Black History Month

Maya Angelou

original name MARGUERITE JOHNSON (b. April 4, 1928, St. Louis, Mo., U.S.), black American poet whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression.

Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her maternal grandmother in rural Stamps, Ark. Raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend, she went through an extended period of muteness. This early life is the focus of Angelou's first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970). Subsequent volumes of autobiography include Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986).

In 1940 Angelou moved with her mother to San Francisco and worked intermittently as a cocktail waitress, a prostitute and madam, a cook, and a dancer. It was in the latter pursuit that she assumed her professional name. The literary talent recognized and nurtured by an early mentor led Angelou in the late 1950s to New York City, where she found encouragement from the Harlem Writers' Guild. She lived in Egypt and Ghana for several years during the 1960s.

Angelou's poetry, collected in such volumes as Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), And Still I Rise (1978), Now Sheba Sings the Song (1987), and I Shall Not Be Moved (1990), draws heavily on her personal history but employs the points of view of various personae. She also wrote a book of meditations, Wouldn't Take Nothing For My Journey Now (1993), and a children's book titled My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me (1994). In 1981 she became a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C. Among numerous other honours was her invitation to compose and deliver a poem for the inauguration of President Bill Clinton in 1993.

John Mercer Langston

Langston

Culver Pictures, Inc.

(b. Dec. 14, 1829, Louisa county, Va., U.S.--d. Nov. 15, 1897, Washington, D.C.), black leader, educator, and diplomat, who is believed to have been the first black ever elected to public office in the United States.

The son of a Virginia planter and a slave mother, Langston was emancipated at the age of five, attended school in Ohio, and graduated from Oberlin College in 1849. He quickly became a leader among free blacks and was elected to local offices in Brownhelm Township, Ohio (1855), and Oberlin (1865-67). In 1864 he helped organize the National Equal Rights League, of which he was the first president.

After the American Civil War Langston moved to Washington, D.C., practiced law, and was professor of law and dean of the law department (1869-77) and vice president (1872-76) of Howard University. He was U.S. minister to Haiti and chargé d'affaires to Santo Domingo (1877-85) and was elected president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (1885). In 1888 he was a Republican candidate from Virginia for the U.S. House of Representatives, and, after a challenge of the election returns that took almost two years, he succeeded in unseating his Democratic opponent and served in Congress from Sept. 23, 1890, to March 3, 1891.

 

Phillis Wheatley

Wheatley, engraving attributed to Scipio Moorhead, from the frontispiece of her 1773 book

Corbis-Bettmann

(b. c. 1753, Senegal, West Africa--d. Dec. 5, 1784, Boston, Mass., U.S.), the first black woman poet of note in the United States.

She was sold from a slave ship in Boston in 1761 to work for the family of John Wheatley, a merchant. The Wheatleys soon recognized her talents and gave her privileges unusual for a slave, allowing her to learn to read and write. At the age of 14 she began to write poetry, and her first published work, "An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of the Celebrated Divine . . . George Whitefield" (1770), attracted much attention. In 1773 her Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in England under the sponsorship of the Countess of Huntingdon, and Wheatley's reputation spread in Europe as well as in America. A poem published in 1776, dedicated to George Washington, brought her further acclaim.

The dissolution of the Wheatley family by death left Phillis Wheatley alone, and in April 1778 she married John Peters, a free black man who failed in business and apparently also failed to support Phillis and her children. At the end of her life she was working as a servant, and she died in poverty.

Wheatley's poetry, largely concerned with morality and piety, was conventional for its time. Her significance stems from the attention that she drew to her successful education. Her poems were reissued in the 1830s by Abolitionists eager to prove the human potential of blacks.

W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt) Du Bois

Du Bois, 1918

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

(b. Feb. 23, 1868, Great Barrington, Mass., U.S.--d. Aug. 27, 1963, Accra, Ghana), American sociologist, the most important black protest leader in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. He shared in the creation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and edited The Crisis, its magazine, from 1910 to 1934. Late in life he became identified with Communist causes.

Early career

Du Bois was graduated from Fisk University, a black institution at Nashville, Tenn., in 1888. He received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1895. His doctoral dissertation, The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, was published in 1896. Although Du Bois took an advanced degree in history, he was broadly trained in the social sciences; and at a time when sociologists were theorizing about race relations, he was conducting empirical inquiries into the condition of blacks. For more than a decade he devoted himself to sociological investigations of blacks in America, producing 16 research monographs published between 1897 and 1914 at Atlanta University, where he was a professor, as well as The Philadelphia Negro; A Social Study (1899), the first case study of a black community in the United States.

Although originally Du Bois had believed that social science could provide the knowledge to solve the race problem, he gradually came to the conclusion that in a climate of virulent racism, expressed in such evils as lynching, peonage, disfranchisement, Jim Crow segregation laws, and race riots, social change could be accomplished only through agitation and protest. In this view, he clashed with the most influential black leader of the period, Booker T. Washington, who, preaching a philosophy of accommodation, urged blacks to accept discrimination for the time being and elevate themselves through hard work and economic gain, thus winning the respect of the whites. In 1903, in his famous book The Souls of Black Folk, Du Bois charged hat Washington's strategy, rather than freeing the black man from oppression, would serve only to perpetuate it. This attack crystallized the opposition to Booker T. Washington among many black intellectuals, polarizing the leaders of the black community into two wings--the "conservative" supporters of Washington and his "radical" critics.

