Tennis: The day Wimbledon was bombed during World War II. October 11 in 1940, during the heart of the Blitz – the name used by the British press to describe the German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom – the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which hosted the Wimbledon Championships, was hit by several bombs. One of them tore through the roof of Wimbledon’s Centre Court stand destroying 1,200 seats. It would take nine years before the AELTC could fully repair its main court, although The Championships would restart in 1946.