The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known as the National League, is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada, the world's oldest current professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players of 1871–1875, the NL is sometimes called the Senior Circuit, in contrast to MLB's other league, the American League, founded 25 years and is called the "Junior Circuit". Both leagues have 15 teams. After two years of conflict in a "baseball war" of 1901–1902, the two eight-team leagues agreed in a "peace pact" to recognize each other as "major leagues", draft rules regarding player contracts, prohibiting "raiding", regulating relationships with minor leagues and lower level clubs, with each establishing a team in the nation's largest metropolis of New York City, the league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the new professional baseball championship tournament with the inaugural "World Series" that Fall of 1903, succeeding earlier similar national series in previous decades since the 1880s.

After the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the new World Series tournament beginning in 1905 as an arrangement between the leagues themselves. National League teams have won 49 of the 115 World Series championships contested from 1903 to 2019. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, founded four years earlier, was suffering from a lack of strong authority over clubs, unsupervised scheduling, unstable membership of cities, dominance by one team, an low entry fee that gave clubs no incentive to abide by league rules when it was inconvenient to them. William A. Hulbert, a Chicago businessman and an officer of the Chicago White Stockings of 1870–1889, approached several NA clubs with the plans for a professional league for the sport of base ball with a stronger central authority and exclusive territories in larger cities only. Additionally, Hulbert had a problem: five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means.

Hulbert had a great vested interest in creating his own league, after recruiting St. Louis four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, in January 1876. With Hulbert speaking for the four in New York City on February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was established with eight charter members, as follows: Chicago White Stockings from the NA Philadelphia Athletics from the NA Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the NA Hartford Dark Blues from the NA Mutual of New York from the NA St. Louis Brown Stockings from the NA Cincinnati Red Stockings, a new franchise Louisville Grays, a new franchise The National League's formation meant the end of the old National Association after only five seasons, as its remaining clubs shut down or reverted to amateur or minor league status; the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22, 1876, at Philadelphia's Jefferson Street Grounds, at 25th & Jefferson Streets, between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston baseball club.

Boston won the game 6–5. The new league's authority was soon tested after the first season; the Athletic and Mutual clubs fell behind in the standings and refused to make western road trips late in the season, preferring to play games against local non-league competition to recoup some of their financial losses rather than travel extensively incurring more costs. Hulbert reacted to the clubs' defiance by expelling them, an act which not only shocked baseball followers and the sports world, but made it clear to clubs that league schedule commitments, a cornerstone of competition integrity, were not to be ignored; the National League operated with only six clubs during 1877 and 1878. Over the next several years, various teams left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight charter members had folded; the two remaining original NL franchises and Chicago, remain still in operation today as the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs. When all eight participants for 1881 returned for 1882—the first off-season without turnover in membership—the "circuit" consisted of a zig-zag line connecting the eight cities: Chicago, Cleveland, Troy, Worcester and Providence.

In 1883, the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies with their original name and city and the Gothams now in San Francisco since 1958; the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The AA played in cities where the NL did not have te

The 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the seventh edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship and was held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 26, 1982, January 4, 1983. The host Soviet team won the tournament with a perfect 7–0 record; the tournament was a round-robin format, with the top three teams winning gold and bronze medals respectively. Norway was relegated to Pool B for the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships; the second tier was contested from March 14 in Anglet, France. Eight teams were divided into two round robin groups where the top two, bottom two, graduated to meet there respective opponents in a final round robin. Results between competitors who migrated together were carried forward. Results from any games played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the relegation round. Italy was relegated to Pool C for the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. Results from any games played during the preliminary round were carried forward to the promotion round.

Switzerland was promoted to Pool A for the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. A double round robin was played in Bucharest, Romania from March 3 to 9; this was the first year of a'C' pool, it marked the debut of junior teams from Romania and Australia. Romania was promoted to Pool B for the 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

Miguel de la Torre y Pando, conde de Torrepando was a Spanish General and Captain General, who served in Spain, Venezuela and Puerto Rico during the Spanish American wars of independence and after. At the age of fourteen he joined the Spanish Army as a soldier during the War of the Second Coalition and distinguished himself and four years he joined the Guardia de Corps, he fought well during the Spanish War of Independence, reaching the level of colonel by 1814. The following year he was assigned to the military expedition to South America led by Pablo Morillo, participated in the Spanish reconquest of New Granada. Promoted to brigadier after New Granada was subdued, La Torre led a royalist army into the Colombian and Venezuelan llanos. There he unsuccessfully defended Angostura against Manuel Piar in April 1817, led the loyalist forces down the Orinoco River as they fought their way to the Atlantic Ocean. For the next three years he continued to serve in the Spanish army of Venezuela. During this period he married a Criolla, María de la Concepción Vegas y Rodríguez del Toro, a member of the powerful Rodríguez del Toro family and cousin once removed to Bolívar's late wife, Maria Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alayza, fourth cousin to Bolívar himself.

After the restoration of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 in 1820, the government appointed him governor and captain-general of Venezuela, a post he held until 1822. He participated in the negotiations between Bolívar and Morillo and the meeting in Santa Ana, where the two signed a six-month truce and a treaty regularizing the rules of engagement. After Morillo resigned and left Venezuela at the end of 1820, La Torre became the head of the royalist army, in addition to his other duties; as such he oversaw the loss suffered by royalist forces at the Battle of Carabobo on 24 June 1821, which ended Spanish control of Venezuela. The following year he was replaced in his offices by Francisco Tomás Morales. In 1822, the government appointed him captain general of Puerto Rico, arriving on the island in December 1823; the following year he was appointed governor of the island. In collaboration with his intendant, Dr. José Domingo Díaz, whom he knew from his days in Venezuela, La Torre's main concern was preventing a rebellion on the island.

Controlling the government, he instituted a policy which he called "dance and dice", implying that a well entertained population will not think about revolution. Despite La Torre's wariness of the island's liberal tendencies, his long administration was key to the development of large-scale sugar production on the island, something, created decades earlier in Cuba, he continued supporting from Puerto Rico the few royalist guerrilla bands that existed in Venezuela. Under his watch, homes and Spanish fortifications were constructed; as governor and captain general, he oversaw the temporary restoration of the Spanish Constitution of 1812 in 1836, while a new constitution was written. He was made the Count of Torrepando for his services; the following year he settled in Madrid. In Ponce, Puerto Rico there is a street, Calle Simon de la Torre, leading to Panteón Nacional Román Baldorioty de Castro, named after him. Spanish reconquest of New Granada Reconquista Royalist Captaincy General of Puerto Rico Pérez Tenreiro, Tomás.

"Torre y Pando, Miguel de la," Diccionario de Historia de Venezuela. Caracas: Fundacíon Polar, 1997. ISBN 980-6397-37-1 Stoan, Stephen K. Pablo Morillo and Venezuela, 1815-1820. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1959