William Thompson (boxer) William Thompson (boxer) William Abednego Thompson (11 October 1811 – 23 August 1880) was an English bare-knuckle boxer. Born in Sneinton, Nottingham in 1811, Thompson was one of a set of triplets named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, after the young men in the Book of Daniel who emerged from the fiery furnace of Babylon. He was the last of 21 children born in the slums between Long Row and Parliament Street. From an early age, Thompson developed well and was noted as having an ability with sports. When he was 15 his father died and William was sent to the
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to in odes seven and eight of the canon, a hymn sung in the matins service and on other occasions in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where their feast day is December 17 (along with Daniel). The Orthodox also commemorate them on the two Sundays before the Nativity of Christ. The reading of the story of the fiery furnace, including the song, is prescribed for the vesperal Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Orthodox on Holy Saturday. Likewise, the three are commemorated as prophets in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church on December 17 with Daniel. Musical Christy Semsen and