12 August 1990 - And The Game Hasn't Been The Same Since

On 12 August 1990, striker Mario Balotelli, the first black player to score for Italy, was born in Palermo.

His parents were Ghanaian immigrants who, when Balotelli was three years old, placed him in foster care at the recommendation of social services because they could not afford medical care. From that point on, he was raised by the Balotelli family and, at the age of 18, he became an Italian citizen.

He started his professional career in 2006 with Lumezzane, but made only two league appearances there before moving to Inter in 2007. In three seasons there, he helped the club to three Scudettos, but fell out with manager José Mourinho, who had replaced Roberto Mancini for Balotelli's last two seasons. In 2010, the striker followed Mancini to Manchester City, where he remained for two and half years, winning the 2011 FA Cup and the 2012 Premier League title, before moving back to Italy with AC Milan.

Balotelli earned his first cap for Italy in 2010 and scored his first international goal in November 2011—the first for a black player. Since then, he has scored ten goals in 25 appearances, including both goals in Italy's 2-1 quarterfinal win over Germany at Euro 2012.

Despite his talent, Balotelli has drawn heavy criticism for a lack of discipline both on and off the pitch, including disputes with teammates and a scuffle with Mancini while at Manchester City. One of his most memorable incidents, however, was nearly setting his house on fire while shooting off fireworks inside.

31 July 1976 - The Wonderful Paulo Wanchope

On 31 July 1976, Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope, scorer of the greatest goal in Derby County history, was born in Heredia.

He started his career with his hometown club Herediano in 1993, then joined Derby in 1997 for a transfer fee of £600,000 after impressing in Costa Rica's qualification campaign for the 1998 World Cup. On his debut for the Rams, he scored a wonder goal against Manchester United that Derby supporters later voted the greatest goal in club history.

In the summer of 1999, Derby sold him to West Ham for £3.5 million, but he spent only one season there before moving to Manchester City for £3.65 million. Although he was a fan favorite there, injuries limited his playing time and he scored a total of 27 league goals in four seasons. He then played for six different clubs around the world before retiring from club football in 2007.

He continued to play for Costa Rica until 2008, however, and finished as the team's all-time leading scorer with 45 goals in 73 appearances. Although Rolando Fonseca later passed that mark in 2011 with 47 goals, Wanchope remains second on the team's all-time scoring table.

16 July 2008 - Captain America Sets The Shield Down

On 16 July 2008, Claudio Reyna, former United States captain who played for Manchester City and Rangers, announced his retirement.

After playing under Bruce Arena at the University of Virginia, the midfielder started his professional career in 1994 with Bayer Leverkusen, but went on loan to Wolfsburg from 1997 to 1999, where he became the first American to captain a European side.

He signed with Rangers in 1999 and went on to win both the league and the Scottish Cup in his first season before moving soon afterward to Sunderland (2001-2003). He then transferred to Manchester City, where he enjoyed his longest tenure, making a total of 87 appearances in four seasons.

In the meantime, he earned 111 caps between 1994 and 2006 and played in three World Cups. he captained the team in the 2002 and 2006 tournaments and was named to the all-tournament team in the former after helping the US reach the quarterfinals.

His final stop was with the New York Red Bulls, but injuries cut his career short just a few games into his second season.

14 July 2009 - Tévez Sings The Blues

On 14 July 2009, Carlos Tévez switched sides in Manchester, leaving United to sign for City in a deal worth £25.5 million.

The Argentinian forward had joined United on loan from West Ham two years earlier. Over the course of those two seasons, he scored made 99 appearances across all competitions, scoring 34 goals and winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup.

At the expiration of his two-year loan, United offered him a permanent deal, but Tévez had grown frustrated with a perceived lack of playing time and declined the offer, instead signing with United's rivals, City.

He spent four years at Manchester City where he scored 73 goals in 138 appearances and won the 2011 FA Cup and 2012 league title. His success was overshadowed, however, by a lengthy suspension in the middle of the 2011-12 season after he refused to come on as a late substitute in a Champions League match against Bayern Munich.

In June 2013, he moved to Juventus for a fee of £10M, with another £2M in incentives.

6 July 2007 - He Should Have Listened To Thomas Wolfe

On 6 July 2007, Manchester City confirmed former England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson as their new manager in a three-year deal worth a reported £9M. But he lasted less than a year in the position.

Eriksson had previously managed several clubs in Sweden, Portugal, and Italy, winning the UEFA Cup with Göteborg, then claiming three league titles with Benfica while also taking them to the European Cup and UEFA Cup finals. He returned to the UEFA Cup final with Lazio, where he won a Serie A title and the Cup Winners' Cup. After Lazio, he managed the English national team from 2001 to 2006.

Upon his departure from the England job, he took a year off, then returned to management when Manchester City came calling, making him their first non-British manager. Owner Thaksin Shinawatra gave him a generous transfer budget, which Eriksson used to sign several players, including Rolando Bianchi, Vedran Ćorluka, and Martin Petrov.

