18 August 1933 - Just The Best

On 18 August 1933, future French striker Just Fontaine was born in Marrakech, French Morocco. He is best remembered for his record-setting performance at the 1958 World Cup when he scored 13 goals - the most goals scored by an individual at a single World Cup.

Fontaine started his professional career with USM Casablanca, but moved to France in 1953 to play for Nice. After three seasons, in which he scored 44 goals for Nice, he moved to Stade de Reims, where he won the 1958 and 1960 Ligue 1 titles.

Before moving to Reims, Fontaine had been capped only once for France, in 1953 (though he scored a hat-trick in that debut). After one more cap each in 1956 and 1957, he had his annus miribilis in 1958 - scoring 18 goals in 12 appearances for the French national team, including 13 in that year's World Cup. He scored four of those in the third-place match, as France defeated West Germany, 6-3. Despite the fact that he played in only one World Cup, those 13 goals tie him for the fourth most goals in World Cup competitions, with the three players ahead of him (Ronaldo, Gerd Müller, and Miroslav Klose) playing in multiple tournaments.

He last played for France in 1960, and remained with Stade de Reims until 1962, when injuries forced his early retirement.

6 August 1875 - Jock Stein's Other Club

On 6 August 1875, a group of Irish-born football enthusiasts in Edinburgh's Cowgate neighborhood created Hibernians, named after the Roman word for Ireland. The club went on to play a significant role in the progress of Scottish football.

From the moment of its creation, the club had strong religious ties. Their first manager (and one of the founding members) was a priest, Canon Edward Hannon. Also, all players were required to be members of the Catholic Young Men's Society, an early sign of sectarianism in Scottish football that later came to a head in the Old Firm rivalry between Celtic and Rangers. In fact, when Celtic was formed in 1887, many of the first players were borrowed from Hibernians.

For reasons that have never been explained, Hibernians failed to attend the meeting at which the Scottish Football League was formed, and thus were not included in the nascent league. That failure made it difficult for the club to schedule matches and ultimately led to its near-demise in 1891, when it ceased operations. It reformed in 1892, however, as Hibernian F.C. The newly-named club joined the SFL Second Division in 1893 and was promoted to the First Division for the 1895-96 season.

The early 1900s were successful for Hibs, who won the Scottish Cup in 1902 and the league title in 1903, but began to decline in the 1920s as the Old Firm began to rise.

Hibs enjoyed a renaissance in the 1950s, when they were managed by Scottish coaching legend Jock Stein. They won the league in 1952 and finished second in 1950 and 1953 (both times to Rangers). In 1955, they became the first British team to play in the European Cup, making it to the semifinals of the inaugural tournament in 1955-56 before losing to Stade de Reims 3-0. Stein left after that season to manage Celtic, whom he transformed into a dominant side.

Hibs currently play in the Scottish Premier League, where they finished in sixth place in the 2008-09 season.

13 June 1956 - Wolverhampton Weren't Invited, Apparently

On 13 June 1956, Real Madrid defeated Stade de Reims 4-3 in the very first European Cup Final, held at the Parc de Princes in Paris before a crowd of 38,239.

The tournament was conceived by Gabriel Hanot, a French sports journalist and editor of L'Équipe, who was motivated by the British press declaring Wolverhampton Wanderers "Champions of the World" after the club's string of successful European friendlies.

Real advanced to the Final with wins over Swiss side Servette (7-0 agg.), Yugoslavian team Partizan (4-3 agg.), and AC Milan (5-4 agg.). Reims secured their place in the Final by defeating Denmark's AGF Aarhus (4-2 agg.), Hungary's Vörös Lobogó, and Scotland's Hibernian, the only British team in the tournament (3-0 agg.).

In the Final, Reims took an shocking early lead with a 6th minute goal from defender Michel Leblond and another in the 10th minute from forward Jean Templin. Real equalized before the break with goals from midfielder Alfredo Di Stéfano (14') and forward Héctor Rial (30').

In the second half, Reims again took the lead with a goal from midfielder Michel Hidalgo (62'), but the Spanish side proved stronger down the stretch, getting an equalizer from defender Marquitos (67') before Rial scored the match winner in the 79th minute.

It was the first of five consecutive European Cup titles for Real, who now hold a record nine titles. Reims made it back to the Finals only once, in 1959, where they again lost to Real Madrid.