 for the tenth wicket and just missing out on his century. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1939, and published an autobiography, Tours and Tests in 1940. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in WW2, and trained in Canada. He was a sergeant prior to being commissioned as a pilot officer on 1 September 1941. He died shortly after returning to England, when the plane that he was flying crashed near Chipping Warden in Oxfordshire during a night-flying exercise.  Today in 1933 the first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa was played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town. American athlete William Harrison “Bones” Dillard was born in 1923, the only male so far to win Olympic titles in both sprinting and hurdling. He was a mere 13-year-old schoolboy in 1936 when he attended a huge parade in honour of Jesse Owens, hero of that year’s Olympic Games in Berlin. Later he actually met Owens, who gave him his first pair of running shoes and inspired him to devote himself to athletics. At the trials for the 1948 Olympics, however, Dillard failed to qualify for the 110m hurdles, even though it seemed a formality but he struck three hurdles and pulled out before the race was even finished, stunned and heartbroken. He qualified as third (and last) for the 100m, not his specialty. At the Games, Dillard reached the final, which seemed to end in a dead heat between Dillard and another American, Barney Ewell. The finish photo showed Dillard had won, equalling the World record as well. This was the first use of a photo finish at an Olympic Games. As a member of the 4×100m relay team, he won another gold medal at the London Games. Four years later, still a strong hurdler, Dillard did qualify for the 110m hurdles, and won the event in Helsinki.  Another 4×100m relay victory yielded Dillard’s fourth Olympic title. Dillard attempted to qualify for a third Olympics in 1956, but failed. Former Swiss professional ice hockey goaltender Martin Riesen was born in 1926. He represented the Swiss national team at the 1956 Winter Olympics. In 1961 Angela Mortimer beat Christine Truman in the first all-British ladies’ singles final at Wimbledon since 1914. Starting stalls were used for the first time in Britain in 1965, in the Chesterfield Stakes at Newmarket. Neil Jenkins, Welsh rugby union player turned coach was born on this day in 1971.  He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British and Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales’ highest ever points-scorer, a honour he reached after just 28 Test matches for his country and is the third highest on the List of leading Rugby union Test point scorers. He was the first player to score 1,000 points in international matches, which he achieved in 2001 with a 28 point haul featuring a Full House of a try, conversion, drop-goal and penalty against France in Paris.  In 2004 he joined the coaching staff of the Welsh national team and is currently the kicking skills coach.  On the 1997 British lions tour to South Africa his accurate goal kicking enabled the Lions to beat the Springboks during the first two Tests, thus securing a 2-1 series win. In the dying moments of the final 1999 Five Nations Championship Jenkins kicked a conversion to beat England 32-31 to deny the English the title. Scotland winning on points difference with the Welsh in third. In October 2000 he was presented with an MBE for services to sport, which he was awarded at Buckingham Palace before being flown back to Cardiff by helicopter for a match in which he scored for Cardiff’s points in a 24-14 win over Saracens. He announced his retirement from international rugby after a 11 year career in 2003. During his 87 caps for Wales he scored 1,049 points (11 tries, 130 conversions, 235 penalties and 10 drop goals) and a further 41 points (1 conversion and 13 penalties) during his 4 caps for the British and Irish Lions for a grand total of 1,090 points. He retired as the only player to score over 1,000 points in international rugby.  Jenkins’ world record was subsequently broken by Jonny Wilkinson.  In the autumn of 2004 Jenkins returned to Welsh Rugby Union in the capacity of Kicking Skills Coach, working with the then newly formed WRU Academies to improve the future generations of outside halves. In the summer of 2006 he returned to the National Squad set up as Skills Coach, where he first worked for Gareth Jenkins during the 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign and subsequently Warren Gatland’s new-look management team. On 8 June 2009 it was announced that Jenkins would be joining the British and Irish Lions as specialist kicking coach on their tour of South Africa. He was then reappointed as a coach for the lions on the 16th March 2017 alongside Graham Rowntree and head coach Warren Gatland. Italian road cyclist Paolo Tiralongo was born in 1977, he rides for UCI ProTour team Astana. In 2009, while riding for Lampre–NGC, he registered his best final result on a Grand Tour, finishing the Vuelta a España in eighth position after riding consistently in the