His time there got off to a strong start, with the Blues jumping to the top of table early, but a mid-season slump saw them fall to seventh in January on the back of a string of poor results. By spring, Shinawatra announced his intention to sack Eriksson, which he eventually did that July, despite a groundswell of support for the Swede among City fans.

Eriksson went on to make a series of short stops as manager of Mexico, Cote d'Ivoire, and Leicester City, and is currently managing Guangzhou R&F in China.

25 March 1914 - Ares Would Be Proud

On 25 March 1914, Aris FC, owners of an impressive home unbeaten streak in UEFA competition, formed in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Taking their name from the Greek god of war, they helped found the regional Macedonian Football Clubs Association in 1923 and went on to win that league's inaugural title in 1924. For the 1927-28 season, the regional Greek leagues started an official Panhellenic Championship (replacing an earlier unofficial tournament), with Aris emerging as the first winners.

They repeated as national champions in 1932 and 1946 and also won another thirteen regional titles up through 1959. They have not seen as much success since, however, with their only other major honor coming in 1970 when they won the Greek Cup over local rivals PAOK.

Despite the lack of silverware, however, Aris have regularly qualified for European competition, leading to their remarkable performance at their Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. After losing to Ujpest there in the 1968 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Aris have gone unbeaten in 26 consecutive home games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, the Cup-Winners' Cup, the UEFA Cup, and the Europa League.

That run includes wins over Benfica, Red Star Belgrade, and Atletico Madrid, as well as draws with Chelsea, Roma, and Bayer Leverkusen. The most recent match in the streak was a scoreless Europa League draw with Manchester City in 2011 (though Aris lost the away leg 3-0).

15 March 1960 - Sometimes, You Have To Spend Money To Make Money

On 15 March 1960, Manchester City paid a club record fee of £55,000 to acquire Denis Law for the first--but not last--time.

Twenty years old at the time, Law had spent the previous five years at Huddersfield Town, who were in the top flight when he signed for them in 1955, but were relegated to Division Two the following year. The drop opened up playing time for Law, who earned his first start in December 1956 and went on to score a total of  19 goals in 91 appearances for the Terriers.

That was enough to attract the interest of several clubs, including Manchester United and Liverpool (whose manager, Bill Shankly was the boss at Huddersfield Town from 1956 to 1959). But City got his signature in March 1960 for £55,000, more than doubling the club's previous record of £25,000 set in 1950 when they bought Roy Paul from Swansea City.

Law spent a little over one year at City, scoring 21 goals in the 1960-61 season. In the summer of 1961, he left for Torino, who paid a then-British record fee of £100,000.

He returned to Manchester one year later to play for United, spending eleven seasons at Old Trafford, where he was named the 1964 European Player of the Year. But he rejoined City on a free transfer in 1973 for his last season. While there, he scored his last competitive goal in an April 1974 match that helped seal United's relegation that year.

4 February 2004 - City Shines In London

On 4 February 2004, despite being a man down, Manchester City came back from a 3-0 deficit to beat Spurs 3-4 in a fourth round FA Cup replay.

The teams had played to a 1-1 draw in Manchester over a week earlier to set up the replay at White Hart Lane. There, Spurs eased to a 3-0 lead in the first half with goals from Ledley King (2'), Robbie Keane (19'), and Christian Ziege (43'). As if the score advantage wasn't enough, Manchester City dropped to ten men for the second half as midfielder Joey Barton, who had already been booked earlier in the match, received a second yellow card in the 45th minute for arguing with the referee.

But manager Kevin Keegan must have delivered an amazing speech at the break, as City roared back to life in the second half. Sylvain Distin started the comeback, heading the ball past Spurs keeper Kasey Keller in the 48th-minute. A few minutes later, City goalkeeper Arni Arason scrambled to save what look liked a certain Tottenham goal to keep the margin at 3-1.

In the 69th minute, Paul Bosvelt closed the gap to 3-2 with a deflected goal, then Shaun Wright-Phillips got the equalizer in the 80th minute.

The last goal came in the 90th minute, as striker Jonathan Macken gave City their first lead of the day, which they held to emerge as 3-4 victors.

17 January 1920 - A Good Day To Stay At Home

On 17 January 1920, the home teams went undefeated in all 20 matches in England's Football League, as well as the day's two FA Cup games.

At the time, the Football League consisted of only two divisions (though a separate Southern League existed, with two divisions of of its own). While each division consisted of 22 teams, two games were not played, so there were only 20 games total across both divisions.

The results in Division One consisted of eight wins and two draws, including 21st-place Oldham Athletic's 1-0 upset victory of second-place Newcastle. The largest margins were Manchester City's 4-1 win over Arsenal and league-leader West Brom's 5-2 win over Blackburn.

In Division Two, there were nine wins and only one draw, a 1-1 result between Bury and Nottingham Forest, while Lincoln City's 4-0 win over Wolves set the day's largest margin of victory.

There were also two first-round FA Cup matches played that day, with Bradford City beating Portsmouth 2-0 and West Stanley beating Gillingham 3-1.

4 January 1866 - The Man Who Managed Manchester

On 4 January 1866, Ernest Mangnall, who managed Manchester United to their first two titles, was born in Bolton. He also later managed Manchester City.

