July 6th 1907. English Billiards.
Tom Reece finished his 'Cradle Cannon' break of 499,135 which began on June 3rd. To read the full story behind this incredible break, and the events that led up to it, click here.

July 10th 1978.
Death of Joe Davis. He and his younger brother Fred are the only players to have won the professional World titles of both English Billiards and Snooker.

July 11th 1885.
Birth of Claude Falkiner. Twice runner-up in the Professional Billiards Championship - 1920 & 1922.

July 15th 1878.
Birth of Melbourne Inman.
Four times Professional Champion of English Billiards, 1912 - 1919; and winner of the first ever match to be played in the World Snooker Championships. He beat Tom Newman 8 - 5 in a match which began on 29th November, 1926, and finished on 6th December.

July 30th 1960.
Death of Walter Lindrum. Considered by many to be the most dominating champion of any sport.

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August 12th 1873. English Billiards.
Birth of Tom Reece. Holder of the unofficial world record break of 499,135.

August 15th 1913.
Birth of Fred Davis, younger brother of Joe. They are the only players to have won both the World Professional Snooker Championship and the World Professional Billiards Championship.

August 15th 1847.
Birth of John Roberts Junior. Eight times Professional Champion of English Billiards:- 1870 (April), 1870 (June), 1871 (January), 1875 (May), 1875 (December), 1877 (May), 1885 (April), & 1885 (June).

August 19th 2006.
Dominic Dale scored just 29 points as he was crushed 6 - 0 by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the fastest ever best of 11 match. In just 53 minutes Ronnie made 8 breaks over 60 to win the semi-final of the Northern Ireland Trophy at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast. The frame scores (and breaks) were:-
                    0 - 129 (65, 64); 12 - 84 (84); 7 - 82 (75);
                    0 - 130 (67, 63); 9 - 107 (106); 1 - 76 (63);

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September 14th 1901.
W.J. Peall, one of the great billiards professionals of the 1880's and 90's, was fined £2 plus costs for breaking the 12mph speed limit.

September 24th 1859.
Birth of J. P. Mannock. Billiards tutor and author of "Billiards Expounded". A two volume set first published in 1904 by Richards, and again in 1908 by Shaw.

September 26th 1934. Snooker.
The first witnessed 147 break was made in Australia by E.J. (Murt) O'Donoghue while playing at the Sports and Billiards Club which he owned in Griffiths, New South Wales. He is now acknowledged as being the first player ever to achieve the maximum even though the break has never been officially recognised.

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October 5th 1882. English Billiards.
William (Billy) Mitchell became the first player to make a thousand break in public, scoring 1055 in a match against W.J. Peall at the Black Horse Hotel, Rathbone Place, London.

October 10th 1958. English Billiards.
Walter Lindrum compiled an unofficial 100 break in 27.5 seconds.

October 12th 1871. English Billiards.
A novel idea was tried at the Hotel Victoria, Northumberland Avenue, London, by J.P. Mannock, who played T. Taylor two games of 400 points up on a four-pocket table, the "push stroke," which then played a prominent part in matches, being barred. The idea was a sort of compromise between the French, American, and English games. Taylor was successful in both games, making the largest break of 46 unfinished in the last one.

October 13th 1854. English Billiards.
Birth of William (Billy) Mitchell. The first player to make a break of over 1000 in public, on 5th October 1882.

October 15th 1845.
Queen Victoria received the first set of the 'new' rubber cushions for her table at Windsor Castle. The cushions were manufactured and supplied by Thurstons.

October 16th 2004. Snooker
Jamie Burnett made the highest ever break in the history of professional snooker. In the second qualifying round of the Travis Perkins UK Championship at Prestatyn, his opponent, Leo Fernandez, fouled before any reds had been potted and gave away a "free" ball. Burnett then potted the brown as the "extra" red, brown again, then the 15 reds, 12 blacks, two pinks, a blue and all the colours to clear the table with a break of 148.

October 16th 2005.
John Higgins claimed two new world records as he beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-2 in the final of the Grand Prix at the Preston Guild Hall. He became the first to compile four centuries in four frames with breaks of 103, 104, then two total clearences of 138 and 128. Adding another 21 points in the final frame before Ronnie scored then gave Higgins a total of 494 points without reply.

October 26th 1959. Snooker.
Snooker Plus, invented by Joe Davis, was introduced to the public during the News of the World Tournament at Burroughes Hall. Snooker Plus was played with two extra coloured balls, a purple with a value of ten points, and an orange with a value of eight points.