Josh Gibson

Gibson sliding across home plate during an East-West All-Star Negro league baseball game in Chicago, 1944

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

(b. Dec. 21, 1911, Buena Vista, Ga., U.S.--d. Jan. 20, 1947, Pittsburgh), American professional baseball player called the black Babe Ruth, one of the greatest players kept from the major leagues by the unwritten rule (enforced until the year of his death) against black ballplayers.

Gibson played as a catcher for the Pittsburgh Crawfords (1927-29, 1932-36) and the Homestead (Pa.) Grays (1930-31, 1937-46). Although precise records do not exist, he is believed to have led the Negro National League in home runs for 10 consecutive seasons and to have had a career batting average of .347. His catching ability was praised by Walter Johnson and other major league stars against whom he played in exhibition games. Gibson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.

 

Booker T(aliaferro) Washington

Booker T. Washington

By courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

(b. April 5, 1856, Franklin County, Va., U.S.--d. Nov. 14, 1915, Tuskegee, Ala.), educator and reformer, first president and principal developer of Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University), and the most influential spokesman for black Americans between 1895 and 1915.

He was born in a slave hut but, after emancipation, moved with his family to Malden, W.Va. Dire poverty ruled out regular schooling; at age nine he began working, first in a salt furnace and later in a coal mine. Determined to get an education, he enrolled at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia (1872), working as a janitor to help pay expenses. He graduated in 1875 and returned to Malden, where for two years he taught children in a day school and adults at night. Following studies at Wayland Seminary, Washington, D.C. (1878-79), he joined the staff of Hampton.

In 1881 Washington was selected to head a newly established normal school for blacks at Tuskegee, an institution with two small, converted buildings, no equipment, and very little money. Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute became a monument to his life's work. At his death 34 years later, it had more than 100 well-equipped buildings, some 1,500 students, a faculty of nearly 200 teaching 38 trades and professions, and an endowment of approximately $2,000,000.

Washington believed that the best interests of black people in the post-Reconstruction era could be realized through education in the crafts and industrial skills and the cultivation of the virtues of patience, enterprise, and thrift. He urged his fellow blacks, most of whom were impoverished and illiterate farm labourers, to temporarily abandon their efforts to win full civil rights and political power and instead to cultivate their industrial and farming skills so as to attain economic security. Blacks would thus accept segregation and discrimination, but their eventual acquisition of wealth and culture would gradually win for them the respect and acceptance of the white community. This would break down the divisions between the two races and lead to equal citizenship for blacks in the end. In his epochal speech (Sept. 18, 1895) to a racially mixed audience at the Atlanta (Ga.) Exposition, Washington summed up his pragmatic approach in the famous phrase: "In all things that are purely social we can be separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress."

These sentiments were called the Atlanta Compromise by such critics as the black intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois, who deplored Washington's emphasis on vocational skills to the detriment of academic development and civil rights. And indeed, it is true that during the period of Washington's ascendancy as national spokesman of U.S. blacks his race was systematically excluded both from the franchise and from any effective participation in national political life, and rigid patterns of segregation and discrimination became institutionalized in the Southern states. Even Washington's visit to the White House in 1901 was greeted with a storm of protest as a "breach of racial etiquette."

Most blacks felt comfortable with Washington's approach, however, and his influence among whites was such that he became an unofficial arbiter determining which black individuals and institutions were deemed worthy to benefit from government patronage and white philanthropic support. He went on to receive honorary degrees from Harvard University (1896) and Dartmouth College (1901). Among his dozen books is his autobiography, Up from Slavery (1901), translated into many languages.

Satchel Paige

Paige, 1942

UPI

byname of LEROY ROBERT PAIGE (b. July 7, 1906?, Mobile, Ala., U.S.--d. June 8, 1982, Kansas City, Mo.), American professional baseball pitcher who earned legendary fame during his many years in the Negro leagues; he finally was allowed to enter the major leagues in 1948, after the unwritten rule against black players was relaxed. A right-handed, loose-jointed "beanpole" standing 6 feet 3 1/2 inches, Paige had considerable pitching speed and developed a comprehensive mastery of slow-breaking deliveries.

In his later years Paige, a humorous man, derived much amusement from the controversy about his age; his birth date is sometimes placed as early as Dec. 18, 1899. He was surely well past his prime in 1948 when team owner Bill Veeck signed him for the Cleveland Indians, but he helped to spark that team to American League pennant and World Series victories that year. When Veeck purchased the St. Louis Browns, Paige joined that team and was its most effective relief pitcher from 1951 through 1953.

Before his major-league career, Paige was a pitcher for various teams in the Negro Southern Association and the Negro National League. Wearing a false red beard, he also played for the bearded House of David team. A true "iron man," he pitched in the Caribbean, Central America, and South America during the northern winter. As a barnstormer he would travel as many as 30,000 miles a year while pitching for any team willing to meet his price. In 1935 he pitched every day for 29 days. He is reputed to have pitched a total of 2,500 games during his nearly 30-year career, winning 2,000 of them.

