Darwin's slippery claim he invented ice hockey in Shrewsbury
Canada's national pride has been dealt a serious blow - after it was revealed Charles Darwin helped to invent ice hockey in Shropshire almost 200 years ago.
North American hockey players always been taught the sport was first played in Montreal in the 1870s.
But letters from Darwin reveal him talking about playing the game on an iced-over pond at Shrewsbury School way back in 1825.
The revelation is a severe dent to the Canadian price, but provides Shropshire with another claim to fame.
The letter casts serious doubt on generally accepted Canadian claims that ice hockey was invented in the country and that the first proper match was played in Montreal in 1875.
Darwin's letter was sent to his then 13-year-old son William, who was boarding at Shrewsbury School at the time, on March 1, 1853.
The evolutionary theorist had himself attended the school as a boarder between 1818 and 1825 himself, and it is thought his reference to enjoying "hockey on the ice" relates to this time.
If that is the case, ice hockey would have been played in Britain at least 50 years earlier than the first officially recognised match in Canada, where is it now a national sport and general obsession.
