period from the demise of the Brooklyn Americans, which reduced the NHL
to six teams, to the league doubling in size with six new expansion
teams. Maurice Richard (pictured) became the first player to score
50 goals in a season in 1944–45. In 1955, he was suspended for
assaulting a linesman, leading to the Richard Riot. Gordie Howe made his
debut in 1946, retiring 32 years later as the NHL's all-time leader in
goals and points. Willie O'Ree broke the NHL's colour barrier in 1958.
The Stanley Cup became the official championship in 1947; during this
period, the Toronto Maple Leafs won the cup nine times and the Montreal
Canadiens ten times, including five consecutive titles. Changes occurred
on and off the ice. The NHL introduced the centre-ice red line in 1943,
allowing players to pass out of their defensive zone for the first time.
In 1959, Jacques Plante became the first goaltender to regularly use a
mask for protection. The first amateur draft was held in 1963 as part of
efforts to balance talent distribution within the league, and the
National Hockey League Players' Association was formed in 1967.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Hockey_League_(1942%E2%80%931967)>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1795:
Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last King of Poland, was
forced to abdicate after the Third Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian
Commonwealth by Austria, Prussia, and Russia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanis%C5%82aw_August_Poniatowski>
1917:
World War I: German troops invaded Portuguese East Africa in an
attempt to escape superior British forces to the north and resupply from
captured Portuguese materiel.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ngomano>
1940:
The de Havilland Mosquito (examples pictured) and the Martin
B-26 Marauder, two of the most successful military aircraft in World
War II, both had their first flights.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_B-26_Marauder>
1947:
McCarthyism: Executives from movie studios agreed to blacklist
ten screenwriters and directors who were jailed for contempt of Congress
for refusing to give testimony to the House Un-American Activities
Committee.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_blacklist>
1970:
Failing to instigate a military coup to restore the powers of
the Emperor of Japan, author Yukio Mishima committed the ritual suicide
seppuku at the Japan Self-Defense Forces headquarters in Tokyo.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukio_Mishima>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
rani:
1. The wife of a rajah.
2. A Hindu princess or female ruler in India.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rani>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
All human history is the struggle between systems that attempt to
shackle the human personality in the name of some intangible good on the
one hand and systems that enable and expand the scope of human
personality in the pursuit of extremely tangible aims. The American
system is the most successful in the world because it harmonizes best
with the aims and longings of human personality while allowing the best
protection to other personalities.
--Ben Stein
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Stein>
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