Despite the colour bar, Paige faced the best major-league players in exhibition games before 1948. He once struck out Rogers Hornsby, probably the greatest right-handed hitter in baseball history, five times in one game. In Hollywood in 1934 Paige scored a spectacular 1-0 victory in 13 innings over Dizzy Dean, who won 30 games for the St. Louis Cardinals that year. Paige was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

Eddie Tolan

Eddie Tolan (centre) practicing with Ralph Metcalfe (left) and George Simpson (right) before the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, where Tolan won two gold medals

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

in full THOMAS EDWARD TOLAN, byname THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (b. Sept. 29, 1909, Denver, Colo., U.S.--d. Jan. 30, 1967, Detroit, Mich.), American sprinter, the first black athlete to win two Olympic gold medals. In his track career Tolan won 300 races, losing only 7.

While attending high school in Detroit, Mich., Tolan was a city and state champion in the 100- and 200-yard dashes. At the University of Michigan, he attracted national attention in 1929 when he set a record in the 100-yard dash (9.5 seconds) and tied the record of 10.4 seconds in the 100-metre dash. The 5 foot 7 inch Tolan, who raced with his spectacles taped to his head, won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship in the 200- and 220-yard dashes and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) championship in the 100- and 220-yard events between 1929 and 1931. He finished second to Ralph Metcalfe in the 100- and 200-metre dashes in the trials for the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. In the Games themselves, however, Tolan set an Olympic record by handily winning the 200-metre in 21.2 seconds, and he eked out a narrow photo-finish victory over Metcalfe in the 100-metre in 10.3 seconds, setting a world record. Subsequently, Tolan had a brief career as a vaudeville performer with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and later became a schoolteacher.

 

Roy Campanella

Campanella of the Brooklyn Dodgers tagging out Jack Lohrke of the New York Giants, 1950

AP/Wide World Photos

byname CAMPY (b. Nov. 19, 1921, Homestead, Pa., U.S.--d. June 26, 1993, Woodland Hills, near Los Angeles, Calif.), American baseball player, a professional National League (NL) catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose career was cut short as a result of an automobile accident.

Campanella began playing semiprofessional baseball on the Nicetown, Philadelphia, sandlots when he was 13, and at 15 he was signed to play in the Negro leagues. He batted and threw right-handed. He joined the Dodgers in 1948 and was their regular catcher from 1949 until an automobile accident after the 1957 season left him paralyzed.

During his playing career he was named the NL most valuable player three times (1951, 1953, 1955) and was recognized as the best fielding catcher in the league in the 1950s. He was also known for his hitting and in 1953 led the league in runs batted in (142) and hit 41 home runs. He played in five World Series (1949, 1952-53, 1955-56). His autobiography, It's Good to Be Alive, was published in 1959. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Alice Coachman

Coachman clearing the high jump at a track-and-field meet

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

(b. Nov. 9, 1923, Albany, Ga., U.S.), American athlete who was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

Coachman first attracted attention in 1939 by breaking Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) high school and college women's high-jump records while barefoot. She won the AAU outdoor high-jump championship for the next nine years, also winning three indoor high-jump championships. She excelled in the sprints and basketball as well; competing at Tuskegee Institute (1940-46) she won national track-and-field championships in the 50- and 100-metre dashes, the 4 100-metre relay, and the running high jump, and, as a guard, she led the Tuskegee basketball team to three consecutive conference championships.

At Albany State College in Georgia, Coachman continued high jumping in a personal style that combined straight jumping and western roll techniques. At the 1948 Olympics in London, her teammate Audrey Patterson earned a bronze medal in the 200-metre sprint to become the first black woman to win a medal. In the high-jump finals Coachman leaped 5 feet 6 1/8 inches (1.68 m) on her first try. Her nearest rival, Britain's Dorothy Tyler, matched Coachman's jump, but only on her second try, making Coachman the only American woman to win a gold medal in that year's Games. Altogether she won 25 AAU indoor and outdoor titles before retiring in 1948.

Althea Gibson

Gibson receiving congratulations from her opponent, Darlene Hard, for winnig the Wimbledon singles finals, 1957

Corbis-Bettmann

(b. Aug. 25, 1927, Silver, S.C., U.S.), American tennis player who dominated women's competition in the late 1950s. She was the first black to win the Wimbledon and U.S. singles championships.

Gibson grew up in Harlem in New York City and in 1950 became the first black athlete to play Forest Hills, narrowly losing to third-seeded Louise Brought in the second round. She graduated from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, in 1953, and rose to sudden prominence in 1956, becoming the first black to win a major title--the Wimbledon doubles--as well as the French singles and doubles and the Italian singles. She went on to win the Wimbledon singles and doubles and the U.S. singles in 1957-58, as well as the U.S. mixed doubles and the Australian women's doubles (in 1957).