After an amateur career as a goalkeeper for Bolton, Mangnall moved into management with Burnley, starting in 1900. The club had been relegated into the Second Division at the end of the previous season and Mangnall narrowly missed out on getting them back into the top flight, delivering a third-place finish in his first season, four points away from the last promotion spot. But two seasons later, they ended dead last in the division and had to be re-elected to the league.

In October 1903, Mangnall left Burnley for Manchester United. They were in the Second Division at the time, but he guided them to a second-place finish in 1906 and promotion to the First Division. He led them to their first league title in 1908, the FA Cup in 1909, then to a second league title in 1911.

He moved to Manchester City in September 1912, after losing to them in his last match in charge of United, and remained there until his retirement in 1924.

12 September 2009 - Adebayor Puts His Foot Down

On 12 September 2009, Emmanuel Adebayor played against Arsenal for the first time since leaving the London club for Manchester City and, in the process, earned himself a three-match ban.

The striker played at Arsenal from January 2006 to July 2009, scoring a total of 62 goals in 142 appearances across all competitions. But his last days at the club were acrimonious before his £25 million move to Manchester City.

He started well with his new club, scoring in each of his first three matches. For his fourth match, City hosted Arsenal at Eastlands for what turned out to be a contentious affair. City were leading 1-0 in the second half when Adebayor tangled with his former teammate, Robin van Persie, slashing out at the Dutchman's face with his feet.

He did not receive a booking for the altercation, but did later when, after scoring to put City up 3-1, he ran the length of the pitch to celebrate his goal in front of the visiting Arsenal supporters. City went on to win 4-2.

Afterward, the FA reviewed the incident with van Persie and issued a three-match ban to Adebayor.

15 August 2011 - It's Not the "English" Premier League Anymore

On 15 August 2011, Swansea City became the first non-English side to play in the Premier League when they visited Manchester City on the season's opening day.

Despite being based in Wales, Swansea have played in the English league system since their founding in 1912. From 1981 to 1983, they played in the English top flight, following in the footsteps of fellow Welsh side Cardiff City, who spent three different spells in the First Division from 1921-29, 1952-57, and 1960-62. But no club from outside England had reached the top flight since the formation of the Premier League in 1992.

That changed in 2011, as Swansea finished the 2010-11 Championship season in third place, then beat Nottingham Forest and Reading in the promotion play-offs. Their reward was an opening day date at title challengers Manchester City.

Swansea held their own for the first half, playing an attractive passing game that allowed them to control possession and go into the break with a scoreless draw. But Manchester City exploded in the second half, getting goals from Edin Džeko (57'), Sergio Agüero (68', 90'+1), and David Silva (71') to finish the day as 4-0 winners.

While Manchester City went on to win the league title that year, Swansea rallied and finished in an impressive   11th place, the highest finish of that season's newly-promoted teams.

13 July 2003 - The Hammer Falls On Maine Road

On 13 July 2003, Manchester City auctioned off their Maine Road stadium in bits and pieces, raising approximately £400,000 for charity.

City had used Maine Road since its construction in 1923. With an original capacity of 84,000, it set the record for a club ground when 84,569 people watched City beat Stoke in the FA Cup on 3 March 1934. It also set the club ground record for a league match, but not for City--a crowd of 83,260 saw a 1-1 draw between Arsenal and Manchester United, who were using Maine Road while repairing Old Trafford from damage suffered during World War II. But it gradually converted to an all-seater by 1994, which reduced its capacity to 35,150.

Although City considered plans to expand the stadium, they decided instead to move to the City of Manchester Stadium after the 2002-03 season. With Maine Road slated for destruction, the club held an auction for everything in the ground, including the doors, seats, turnstiles, and office furniture. They even sold the pitch itself for £10 a square foot.

In all, the auction raised close to £400,000, which the club donated to charity.

The stadium was demolished in 2004 and the site is now the location of a housing development.

23 April 1904 - Manchester City Turns Silver

On 23 April 1904, Manchester City won their first major trophy, beating Bolton in the FA Cup final. But it was not without controversy.

Manchester City were making their first appearance in the final, while Bolton had been there before, losing to Notts County 4-1 in 1894. But City were the favorites for the 1904 clash, as they were sitting at the top of the First Division table, while Bolton occupied the seventh position in Division Two.

Over 60,000 people filled the stands at London's Crystal Palace for the match and watched as the two teams played a balanced game for the first twenty minutes. But in the 23rd minute, City forward Billy Meredith (pictured) collected a pass from his teammate George Livingstone and beat Bolton keeper Dai Davies with a dribble to put the ball into an open net. Some commentators later claimed that Meredith had been offside, but the goal stood and turned out to be the difference on the day.

Bolton enjoyed the better part of possession throughout the second half, but could not get the ball past City keeper Jack Hillman and lost, 1-0.

City nearly completed the double, but lost 1-0 at Everton two days later to finish as runners-up in the league to Sheffield Wednesday. They have since won two league titles and four more FA Cups, most recently in 2011.