Lesson plan

Whacker Smith

Charles Albert "Whacker" Smith (18 July 1878 – 20 January 1940) was an English international rugby union player. Smith was the son of a corn porter and hailed from Gloucester. Known by the nickname "Whacker", Smith was a strongly built, red–haired wing three–quarter. He proved a consistent try scorer for his club Gloucester RFC, crossing over the line 142 times from 270 matches, in a career spanning 1897 to 1908. This included a record eight tries in a match against Clifton in the 1901-02 season. Smith gained a single England cap, appearing against Wales at Cardiff in 1901. A labourer by trade, Smith worked for a timber merchants. He died of influenza in 1940, aged 61.

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Article summary

Charles Albert "Whacker" Smith (18 July 1878 – 20 January 1940) was an English international rugby union player. Smith was the son of a corn porter and hailed from Gloucester. Known by the nickname "Whacker", Smith was a strongly built, red–haired wing three–quarter. He proved a consistent try scorer for his club Gloucester RFC, crossing over the line 142 times from 270 matches, in a career spanning 1897 to 1908. This included a record eight tries in a match against Clifton in the 1901-02 season. Smith gained a single England cap, appearing against Wales at Cardiff in 1901. A labourer by trade, Smith worked for a timber merchants. He died of influenza in 1940, aged 61.

Key claims

  1. date of death: 1940 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of death is "1940". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  4. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1341077996

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.