Gibson turned professional in 1958, but women's professional tennis at that time offered few tournaments and prizes. After winning the U.S. professional women's title in 1960, she became a professional golfer in 1963, with moderate success. She married William Darben in 1965 and attempted professional tennis again, after open tennis started in 1968, but without much success. In 1971 she was elected to the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame. In 1975 she was named athletic director for the state of New Jersey.

Joe Louis

Joe Louis, 1946

EB Inc.

byname of JOSEPH LOUIS BARROW, also called THE BROWN BOMBER (b. May 13, 1914, Lafayette, Ala., U.S.--d. April 12, 1981, Las Vegas, Nev.), American boxer who was world heavyweight champion from June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock in eight rounds in Chicago, until March 1, 1949, when he retired undefeated. During his reign, the longest in the history of the heavyweight division, he successfully defended the title 25 times, scoring 21 knockouts. His service in the U.S. Army during World War II no doubt prevented him from defending his title many more times.

Louis began his boxing career in Detroit. He won the U.S. Amateur Athletic Union 175-pound championship in 1934 and also was a Golden Gloves titleholder. He had his first professional fight on July 4, 1934, and within 12 months had knocked out Primo Carnera, the first of six previous or subsequent heavyweight champions who were his victims; the others were Max Baer, Jack Sharkey, Braddock, Max Schmeling, and Jersey Joe Walcott. Louis sustained his first professional loss in 1936 at the hands of Schmeling, but in 1938, after having beaten Braddock and taken the title, Louis defeated Schmeling with a vengeance in the first round of their rematch.

Louis was at his peak in the period 1939-42. From December 1940 through June 1941 he defended the championship seven times. After the war he was less active, and in 1949 he retired as the undefeated champion long enough to allow Ezzard Charles to earn recognition as his successor. Louis returned as challenger for the championship but lost a 15-round decision to Charles on Sept. 27, 1950. In Louis' last fight of consequence, he was knocked out in eight rounds by future champion Rocky Marciano on Oct. 26, 1951. From 1934 to 1951, Louis had 71 bouts, winning 68, 54 by knockouts. He was an extremely accurate and economical knockout puncher.

After his second retirement he was faced with a vast accumulation of improperly paid federal income tax bills, owing to poor management of his financial affairs. Late in life he became a greeter for Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nev.

Willie (Howard) Mays

Mays

UPI

(b. May 6, 1931, Westfield, Ala., U.S.), American professional National League baseball player who was notable for his batting and fielding.

Both Mays's father and grandfather had been baseball players. Willie, who batted and fielded right-handed, played semiprofessional baseball when he was 16 years old and joined the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League in 1948, playing only on Sunday during the school year. The National League New York Giants paid the Barons for his contract when he graduated from Fairfield Industrial High School in 1950. After two seasons in the minor leagues, Mays went to the Giants in 1951. He became known first for his spectacular leaping and diving catches before he established himself as a hitter. He served in the army (1952-54), and in the 1954 season, when the Giants won the National League pennant and the World Series, Mays led the league in hitting (.345) and had 41 home runs. In 1966 his two-year contract with the Giants (moved to San Francisco in 1958) gave him the highest salary of any baseball player of that time. He was traded to the New York Mets midseason in 1972 and retired after the 1973 season. Late in his career he played in the infield, mainly at first base. His career home run total was 660 and his batting average .302. He led the league in home runs in 1955, 1962, and 1964-65.

After retiring as a player, Mays was a part-time coach and did public relations work for the Mets. In 1979 Mays took a public relations job with a company that was involved in gambling concerns, with the result that he was banned from baseball-related activities just three months after he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1985 the ban was lifted, and in 1986 Mays became a full-time special assistant to the Giants.

Jesse Owens

Owens, 1936

AP/Wide World Photos

by name of JAMES CLEVELAND OWENS (b. Sept. 12, 1913, Oakville, Ala., U.S.--d. March 31, 1980, Phoenix, Ariz.), outstanding American track-and-field athlete, who set a world record in the running broad jump (also called long jump) that stood for 25 years and who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. His four Olympic victories were a blow to Adolf Hitler's intention to use the games to show Aryan superiority.

As a student in a Cleveland high school, Owens won three events in the 1933 National Interscholastic Championships, Chicago. In one day, May 25, 1935, while competing for Ohio State University (Columbus) in a Western Conference (Big Ten) track-and-field meet at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Owens equaled the world record for the 100-yard dash (9.4 s) and broke the world records for the 220-yard dash (20.3 s), the 220-yard low hurdles (22.6 s), and the running broad jump (8.13 m [26 feet 8 1/4 inches]). As a member of the United States team in the 1936 Olympic Games, Owens tied the Olympic record in the 100-metre run (10.3 s); broke Olympic and listed world records in the 200-metre run (20.7 s) and the running broad jump (8.06 m; his world-record leap in 1935 had not yet been officially accepted); and ran the final segment for the world-record-breaking U.S. 400-metre relay team (39.8 s). For a time, Owens held alone or shared the world records for all sprint distances recognized by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

After retiring from competitive track, Owens engaged in boys' guidance activities, made goodwill visits to India and the Far East for the U.S. Department of State, served as secretary of the Illinois State Athletic Commission, and worked in public relations.