mountain stages. He joined Astana for the 2010 season, on a 2-year contract. In 2011, Tiralongo took a notable victory on stage 19 of the Giro d’Italia, a summit finish to Macugnaga. In 2012, he won another stage in the Giro d’Italia, stage 7, which was a hilltop finish on Rocca di Cambio. On 24 April 2015, Tiralongo collected his first victory of the season in the final stage of the Giro del Trentino. He passed the last climb (Passo Predaia) with a small leading group and won the sprint after the descent. On 17 May, he won Stage 9 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia. Anastasiya Myskina, Russian professional tennis player was born on this day in 1981. She won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Subsequent to this victory, she rose to number 3 in the WTA rankings, becoming the first Russian female tennis player to reach the top 3 in the history of the rankings. In September 2004, she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 2. Although she has not officially retired, Myskina has been inactive on the WTA Tour since May 2007. Israeli judoka world champion Yarden Gerbi was born in 1989.  She won the 63kg Judo Olympic bronze medal competing for Israel at the 2016 Olympics. She also won gold at the 2013 World Judo Championships in the 63kg category 63kg and the Israeli championship five times by the age of 24. Gerbi, who began judo at age 6, trains with club Meditav Netanya, where Shani Hershko, former coach of the Israeli women’s national judo team, has been her trainer since childhood. In 2010, she came in second in the Grand Prix Qingdao, the Baku World Cup and the Birmingham World Cup, third in the Warsaw World Cup and seventh at the World Championships in Tokyo. In 2011, she won the Israeli Championships, came in second in the San Salvador World Cup and the Miami World Cup, third in the Moscow Grand Slam and the World Masters Baku, and fifth in the 2011 European Judo Championships.However, she was eliminated in the second round of the 2011 world championship and did not qualify for Israel’s 2012 Olympic team. At 24 she won  gold  l at the 2013 World Judo Championshipsin Rio de Janeiro becoming the first Israeli to win World gold. She was voted Israeli Sports Personality of the Year in 2013 by the readers of The Jerusalem Post and in December 2014 was named Israeli Sportswoman of the Year. At the 2016 Olympics she won bronze after losing to hometown Brazlian Mariana Silva in the quarter finals but winning her next two repechage fights to claim the bronze.  Ferrari won its 100th F1 race at the Paul Ricard circuit in France in 1990. The famous red marque, driven by Frenchman Alain Prost, took the chequered flag in the French Grand Prix.  At the 2014 FIFA World Cup Germany defeated Brazil by a record 7-1 in the semi-finals with their player Miroslav Klose breaking the World cup goal record with 16 tournament goals. The NFL’s Washington Redskins have their trademark vacated on the grounds it may cause offence to native Americans today in 2015.

 

9th On this day in 1819 Elias Howe, the American inventor of the sewing machine was born. The first Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship was held in 1877. The only title, the men’s singles, as won by Spencer Gore, who beat his fellow Briton WC Marshall (6-1, 6-2, 6-4). Joseph ViateurLéoDandurand, once owner and coach of the NHL team Montreal Canadiens was born in 1889. An astute business man he also was an owner of race tracks and of the Montreal Alouettes football team in the league that evolved into the Canadian Football League. One of Leicestershire’s greatest cricketers George Geary was born today in 1893. Above medium pace and right-handed, Geary was able to swing the new ball very effectively but relied for most of his success on his amazing persistence and ability to bowl with slight yet well-disguised variations of pace and cut. He was able to bowl quite incredible numbers of overs on unresponsive pitches, as shown in the last Test of the 1928/1929 Ashes tour, when he bowled an amazing 81 overs on a typical billiard-table Australian wicket in very hot weather. Because he was tall and very solidly built, he was able both to get bounce and to bowl the long spells required for success in Australian conditions which destroyed the reputations of all English bowlers of slighter build. Geary was also a capable lower order batsman who usually relied upon hitting, but could get runs with a quiet, if unstylish determination when they were desperately needed. Though he never scored a thousand runs – his best aggregates were 923 in 1929 and 900 in 1925 – his runs were frequently of great value to a county that never possessed any of the exceptionally high-class batsmen other counties could command in Geary’s heyday. Owing to his considerable height and reach, Geary was an excellent slip catcher and, despite all the bowling he had to do, almost always his county’s leading fielder. His retirement at the end of 1938 did not mark the close of Geary’s involvement with cricket. For over twenty years after that he was cricket coach at Charterhouse and