Where does this come from, and can I check it?

The tale says William Webb Ellis picked up the ball at Rugby School in 1823. The figure is taken from World Rugby, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a sports fact?

Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Rugby's origin story is a legend

The tale says William Webb Ellis picked up the ball at Rugby School in 1823

According to the story, a schoolboy named William Webb Ellis picked up the ball during a football match at Rugby School in 1823 and ran with it. Historians doubt the tale, as it first appeared decades later, but it is so well known that the Rugby World Cup trophy is named after him.

State of Origin 2 (24 June 2009, Sydney) 3 — Pierre Roudier from Sydney, Australia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · licence · source

Where this comes from

World Rugby

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Tags: rugby, legend, origins

Rugby's origin story is a legend: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: The tale says William Webb Ellis picked up the ball at Rugby School in 1823. The figure is taken from World Rugby, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a sports fact?: Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.