Floyd Patterson

Floyd Patterson (the upright figure) fighting Tom McNeeley, 1961

AP/Wide World Photos

(b. Jan. 4, 1935, Waco, N.C., U.S.), American professional boxer, first to hold the world heavyweight championship twice.

Patterson, who was reared in Brooklyn, learned to box while in a school for emotionally disturbed children. He won several Golden Gloves titles in 1951 and 1952 and was the Olympic Games middleweight champion in 1952. His first professional fight took place Sept. 12, 1952. When he won the heavyweight title he had lost only one professional fight, a disputed decision in favour of the clever and far more experienced Joey Maxim, a former 175-pound light-heavyweight champion.

Patterson succeeded retired champion Rocky Marciano by knocking out Archie Moore in five rounds in Chicago, Nov. 30, 1956. He lost the title to Ingemar Johansson of Sweden by a three-round knockout in New York City, June 26, 1959, and regained the championship by knocking out Johansson in five rounds in New York, June 20, 1960. He was subsequently knocked out in one round by Sonny Liston in a title bout in Chicago, Sept. 25, 1962. He later was defeated by Liston and Muhammad Ali in his attempts to recapture the world championship and by Jimmy Ellis, World Boxing Association heavyweight champion, in a match for that version of the disputed world title. He retired from the ring in 1972 and later ran an amateur boxing club and was athletic commissioner for the state of New York.

Eddie Robinson

Robinson, 1995

Bill Hickey/Allsport

byname of EDWARD GAY ROBINSON (b. Feb. 13, 1919, Jackson, La., U.S.), African-American collegiate football coach who in 1985 became the winningest coach in the history of the game. He spent his entire head-coaching career at Grambling State University in Grambling, La. On Oct. 7, 1995, he became the first coach to claim 400 victories, guiding Grambling to a 42-6 win over Mississippi Valley State.

Robinson attended Leland College (Baker, La.), where he played quarterback and led the team to a combined 18-1 record over the 1939 and 1940 seasons. During his final two years at Leland he also served as an assistant coach. He earned his bachelor's degree in 1941 and received a master's degree from the University of Iowa in 1954.

In 1941 Grambling (then known as Louisiana Negro Normal and Industrial Institute) hired Robinson to coach football and basketball and teach physical education. In his first season he had no assistants and no budget for replacing equipment. He handled virtually everything himself, from mowing the field to taping players' ankles to writing accounts of the games for the local newspaper. The first season his team posted a record of 3-5. The next season, however, he guided the team to a perfect 8-0 record.

Robinson's Grambling Tigers went on to have two more perfect seasons, capture 17 conference titles, and win several National Negro Championships. More than 200 of his players went on to compete in the National Football League, including NFL Hall of Fame members Willie Davis, Willie Brown, and Buck Buchanan.

Robinson earned his 324th career victory, setting the record for wins, on Oct. 5, 1985, with a 27-7 defeat of Prairie View A&M in Dallas, Texas. At the end of the 1997 season, he retired with a lifetime record of 408-165-15.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson, 1946

UPI

byname of JACK ROOSEVELT ROBINSON (b. Jan. 31, 1919, Cairo, Ga., U.S.--d. Oct. 24, 1972, Stamford, Conn.), first black baseball player in the U.S. major leagues during the 20th century, an infielder and outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League from 1947 through 1956. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.

Reared in Pasadena, Calif., Robinson became an outstanding all-around athlete at Pasadena Junior College and the University of California at Los Angeles. He excelled in football, basketball, and track as well as baseball. Robinson withdrew from U.C.L.A. in his third year to help his mother care for the family. In 1942 he entered the U.S. Army, attended officer candidate school, was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1943, and received a medical discharge in 1945. He then played professional football in Hawaii and baseball with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League.

On Oct. 23, 1945, Robinson and pitcher John Wright, also black, were signed by Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn club, to play on a Dodger farm team, the Montreal Royals of the International League. Robinson led that league in batting average in 1946 and was brought up to play for Brooklyn in 1947. He was an immediate success. Leading the National League in stolen bases, he was chosen rookie of the year. In 1949 he won the batting championship with a .342 average and was voted the league's most valuable player. His career average was .311. As a base runner, Robinson unnerved opposing pitchers and terrorized infielders who had to try to prevent his stealing bases. After retiring from baseball early in 1957, Robinson engaged in business. His autobiography, I Never Had It Made, was published in 1972

Maury Wills

Wills

AP/Wide World Photos

byname of MAURICE MORNING WILLS (b. Oct. 2, 1932, Washington, D.C.), U.S. professional baseball player and manager, who set base-stealing records in his playing career.

Wills was a star football quarterback and baseball pitcher for Cardozo High School (Washington, D.C.), and was signed to a contract by the National League Brooklyn (later Los Angeles) Dodgers in 1950. He batted both right- and left-handed and threw right-handed. He played for their minor league teams (1951-59) as a second baseman before he was called up to the parent club in 1959, where he played shortstop until he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates (1967-68) and drafted in the expansion of the league by the Montreal Expos (1969). He was traded back to the Dodgers in that year and played with them until his retirement in 1972.

