9 July 1763

The Mozart family grand tour of Europe began, lifting the profile of son Wolfgang Amadeus.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a prolific and influential Austrian composer of the Classical period. Born on January 27, 1756, in Salzburg, Mozart showed extraordinary musical talent from a young age. He composed over 600 works, including symphonies, operas, concertos, chamber music, and choral music, many of which are considered pinnacles of their respective forms.

Some of his most famous works include:

Operas: “The Magic Flute,” “Don Giovanni,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” and “Così fan tutte.”
Symphonies: Symphony No. 40 in G minor, Symphony No. 41 in C major (Jupiter).
Concertos: Piano Concerto No. 21, Violin Concerto No. 5.
Chamber Music: Clarinet Quintet, Eine kleine Nachtmusik (A Little Night Music).

Mozart’s music is characterized by its melodic beauty, formal elegance, and emotional depth. He had a profound influence on subsequent Western art music and remains one of the most enduringly popular and respected composers in the history of Western music.

Mozart died on December 5, 1791, at the age of 35, under circumstances that have led to much speculation and myth. Despite his short life, his contributions to music were immense, and his works continue to be widely performed and studied.

9 July 1877

The inaugural Wimbledon Championships begins.

The Wimbledon Championships is one of the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. It is held annually in Wimbledon, a suburb of London, England. Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis, along with the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open.

The tournament is played on grass courts, which is a unique feature of Wimbledon. The grass surface gives the tournament a distinct style and is considered to be the traditional surface for tennis. The tournament takes place over two weeks in late June and early July, culminating in the finals of the men’s and women’s singles events.

Wimbledon has a rich history dating back to 1877 when the first championships were held. It is known for its traditions and formalities, such as the strict dress code for players, the consumption of strawberries and cream by spectators, and the royal patronage it receives.

The tournament consists of five main events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The most prestigious and highly anticipated event is the singles competition. Wimbledon has seen the rise of numerous tennis legends who have left their mark on the tournament, including players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams, and Venus Williams.

The tournament has its own unique scoring system. Matches are played in a best-of-five sets format for men’s singles and doubles, while women’s singles and doubles follow a best-of-three sets format. The final set, however, has no tiebreaker and is played until one player or team achieves a two-game advantage.

Wimbledon is known for its iconic venues, such as Centre Court and Court One, where the most high-profile matches are held. Centre Court, in particular, has a retractable roof that allows matches to continue even in inclement weather, ensuring that the tournament stays on schedule.

The prize money for Wimbledon is among the highest in tennis, with significant increases in recent years to bridge the pay gap between male and female players. The tournament also awards the winners of each event with a prestigious trophy. The men’s champion receives the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy, commonly known as the Wimbledon Trophy, while the women’s champion receives the Venus Rosewater Dish.

Wimbledon attracts millions of spectators from around the world and is watched by millions more on television. The tournament’s rich history, traditions, and high-quality tennis make it one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the tennis calendar and a highlight of the British sporting summer.

9 July 1877

The first Wimbledon Tennis Championships begins.

On 9 July, 1877 the first Championships began at the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon.

It is the oldest tennis championship in the world, and is the only ‘grand slam’ event played on grass.

There was only one event in 1877 – the gentlemen’s singles. A field of 22 took part, having paid the one guinea entry fee. It was won by 27-year-old Old Harrovian and ex-Surrey country cricketer, Spencer Gore, who defeated William Marshall 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in front of a crowd of around 200 spectators.

Entrance fee for spectators was a shilling, and the prize for the winner was £12 – roughly £1,300 in today’s money.

Things have changed greatly since then, of course. It’s much more lucrative, for one. This year’s singles winners took home £1,760,000. First round losers were given £27,000.

The number of spectators has gone up somewhat, too. At any one time, there are around 38,500 of them in the grounds, who get through 200,000 glasses of Pimms, 28,000 kilos of strawberries and 7,000 litres of cream. They bought 28,600 ‘official’ towels, and 10,000 umbrellas.

There is no information about what sort of profit the first championships made. But in 1879, the first year for which figures are available, there was a ‘surplus’ of £116. In 2013, that figure was £35,107,812 – 90% of that is handed over to the Lawn Tennis Association to be used to develop British tennis.

9 July 1877

The first Wimbledon Tennis Championships starts.

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On July 9, 1877, the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, then an outer-suburb of London. Twenty-one amateurs showed up to compete in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament, the only event at the first Wimbledon. The winner was to take home a 25-guinea trophy.

Tennis has its origins in a 13th-century French handball game called jeu de paume, or “game of the palm,” from which developed an indoor racket-and-ball game called real, or “royal,” tennis. Real tennis grew into lawn tennis, which was played outside on grass and enjoyed a surge of popularity in the late 19th century.

In 1868, the All England Club was established on four acres of meadowland outside London. The club was originally founded to promote croquet, another lawn sport, but the growing popularity of tennis led it to incorporate tennis lawns into its facilities. In 1877, the All England Club published an announcement in the weekly sporting magazine The Field that read: “The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon, propose [sic] to hold a lawn tennis meeting open to all amateurs, on Monday, July 9, and following days. Entrance fee, one pound, one shilling.”

The All English Club purchased a 25-guinea trophy and drew up formal rules for tennis. It decided on a rectangular court 78 feet long by 27 feet wide; adapted the real tennis method of scoring based on a clock face—i.e., 15, 30, 40, game; established that the first to win six games wins a set; and allowed the server one fault. These decisions, largely the work of club member Dr. Henry Jones, remain part of the modern rules.