Tom Pettitt
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Tom Pettitt
Tom Pettitt ( - ) was the real tennis world champion from 1885 to 1890. Biography Born in Beckenham, Kent, England, Pettitt emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, as a penniless teenager. He quickly rose from being the dressing-room boy at a private court on Buckingham Street, to being its head professional at age seventeen. He began playing matches in Great Britain and France to improve his game, and finally challenged George Lambert at the Royal Tennis Court, Hampton Court Palace, for the world championship in 1885. He defended his title in Dublin in 1890, then retired the title the same year. He is credited with inventing the ''railroad'', a fast overarm service that runs the length of the penthouse with a reverse twist. Pettitt continued to work in Boston at various clubs, retiring from the Tennis and Racquet Club in 1927 after half a century of service. He also taught lawn tennis at the Newport Casino during the summers from 1876–1929, and afterwards ...
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Real Tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United States, formerly royal tennis in England and Australia, and ''courte-paume'' in France (to distinguish it from longue-paume, and in reference to the older, racquetless game of ''jeu de paume'', the ancestor of modern handball and racquet games). Many French real tennis courts are at ''jeu de paume'' clubs. The term ''real'' was first used by journalists in the early 20th century as a retronym to distinguish the ancient game from modern ''lawn'' tennis (even though, at present, the latter sport is seldom contested on lawns outside the few social-club-managed estates such as Wimbledon). There are more than 50 active real tennis courts in the world, located in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and France. Other countries have c ...
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Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New York City. It is known as a New England summer resort and is famous for its historic Newport Mansions, mansions and its rich sailing history. It was the location of the first U.S. Open tournaments in both US Open (tennis), tennis and US Open (golf), golf, as well as every challenge to the America's Cup between 1930 and 1983. It is also the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport, which houses the United States Naval War College, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and an important Navy training center. It was a major 18th-century port city and boasts many buildings from the Colonial history of the United States, Colonial era. The city is the county seat of Newport County, Rhode Island, Newport County ...
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Tennis Players From Boston
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society and at all ages. The sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis. It had close connections both to various field (lawn) games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport today called real tennis. The rules of modern tennis have changed ...
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People From Beckenham
Beckenham is a town in the London Borough of Bromley, England. The following is a list of those people who were either born or live in Beckenham, or else had important connections to make to the town. A *Raymond Adamson (1920–2002), television actor * Rory Allen (born 1977), football player * Julie Andrews (born 1935), actress, singer, author * Claude Ashton (1901–1942), football player, cricketer, hockey player * Gerald Aste (1900–1961), cricketer B *A.L. Barker (1918–2002), novelist, short story writer *Django Bates (born 1960), composer; multi-instrumentalist, band leader * Hugh Bean (1929–2003), violinist *Floella Benjamin (born 1949), actress, singer and TV presenter * John Bennett (1928–2005), actor *Enid Blyton (1897–1968), children’s writer *Frank Bourne (1984–1945), Anglo-Zulu War veteran *David Bowie (1947–2016), musician, actor, producer, arranger * Zowie Bowie (born 1971), film director (and son of David Bowie) * Betty Box (1915–1999), film ...
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English Emigrants To The United States
English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national identity, an identity and common culture ** English language in England, a variant of the English language spoken in England * English languages (other) * English studies, the study of English language and literature * ''English'', an Amish term for non-Amish, regardless of ethnicity Individuals * English (surname), a list of notable people with the surname ''English'' * People with the given name ** English McConnell (1882–1928), Irish footballer ** English Fisher (1928–2011), American boxing coach ** English Gardner (b. 1992), American track and field sprinter Places United States * English, Indiana, a town * English, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * English, Brazoria County, Texas, an unincorporated community * Engl ...
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American Real Tennis Players
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * Ba ...
