Hat Trick

The term comes from cricket. In 1858, bowler H. H. Stephenson took three wickets with three consecutive deliveries, a rare and celebrated feat. Spectators held a collection and presented him with a new hat bought with the proceeds, a real, documented gesture rather than a folk story. The phrase itself took a few years to reach print, first appearing in 1865 in the Chelmsford Chronicle. From cricket it spread to describe any threefold achievement in a single game, three goals in football, three tries in rugby, and eventually to any non-sporting run of three successes.