in that time was seen as one of the best coaches any school has ever had. Most notably, the brilliant batsman Peter May admitted that Geary’s coaching played a vital role in his development. After he left Charterhouse in 1959, Geary went to Rugby School, who were desperate for assistance to develop young players and improved their fortunes. Geary, as always, served them whole-heartedly, and he bowled, without the sweater to keep him cool, in the nets until he was about 77, a testimony to his amazing endurance despite many injuries and other setbacks. He died after gradually failing health in 1981 at the age of 87.The 10th edition of the US Golf Open was secured by Willie Anderson who shot a 303 at the Glen View Club in 1904. On this day in 1922 18-year-old Johnny Weissmuller became the first swimmer to over 100m in under one minute when he set a new world record time of 58.6seconds. Weissmuller is sometimes called the world’s best swimmer. In the 1924 Olympics he took three golds and one bronze medal while in the 1928 Olympics he took a further two golds. He also won 52 US national championships and set 67 world records. The first cyclist to complete a career triple in the “King of the Mountains” classification on all three Grand Tours, Federico Martín Bahamontes was born in Spain in 1928. He began racing in the late 1940s, winning his first race, wearing a baseball shirt on 18 July 1947. It was 12 years to the day before his first Tour de France triumph. He took the mountains jersey and won the first stage of the 1953 Tour of Asturias at 23, while still not a full professional. The Spanish cycling federation picked him for the 1954 Tour de France the following year and his instructions from the national coach were “Try to win it.” He didn’t win but he did win the mountains competition and ended up in 25th place overall. Bahamontes was a talented climber but a poor descender, sometimes taking one foot off the pedal to take mountain bends like a speedway rider. He landed in a cactus bush descending the Montserrat as an amateur and thereafter refused to descend mountains alone, once waiting at the top of a col in the Tour de France for other riders to arrive. He reached the top minutes before a chase group arrived, and famously passed the time eating ice cream by the side of the road. He was also temperamental, throwing his bike down a ravine to stop any pressure to continue riding when he dropped out of the 1956 Tour de France on the col de Luitel. The following year he dropped out again when the retirement of his team-mate, Miguel Poblet, left him without support. He held on to his bike but took off his shoes. Bahamontes was a climbing specialist to whom reporters gave the nickname the ‘Eagle of Toledo’. He rode in a distinctive upright style, staring ahead, his shorts pulled high on his thighs, his hands repeatedly changing position on the handlebars. He won the Tour de France in 1959, and won the Tour’s “King of the Mountains” classification six times (1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964). He also took second and third places overall in 1963 and 1964 respectively. In total, he won seven Tour stages.He was also second in the 1957 Vuelta a España, and won the mountains competition then and the following year, 1958, when he finished 6th. He also won the mountains competition in the Giro d’Italia in 1956. Bahamontes retired to run a bicycle and motorcycle shop in Toledo. There he receives letters every week, some addressed to “F. Bahamontes, Spain” and sometimes to his name and with a picture of an eagle!  In 2013, during his 85th birthday that coincided with the 100th edition of Le Tour de France, he was named the best climber in the history of the race by a prestigious jury selected by L’ Équipe Magazine. Members of the jury included actual riders, such as the popular French rider Thomas Voeckler, and legends like five-time winner of the race Bernard Hinault, as well as the general director of Le Tour de France Christian Prudhomme, the award was presented by the then French President François Hollande. Roy Alastair McLean, South African cricketer who played in 40 Tests between 1951 and 1964 was born in 1930. A stroke-playing middle-order batsman, he scored over 2,000 Test runs, but also made 11 ducks in 73 Test innings. He also shone at cricket, hockey and rugby union, and was a strong enough rugby player to represent Natal at fly-half. As a cricketer, he made his first-class debut for Natal in 1949, and his Test debut on the 1951 tour of England at Old Trafford.  