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November 6th 1890. English Billiards.
W.J. Peall made his highest break of 3,304 in a match against Charles Dawson at the Royal Aquarium, London.

November 8th 1880. English Billiards.
Joseph Bennett won the championship for the second time, beating W. Cook by 51 points in a match of 1000 up, in 3 hours 37 minutes.

November 8th 2004. Snooker.
Death of Eddie Charlton, Australia's most successful professional snooker player. An all-round sportsman, Eddie was a member of the Swansea Belmont crew that won the Australian surfing championships in 1950, and carried the flame on part of its journey to Melbourne for the 1956 Olympics. He also excelled at speed rollerskating, athletics, cricket and boxing, and finally became a professional snooker player at the age of 32. He won the Australian Championship 20 times in a 21-year period, won Pot Black three times ( 1972, 1973 and 1980 ), and was runner-up three times each in both the World Professional Snooker Championship ( 1968, 1973 and 1975 ) and the World Professional Billiards Championship ( 1974, 1976 and 1984 ).

November 14th 2002. Snooker.
Ronnie O'Sullivan made the 300th competitive century of his career with a break of 114 against Paul Hunter in the third round of the British Open at Telford. He added another century of 134 but lost the match by 5 frames to 4.

November 14th 1938. Snooker.
Alec Brown in a match against Tom Newman in the Daily Mail Gold Cup at Thurstons, used a cue the length of a fountain pen to play a tricky shot after the cue-ball became obstructed by the pack of reds. The referee, Charlie Chambers, immediately ruled that the stroke was foul, claiming it was not within the spirit of the game. This incident was responsible for the governing body, the Billiards Association and Control Council, to form a new rule stating that the minimum length of a cue would be three feet.

November 21st 1871. English Billiards.
William Cook won the championship for the second time by beating Joseph Bennett by 58 points in a match of 1000 up, in 4 hours 25 minutes.

November 21st 1871. English Billiards.
Birth of William Cook (Junior) holder of the highest official break ever made in English Billiards, 42,746 made by the "Cradle Cannon" in 1907.

November 28th 1870. English Billiards.
Joseph Bennett first won the championship by beating John Roberts Junior by 95 points, in a match lasting 4 hours 35 minutes; but only held this title for two months, losing to the same player on January 30th, 1871, by 363 points.

November 29th 1926. Snooker.
The first match ever played in the world championships began between Melbourne Inman and Tom Newman, at Thurston's Hall, London. The match finished on December 6th with Inman beating Newman 8 - 5.

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December 6th 1926. Snooker.
The first match ever played in the World Professional Snooker Championships ended with Melbourne Inman beating Tom Newman 8 - 5.

December 7th 1873. English Billiards.
"The quaintest billiard match ever played" is said to have taken place at the White Rose Tavern, off Leicester Square, when Mr. Jefferson, of America, played a match of 500 up with William Dufton. The latter played with his cue, but the American (so runs the story) played the balls with his nose - and won in two hours by 47 points ! Source:- The Amateur Billiard Player Issue No.18 - August 2000

December 10th 2000. Snooker.
John Parrot became only the fifth player in the modern game to compile 200 competitive century breaks. He joined Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White with a break of 120 in the fourth frame of a 5 - 0 victory during a first round match against Stephen Maguire in the China Open.

December 13th 1886.
W. Buttery obtained a patent for the 'Steel Block Cushion' which was taken up and marketed by Burroughes and Watts.

December 13th 2007.
Mark Selby and Marco Fu claimed the record for the second longest televised frame of snooker in the last frame of their Maplin UK Championship quarter-final. Selby won a 77 minutes and 31 second frame 76 - 41 to win the match 9 - 7.

December 15th 2007.
Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled Stephen Hendry's record of eight maximum 147 breaks in competitive play in the deciding frame of his semi-final match against Mark Selby during the Maplin UK Championship at the Telford International Centre, Shropshire.

December 18th 1880.
Birth of Arthur F. Peall, son of W.J. Peall.

December 20th 1875. English Billiards.
John Roberts Junior won the championship for the fifth time by beating William Cook by 135 points in a match of 1000 up, in 3 hours 35 minutes.

December 20th 1866. English Billiards.
Birth of Charles Dawson. Three times Professional Champion of English Billiards - 1900, 1901 and 1903.

December 22nd 1965. Snooker.
Rex Williams made the second official maximum 147 break in an exhibition match against Mannie Francisco in Cape Town, South Africa.

December 31st 1895.
F.G. Farnham was granted a United States Patent for a chalk holder that could be worn on the hand, as a glove covering the palm, or on the shoe with the chalk facing upwards above the toes.