Wills led the league in stolen bases in six seasons (1960-65), establishing a season record of 104 in 1962 (surpassed in 1974 by Lou Brock's 118). After his retirement as a player Wills managed four seasons in the Mexican League during the 1970s, served as base-stealing instructor for five major league clubs in spring training, and did some sports announcing. He was manager of the American League Seattle Mariners (1980-81).

Alex Haley

Haley on the set of Roots, 1978

Copyright Archive Photos

in full ALEX PALMER HALEY (b. Aug. 11, 1921, Ithaca, N.Y., U.S.--d. Feb. 10, 1992, Seattle, Wash.), American writer whose works of historical fiction and reportage depicted the struggles of American blacks.

Although his parents were teachers, Haley was an indifferent student. He began writing to avoid boredom during voyages while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard (1939-59). His first major work, The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), was an authoritative and widely read narrative based on Haley's interviews with the Black Muslim spokesman. The work is recognized as a classic of black American autobiography.

Haley's greatest success was Roots: The Saga of an American Family (1976). This well-researched genealogy--born of the history recited by Haley's maternal grandmother--covers seven American generations, from the enslavement of Haley's African ancestors to his own genealogical quest. The work forcefully shows relationships between generations and between races. Roots was adapted as a multi-episode television program, which, when first broadcast in January 1977, became one of the most popular shows in the history of American television. That same year Haley won a special Pulitzer Prize. A successful sequel was first broadcast in February 1979 as Roots: The Next Generations.

Roots spurred much interest in family trees, and Haley created the Kinte Foundation (1972) to store records that aid in tracing black genealogy.

Hank Aaron

Hank Aaron

Pictorial Parade

Audio Clip

byname of HENRY LOUIS AARON (b. Feb. 5, 1934, Mobile, Ala., U.S.), American professional baseball player who, during 23 seasons in the major leagues (1954-76), surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial.

Aaron, a righthander six feet tall and weighing 180 pounds, began his professional career in 1952, playing a few months as a shortstop with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League. His contract was bought by the Boston Braves of the National League, who assigned him to minor-league teams, first at Eau Claire, Wis., then at Jacksonville, Fla. He joined the Braves, who meanwhile had moved to Milwaukee, in 1954, thereafter playing mostly as an outfielder. In 1956 he won the league batting championship with an average of .328 and in 1957, leading his team to victory in the World Series, was named the league's Most Valuable Player. Before the Braves moved to Atlanta, at the end of 1965, Aaron had hit 398 home runs. In Atlanta on April 8, 1974, he hit his 715th, breaking Babe Ruth's record, which had stood since 1935. After the 1974 season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers of the American League. After the 1976 season, Aaron retired as a player and rejoined the Atlanta Braves as an executive. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 13, 1982.

Aaron's batting records include totals of 755 home runs, 1,477 extra-base hits, and 2,297 runs batted in. His other career statistics include 2,174 runs scored (second to Ty Cobb) and 12,364 times at bat in 3,298 games (second to Pete Rose). His hits (3,771) were exceeded only by those of Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. Aaron's lifetime batting average was .305

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Abdul-Jabbar, 1987

Mike Powell/Allsport

also called (until 1971) LEW ALCINDOR, byname of FERDINAND LEWIS ALCINDOR, JR. (b. April 16, 1947, New York, N.Y., U.S.), collegiate and professional basketball player, who as a 7-foot 1 3/8-inch center dominated the game throughout the 1970s and early '80s.

Alcindor played for Power Memorial Academy (at 6 feet 8 inches) on the varsity for four years, and his total of 2,067 points set a New York City high school record. He entered the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1965 and set a UCLA scoring record with 56 points in his first game. He helped lead UCLA to three National Collegiate Athletic Association championships (1966-68), and during his stay at UCLA the team lost only two games.

Alcindor joined the National Basketball Association (NBA) Milwaukee Bucks in 1969 and was rookie of the year in 1970. In 1971 the Bucks won the NBA championship, and Alcindor led in scoring (2,596 points) and game point average (31.7); he also led in these statistics in 1972 (2,822 points; 34.8). In 1971 Alcindor, who had converted to Islam while at UCLA, took his Arabic name. In 1975 he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the NBA championship in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. In 1984 he surpassed Wilt Chamberlain's career scoring total of 31,419 points. Abdul-Jabbar retired at the end of the 1988-89 season, having been voted Most Valuable Player a record six times. By the end of his extraordinarily long career, he had set NBA records for most points (38,387), most field goals made (15,837), and most minutes played (57,446). He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali (right) fighting Ernie Terrell, 1967

UPI Compix

original name CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY (b. Jan. 17, 1942, Louisville, Ky., U.S.), American professional boxer, the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three separate times.

