In the 1870s, it was also a center for the genteel game of croquet, soon to be overshadowed by a novel sport that became known as lawn tennis.

The All-England Croquet Club at Wimbledon held its first tennis tournament in 1877.

The niceties carried over from croquet, including a distaste for seeing sweat soaking through clothes.

White makes that far less noticeable, and when the club sitting on land once plowed by man and beast updated its name to include Lawn Tennis, it kept the rule that players must wear white (though a few colored accents are allowed).

That’s it for this briefing. See you next time. — Mike

Thank you

To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. Andrea Kannapell, the Briefings editor, wrote today’s Back Story. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S.

• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is on the trial of a Navy SEAL.

• Here’s today’s Mini Crossword, and a clue: Bar mitzvah party dance (4 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.

• The first reference to Wimbledon in The New York Times was a mention in July 1860 that Queen Victoria planned to review 20,000 or more volunteer riflemen there, ahead of a shooting competition at which she would fire a rifle.