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From today's featured article
The 1883 FA Cup final was played between Blackburn Olympic F.C. and Old Etonians F.C. on 31 March 1883 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the 12th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest football competition. Old Etonians had defeated Blackburn Rovers, in the 1882 final. Blackburn Olympic had not previously progressed beyond the first round of the competition. Old Etonians took the lead in the first half with a goal from Harry Goodhart, but Alfred Matthews scored an equaliser for Blackburn and, with the scores level, the game went into extra time. Blackburn's James Costley scored and Blackburn won the match 2–1. It was the first time that a working-class team had won the Cup; it had previously been won exclusively by wealthy amateurs. The victory intensified a debate over professionalism in football; following threats to break away by teams which wished to pay players, professionalism in football was legalised in 1885 and the dominance of amateurs quickly ended. (Full article...)
Did you know ...
- ... that after losing a Shanghai mansion (pictured) to the Empire of Japan in World War II, British hotelier Victor Sassoon abandoned repossession plans following a communist takeover?
- ... that Randy D had his first chance to join radio while working as a parking attendant at Lincoln Center?
- ... that the goal of "peace" may mean different things to Israelis and Palestinians?
- ... that actress Montana Manning initially had a speaking role in the 2005 film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but it was cut?
- ... that a Virginia TV station broadcast an all-Black variety show on its first day in 1950?
- ... that Phyllis Lightbourn-Jones and Phyllis Edness both competed in the 1948 Olympics and were respectively the first woman and first black woman to compete for Bermuda?
- ... that the novel Vera, or Faith was described by a reviewer as "probably the most endearing book about anxiety ever written"?
- ... that the jury of matrons who assessed whether Ann Davis was pregnant after she was sentenced to death were the first civilian jurors for a criminal trial in New South Wales?
- ... that in Burundi there is a belief that healers can perform temporary abortions?
In the news
- American astronaut Jim Lovell (pictured) dies at the age of 97.
- In cycling, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot wins the Tour de France Femmes.
- In association football, the Copa América Femenina concludes with Brazil defeating Colombia in the final.
- An 8.8-magnitude earthquake strikes off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia, triggering tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.
On this day
August 9: International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples; National Women's Day in South Africa (1956)
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate troops counter-attacked and won the Battle of Cedar Mountain, after nearly being driven from the field in the early part of the battle.
- 1902 – In a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, Edward VII and Alexandra were crowned King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor and Empress of India.
- 1965 – The state of Singapore (flag pictured) was expelled from the Malaysian federation due to a heated ideological conflict between their ruling parties; the day is now celebrated as Singapore's National Day.
- 2001 – Second Intifada: A suicide bomber attacked a pizza restaurant in Jerusalem, killing 15 people and wounding 130 others.
- 2006 – British police arrested 24 people for conspiring to detonate liquid explosives carried on board airliners travelling from the UK to the US and Canada.
- Hieronymus Bosch (d. 1516)
- John Key (b. 1961)
- Gillian Anderson (b. 1968)
- Susan Wojcicki (d. 2024)
Today's featured picture
The Bank is a silent slapstick comedy that was Charlie Chaplin's tenth film for Essanay Films. Directed and written by Chaplin, the film was released on August 9, 1915. In a review for Variety, Sime Silverman called it "the most legitimate comedy film Chaplin has played in many a long day, perhaps since he's been in pictures". Film credit: Charlie Chaplin
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