As an amateur boxer, Ali attracted notice in 1960 by winning the Amateur Athletic Union light heavyweight and Golden Gloves heavyweight championships. He won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. He turned professional soon afterward and became world heavyweight champion by knocking out Sonny Liston in seven rounds on Feb. 25, 1964. Gifted with unusually fast reflexes, excellent hand-leg coordination, and finely honed defensive skills, Ali successfully defended his title nine times from 1965 to 1967 and was universally recognized as champion after outpointing World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Ernie Terrell in 15 rounds on Feb. 6, 1967. Ali often proclaimed his invincibility in doggerel verse and made the boast "I am the greatest!" his personal slogan. In 1964 he joined the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)--adopting a Muslim name--and in 1967 he refused, on religious grounds, to submit to induction into the armed forces. He was subsequently convicted of violating the Selective Service Act and in consequence barred from the ring and stripped of his title, although the conviction was ultimately reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. Ali had meanwhile resumed boxing in 1970 and had defeated two other title contenders, but on March 8, 1971, he lost a 15-round decision to the heavyweight champion, Joe Frazier. For nearly three years Ali fought other title contenders, including Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson (making a brief comeback attempt), Joe Bugner, and Ken Norton. Finally Ali won a unanimous decision over Frazier on Jan. 28, 1974, that led to his meeting with the new champion, George Foreman, on Oct. 30, 1974. His eighth-round knockout of Foreman regained for Ali the undisputed world heavyweight title.

After defending his title successfully six times, he lost it to Leon Spinks on Feb. 15, 1978, in a split decision. Ali regained the WBA title from Spinks seven months later on a unanimous decision, thus becoming the first boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times. In 1979 Ali announced his retirement, at that point having lost only three decisions in 59 fights. He returned to fight World Boxing Council champion Larry Holmes in 1980 and Trevor Berbick of Canada in 1981 but lost both fights.

In 1984 it was confirmed that Ali was suffering from a series of symptoms variously known as "punch drunk" syndrome, or chronic encephalopathy of boxers; it is characterized by parkinsonian symptoms--slurred speech, facial immobility, poor balance, and difficulty in walking.

Ali was selected to light the Olympic flame at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Ga.

Arthur (Robert) Ashe

Ashe holding up his trophy after winning the singles title at Wimbledon, 1975

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

(b. July 10, 1943, Richmond, Va., U.S.--d. Feb. 6, 1993, New York, N.Y.), American tennis player, the first black winner of a major men's singles championship.

Ashe began to play tennis at the age of seven in a neighbourhood park. He was coached by Walter Johnson of Lynchburg, Va., who had coached tennis champion Althea Gibson. Ashe moved to St. Louis, Mo., where he was coached by Richard Hudlin, before he entered the University of California at Los Angeles on a tennis scholarship. In 1963 Ashe won the U.S. hard-court singles championship; in 1965 he took the intercollegiate singles and doubles titles; and in 1967 he won the U.S. clay-court singles championship. In 1968 he captured the U.S. (amateur) singles and open singles championships. He played on the U.S. Davis Cup team (1963-70, 1975, 1977-78) and helped the U.S. team to win the Davis Cup challenge (final) round in 1968, 1969, and 1970. In the latter year he became a professional.

His criticism of South African apartheid racial policy led to denial of permission to play in that country's open tournament, and, as a consequence, on March 23, 1970, South Africa was excluded from Davis Cup competition. In 1975, when he won the Wimbledon singles and the World Championship singles, he was ranked first in world tennis. After retiring from play in 1980, he became captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, a position he held from 1981 to 1985.

Ashe underwent coronary bypass operations in 1979 and 1983. In April 1992 he revealed that he had become infected with the virus that causes AIDS, probably through a tainted blood transfusion received during one of those operations. For the remainder of his life, Ashe devoted considerable time to efforts to educate the public about the disease.

Ernie Banks

Banks, 1959

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

byname of ERNEST BANKS (b. Jan. 31, 1931, Dallas, Texas, U.S.), American professional baseball player, regarded as one of the finest power hitters in the history of the game. Banks starred for the Chicago Cubs from 1953 to 1971. An 11-time All-Star, Banks was named the National League's (NL) Most Valuable Player for two consecutive seasons (1958-59). He hit more than 40 home runs in five different seasons, leading the NL in that category in 1958 and 1960. He also led the league in 1958-59 in runs batted in.

Banks excelled in football, basketball, track and field, and baseball at his Dallas high school. At age 17 he joined a barnstorming Negro league team at a salary rate of $15 per game. In 1950 legendary Negro league star Cool Papa Bell signed him to the Kansas City Monarchs. Soon after, Banks spent two years in the U.S. Army, after which he returned to the Monarchs. His stay there was short-lived, however, as the major leagues, recently integrated, were eager to take advantage of the wealth of talent in the Negro leagues.

Signed by the Chicago Cubs in 1953, Banks soon established himself as one of the league's leading power hitters. In addition to his potent bat, he proved to be a skilled defensive player, setting a single-season mark for fielding percentage for a shortstop in 1959. After injuries limited his mobility, Banks moved to first base in 1962.

Banks was known for his enthusiasm and love of the game, his trademark cry of "let's play two!" reflecting the pure enjoyment he took in baseball. When he retired in 1971, he was the holder of most of the Chicago Cubs' offensive records and had earned the nickname "Mr. Cub" among the team's fans. In his career Banks totaled 512 home runs and 1,636 runs batted in. He was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977; he was only the eighth player to be elected in his first year of eligibility

Lou Brock

Brock, 1966

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

byname of LOUIS CLARK BROCK (b. June 18, 1939, El Dorado, Ark., U.S.), professional National League baseball player whose career 938 stolen bases (1961-79) set a record.

