Since the Crucible's potential for staging a major snooker championship was discovered, the sport has gone from strength to strength.

The World Professional Snooker Championships have been running in one guise or another since 1927, when the legendary Joe Davis won the first of his 15 titles.

From John Spencer's first victory in 1977 to Stephen Hendry's magnificent seventh title last year, the Crucible has graced moments, which will forever remained etched in our memories.

It all began in 1977 when John Spencer won the first ever final at the Crucible. Cliff Thorburn was on the receiving that year 25-21. It was to be Spencer's last of his three world title successes.

Ray Reardon was the first player to win six world titles in the modern era, one of which was won in Sheffield. But it was Steve Davis who truly took the game to new levels by winning six titles during the 1980s. He was the first player to practise for eight hours a day and his success is a sure reflection of this commitment.

Then came "The Maestro" himself, Stephen Hendry. It was obvious from an early age that the young Scot was going to be a star. By 1996 he had won six world titles, including five consecutive titles between 1992 and 1996. But it was to be another three years before Hendry got his hands on the prestigious trophy again, beating Mark Williams 18-11 in the 1999 final.

It was his seventh title, a feat which puts him top of the all-time great list.

Despite these achievements, no player has ever successfully defended the title after winning it at their first attempt.

Steve Davis won the title in 1981 but didn't win it again until 1983. Dennis Taylor won the epic with Davis in 1985 but couldn't repeat that achievement. Joe Johnson won it in 1986 but lost out to Davis twelve months later.

Then Stephen Hendry tried. He triumphed in 1990 but John Parrott beat him in the 1991 final. Hendry didn't win it again until 1992.

Then it was Ken Doherty's turn. He won the title in 1997 but again lost twelve months later to John Higgins who then had a go himself. He defeated Doherty in 1998 but Hendry was waiting to take the title away from him in 1999.

Maximum breaks are always special but to make one at the Crucible is an achievement like no other.

It was the 1983 finals when Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a World Championship maximum. On this particular occasion Thorburn was feeling under the weather but remembers clearly the sound the green ball made when it hit the back of the pocket to take the break to 125. When the black went in Thorburn sank to his knees and thrust the cue aloft in celebration. It was a sad day for Thorburn as he made the break in the knowledge of family difficulties.

Such was the affect on Thorburn that he couldn't compete with Steve Davis in the final, losing 18-6.

Other 147s have since followed, but they have been few and far between. It was another nine years before Jimmy White made his maximum break against Tony Drago, and then another three before Stephen Hendry made one in the 12th frame of his 1995 semi-final against The Whirlwind.

It was the 13th frame of Ronnie O'Sullivan's first round match with Mick Price in 1997 that saw the last World Championship maximum of the century. If you blinked you probably would have missed the 5 minute 20 second maximum compiled by the Rocket which earned him a staggering £147,000.

The Crucible had never seen anything quite like it, and probably never will again. O'Sullivan was so overwhelmed by the reaction that he threw his chalk into the crowd, forgetting that he still had two frames to win to secure the win. He won 10-6.

However, the championships will not always be remembered for happy reasons. There are moments best forgotten.

We begin in 1995 when the match between Jimmy White and Peter Francisco hit the headlines. It was a match of remarkably poor play with both players missing easy shots including Francisco missing an straight forward yellow off its spot by some distance. The pair were tied at 2-2 before White rattled off eight frames on the trot to win 10-2.

Then came the surprise. An unusually high betting sequence on a 10-2 White victory was spotted and an investigation was launched. Francisco consequently found himself facing a ban.

A year later, the first round match between Alain Robidoux and Ronnie O'Sullivan was also marred by controversy after the French-Canadian accused Ronnie of showing disrespect to him when he proceeded to play his shots left-handed.

Robidoux refused to shake hands with O'Sullivan after his 10-3 mauling, prompting Ronnie to brand Robidoux a baby.

The Rocket then, only days later, narrowly avoided being thrown out of the championships after it was alleged that he threw a punch at an official. He was given a two year suspended tournament ban, made to pay a £20,000 fine and give a further £10,000 to charity.

Despite all this, his 13-12 victory over John Higgins in the last eight stood.

On a more brighter note, let's turn to Jimmy White. Sadly for Jimmy there too are moments he would rather forget, most of them involving finals and Stephen Hendry.

White lost his first final in 1984 to Steve Davis and didn't return to that stage until 1990 when he lost to Hendry for the first time. He then appeared in each final until 1994, losing to Hendry on three occasion as well as to John Parrott in 1991.

The People's Champion will probably never come as close as he did in 1994 when, at 17-17 he missed what looked like a relatively easy black of its spot with the frame at his mercy.

Under that pressure nothing can be deemed easy but had White cleared up he would have bee the champion. He appeared to take too long on the shot and just got down and hit it.

History could have been so much different. Instead of Hendry being seven times champion, it could have been White as six times champion.

Well, that's enough of what ifs, but it makes you wonder doesn't it?

So, we come to the end of our Crucible memoirs, but we've saved the best to last. Surely no-one can dispute that the 1985 final between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor was the greatest match ever played.

For Taylor, it began as a nightmare, slumping to 7-0. In the eighth Davis jawed a blue and Taylor took his chance.

Davis could only sit back and watch his lead evaporate until, at the end of the second session, he led only 9-7 overnight.

Taylor kept fighting but Davis was still proving too strong. But despite all this Taylor rallied and managed to level at 15-15. Still Davis continued to defy Taylor and took the next two, leaving him one away from victory. Then Taylor, who had never been ahead in the match, chisled out the next two frames to bring the match all square at 17-17.

As 18.5million BBC viewers looked on past midnight the two scrapped out the final frame. More drama, it went to the final black. Davis over-cut the black to the top right hand pocket, Taylor potted it and the rest, as they say, is history. Taylor's finger-pointing antics to a member of the crowd and cue raised above his head proved that he had believed in himself all along.

As we enter a new century of snooker, the memories will live on but many more will be created.