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19th-century American People
The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium. The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolished in much of Europe and the Americas. The First Industrial Revolution, though it began in the late 18th century, expanding beyond its British homeland for the first time during this century, particularly remaking the economies and societies of the Low Countries, the Rhineland, Northern Italy, and the Northeastern United States. A few decades later, the Second Industrial Revolution led to ever more massive urbanization and much higher levels of productivity, profit, and prosperity, a pattern that continued into the 20th century. The Islamic gunpowder empires fell into decline and European imperialism brought much of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and almost all of Africa under colonial rule. It was also marked by the collapse of the la ...
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1946 Deaths
Events January * January 6 - The first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into four occupation zones. * January 10 ** The first meeting of the United Nations is held, at Methodist Central Hall Westminster in London. ** ''Project Diana'' bounces radar waves off the Moon, measuring the exact distance between the Earth and the Moon, and proves that communication is possible between Earth and outer space, effectively opening the Space Age. * January 11 - Enver Hoxha declares the People's Republic of Albania, with himself as prime minister. * January 16 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as head of the French provisional government. * January 17 - The United Nations Security Council holds its first session, at Church House, Westminster in London. * January 19 ** The Bell XS-1 is test flown for the first time (unpowered), with Bell's chief test pilot Jack Woolams at t ...
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1859 Births
Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 ( O. S.) – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexandru Ioan Cuza (Romania since 1866, final unification takes place on December 1, 1918; Transylvania and other regions are still missing at that time). * January 28 – The city of Olympia is incorporated in the Washington Territory of the United States of America. * February 2 – Miguel Miramón (1832–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * February 4 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovers the ''Codex Sinaiticus'', a 4th-century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai, in the Khedivate of Egypt. * February 14 – Oregon is admitted as the 33rd U.S. state. * February 12 – The Mekteb-i Mülkiye School is founded in the Ottoman Empire. * February 17 – French naval forces under Char ...
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List Of Real Tennis World Champions
Men's singles Men's singles in "real" tennis is the first world championship in any sport. It predates the use of the term "real tennis," as the sport was called just "tennis" until lawn tennis gained popularity. Except in cases where the champion has retired, the championship has always been on a challenge basis — the champion retains the title until losing an official challenge or retiring. Originally, the champion had the right to accept or reject a challenge, usually depending upon the prize money put up by the challenger's sponsor. Several years could thus go by between challenge matches. The top four ranked players in the world (excluding the champion himself) playoff for the right to challenge. The champion and challenger then play a match of up to 13 sets over three days (4 sets, 4 sets and up to 5 sets on the final day). In theory, this is the only match the champion has to play in the two years since winning the last one. The most recent men's world championship m ...
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International Tennis Hall Of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, a court tennis facility, and a theatre. The International Tennis Hall of Fame is a non-profit organization with the goal to preserve, celebrate, and inspire the sport of tennis around the world. History The hall of fame and museum are located in the Newport Casino, which was commissioned in 1879 by James Gordon Bennett Jr. as part of an exclusive resort for wealthy Newport summer residents. It was designed by Charles McKim along with Stanford White, who did the interiors. It is an example of Victorian Shingle Style architecture. In 1881, the Real Tennis Court (housing the National Tennis Club) and the Casino Theatre were constructed at the east end of the campus. The club was opened on July 1, 1880, after a six-mont ...
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Newport Casino
The Newport Casino is an athletic complex and recreation center located at 180-200 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, Rhode Island in the Bellevue Avenue/Casino Historic District. Built in 1879–1881 by ''New York Herald'' publisher James Gordon Bennett, Jr., it was designed in the Shingle style by the newly formed firm of McKim, Mead & White. The Newport Casino was the firm's first major commission and helped to establish the firm's national reputation. Built as a social club, it included courts for both lawn tennis and court tennis, facilities for other games, such as squash and lawn bowling, club rooms for reading, socializing, card-playing, and billiards, shops, and a convertible theater and ballroom. It became a center of Newport's social life during the Gilded Age through the 1920s. The casino was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987. The complex, which was the site of the earliest American la ...
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