10 October: Sports - Rugby union: The 2003 Rugby World Cup, with 20 countries competing for the William Webb Ellis Trophy over a 7 week period, starts after a spectacular opening ceremony at the Telstra Stadium, Sydney, Australia with Australia defeating Argentina 24-8 in the opening match.
William Shakespeare | William Laud | William Blake | William | William III of England | William Morris | William McKinley | William Howard Taft | William Ewart Gladstone | William the Conqueror | William S. Burroughs | William Shatner | William Faulkner | William Randolph Hearst | William Wordsworth | William Tecumseh Sherman | William Hogarth | Prince William, Duke of Cambridge | William Penn | William Jennings Bryan | William Gibson | William Wilberforce | William James | William Makepeace Thackeray | Fort William | William Hanna | William Hague | William III | William Hurt | Ellis Island |
Bloxam is the sole source of the story that the game of Rugby football had its origins in the moment when William Webb Ellis picked up the ball during a game of football at Rugby School.
The country is surrounded by the main rugby playing area of France on three sides, and coincidentally is not far from Menton, which is where William Webb Ellis, the supposed founder of the game is buried.