He established himself as an exciting and forceful middle-order batsman in the South African team. He was particularly successful on tour, hitting an unbeaten 76 to win the final Test of the 1952–53 tour to Australia, to square the series, despite Australia scoring 520 in their first Innings. He played against the touring Australian rugby union team later in 1953, scoring a drop-goal as fly-half for Natal to win 15-14. He made his highest Test score in the 2nd Test at Lord’s on the tour to England in 1955. Batting against a bowling attack that included Brian Statham, Fred Trueman, Trevor Bailey and Johnny Wardle, he rode his luck, hitting 21 fours and a six but being dropped several times, and scoring 142 of 196 the runs while he was at the wicket, before he was finally bowled by Statham. Nevertheless, England won by 76 runs. In the 3rd Test, at Old Trafford, he hooked Frank Tyson for four several times in the second innings, hitting 50 in 71 minutes before he was run out: South Africa won with 9 balls to spare. He was the South African Cricket Annual Cricketer of the Year in 1955. He and fast bowler Neil Adcock were the only successes of the 1960 tour of England. He reached his highest first-class score, 207, against Worcestershire, and recorded the fastest century that season, in 75 minutes against AER Gilligan’s XI in a festival match at Hastings, despite only scoring 6 runs in the first half an hour. Each was named as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1961. In 1961 he led an unofficial tour to England by a team of young players named the Fezelas. The team contained the nucleus of the great South African side of the late 1960s, with such players as Peter Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Colin Bland, Denis Lindsay and Peter van der Merwe, and was unbeaten on the tour. In the 1966 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack the editor Norman Preston, reflecting on the success of the touring South Africans in 1965, paid tribute to “that exuberant character RA. McLean, who moulded the new Springboks when he brought the Fezela side to England in 1961”.He played all five Tests when New Zealand toured in 1961-62, a final two Tests against England in South Africa in 1964-65, and retired from first-class cricket in 1966. Israeli sprinter, long-jumper and track and field coach who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Olympic Games, Amitzur Shapira was born in 1932. For many years, he served as a teacher the Wingate Institute’s Jewish College. When Shapira went to the 1972   Olympics he was the head coach for the Israeli track and field team. Shapira was the coach of Esther Shachamarov who later became an Israeli Olympic athlete (in 1976, she became the first Israeli to reach an Olympic final). When she heard the news that her coach had been murdered she withdrew from the 1972 Olympics.  In 1939 a meeting of 6,000 Indians, held at the Indian Sports Ground in Johannesburg South Africa, launch the Passive Resistance Campaign against apartheid and racial policy in South Africa. Margie Gillis, Canadian solo dancer and choreographer was born in 1953. A modern-dance artist, dancer and choreographer, Gillis has been creating original works for over thirty-five years. Her repertoire includes more than one hundred pieces, which she performs as solos and nearly a dozen duets, and group pieces.  In 1954 Australia’s Peter Thomson won the first of his five British open titles, and the first of three in successive years. British F1 driver Donald Bentley Beauman died today in 1955 He originally had a career as a hotelier but began motor racing in 1950. Beauman ran a Cooper 500 for two years in Formula Three before switching to sports car racing, and took on F1 in 1954 with a Connaught A-Type, sponsored by wealthy privateer Sir Jeremy Boles. He finished eleventh in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. He achieved some success in Formula Two, with several third and fourth-place finishes and a second place in the Madgwick Cup at Goodwood. In 1955, the weekend before the British Grand Prix, he was killed when he crashed his Connaught during the Leinster Trophy race in Wicklow. He had set the fastest time of 82.94mph (133.45km/h) on his first lap but crashed near the Beehive pub on his second and was killed instantly. Beauman’s death plus other fatal racing accidents that year brought an end to motor car racing at the Curragh.  In 1966 Jack Nicklaus shot a 282 at the British Golf open in Muirfield Gullane to become only the fourth person in history to win all four Majors. Ian Botham scored 200 runs in 219 balls against India at The Oval in 1982, the fastest Test double-century in terms of balls delivered. Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer was born in 1985, he was the winner of the 200m butterfyly a the 2005 World Championships Initially trained by Paweł Woźnicki in Oświęcim-based Unia Oświęcim club, in 2005 he was transferred to Warsaw-based AZS AWF Warszawa club, where he has been trained by Paweł Słomiński. His current coach, since 2009, is Robert Bialecki.  On this day in 1990 Richard Hadlee took 5-53 to end his Test career with 431 wickets. South Africa were readmitted to the Olympics’ on this day in 1991.  Mike Tyson was banned from boxing on this day in 1997 for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear. On this day in 2000 Zimbabwean police fired tear gas during a World Cup qualifying football game between Zimbabwe and South Africa which set off a stampede that killed 12 people in Harare. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Berlin, Italy beat France 5-3 on penalties for football’s 18th World Cup