I got this from the World Bank daily quizz.
The term hat trick originally referred to a cricket club's presentation of a new hat (or some equivalent) to a bowler taking three wickets successively. This custom originated in the late nineteenth century and the term hat trick has come to mean three successes of the same kind within a limited period. During the 2009 Indian Premiere League tournament, which ends Sunday, May 24, an Indian cricketer scored two hats in separate matches. Several hat tricks, or three goals in one game, have been scored by players during the 2009 National Hockey League Stanley Cup hockey playoffs. During Germany's current Bundesliga championship soccer tournament, a player scored three goals for a hat trick. The term was also used when three scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science's Department of Global Ecology recently testified at three different U.S. Congressional hearings in one day.
SOURCES: OXFORD REFERENCE ONLINE REUTERS
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE GUARDIAN CARNEGIE INSTITUTION