Brock followed his childhood interest in baseball by playing at Southern University (Baton Rouge, La.), where he both pitched and played in the outfield. He was a left-handed batter and pitcher. In 1961 he was signed to a contract by the Chicago Cubs and played on their farm teams before moving to the major leagues in 1962. With the Cubs his outfield playing was erratic and his speed on the bases was unproductive; when he went into a hitting slump in 1964 (.251 in 52 games), he was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he hit .348 for the rest of the season (.315 in all). Thereafter he led the league in stolen bases (1966-69, 1971-74), stealing 50 or more bases each year (1965-76). His batting average was .300 or higher for eight seasons and .293 in his career. In 1974 he stole 118 bases, a new season record until 1982, when Ricky Henderson stole 130. He hit .414 in the 1967 World Series and .464 in the 1968 series. He retired after the 1979 season.

Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain (right), 1965

AP/Wide World

also called WILT THE STILT, byname of WILTON NORMAN CHAMBERLAIN (b. Aug. 21, 1936, Philadelphia), U.S. professional basketball player, who is considered to be one of the greatest offensive players in the history of the game. As the first outstanding centre more than seven feet tall, Chamberlain, in the 1961-62 season, became the first player to score more than 4,000 points in regular-season National Basketball Association (NBA) games.

Chamberlain was sought after by more than 100 colleges and universities after his play at Overbrook High School (Philadelphia). He played two years (1956-58) at the University of Kansas (Lawrence) and played with the barnstorming professional Harlem Globetrotters (1958-59) before joining the NBA Philadelphia Warriors (1959-65, in San Francisco 1962-65), the Philadelphia 76ers (1965-68), and the Los Angeles Lakers (1968-73) before retiring as a player in 1973.

During his NBA career he scored 31,419 points (with a game average of 30.1), 100 points in a single game (March 2, 1962), 36 field goals in a game (March 2, 1962), and 55 rebounds (Nov. 24, 1960), and he played 47,859 minutes--all NBA records. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke Chamberlain's career point record in 1984. Late in his career he improved on defense and as a team player.

His autobiography, written with David Shaw, Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door, was published in 1973. Chamberlain was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978.

George Foreman

George Foreman waving the U.S. flag after winning the gold medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City

AP/Wide World

(b. Jan. 10, 1949, Marshall, Texas, U.S.), American boxer who twice was the world heavyweight champion (1973-74, 1994-95). When Foreman regained the heavyweight title at the age of 45, he became the oldest world heavyweight champion ever.

Foreman was reared in Houston, Texas, and learned to box in a U.S. Job Corps camp in Oregon. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City he won the gold medal in the heavyweight boxing competition. The 6-foot 3-inch, 218-pound Foreman first captured the professional heavyweight belt by knocking out Joe Frazier in two rounds at Kingston, Jamaica, on Jan. 22, 1973. He had won all 40 of his professional bouts, including a sequence of 24 consecutive knockouts, until he fell to Muhammad Ali in eight rounds at Kinshasa, Zaire, on Oct. 30, 1974. He retired from the ring in 1977 and became an evangelist. Foreman resumed professional boxing in 1987 at the age of 39 and found immediate success and celebrity in a heavyweight division that was lacking quality fighters. Despite his age and more than 30 additional pounds, Foreman remained a devastating puncher and captured the world heavyweight title for the second time by knocking out Michael Moorer in 10 rounds at Las Vegas, Nev., on Nov. 5, 1994. He resigned his title the following year, on June 28, 1995.

Joe Frazier

Joe Frazier (left) throwing a punch at Hans Huber of Germany as he captures the gold medal in heavyweight boxing at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

He was known by the name of JOSEPH FRAZIER (b. Jan. 12, 1944, Beaufort, S.C., U.S.), American world heavyweight boxing champion from Feb. 16, 1970, when he knocked out Jimmy Ellis in five rounds in New York City, until Jan. 22, 1973, when he was beaten by George Foreman at Kingston, Jam.

After winning the 1964 Olympic Games heavyweight gold medal in Tokyo, Frazier, a resident of Philadelphia, began his professional career in August 1965. In 1967 Muhammad Ali lost universal recognition as champion because he had refused to submit to U.S. military conscription. On March 4, 1968, in a title bout sanctioned by the New York State Athletic Commission and similar bodies in other states, Frazier knocked out Buster Mathis in 11 rounds. The following month, Ellis won a championship tournament (in which Frazier declined to participate) approved by the World Boxing Association. Frazier successfully defended his New York title four times before defeating Ellis.

On March 8, 1971, Frazier scored a 15-round decision over former champion Ali. Including this triumph, Frazier had, until his defeat by Foreman, won all 27 of his professional bouts, 23 by knockout. He retired in 1976 but staged an unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1981. A chunky man (5 feet 11 inches, 205 pounds) with an aggressive style and a powerful left hook, he was likened to an earlier heavyweight champion, Rocky Marciano.

 

Walt Frazier

Frazier (left) of the New York Knicks shooting the ball against the Atlanta Hawks, 1974

UPI/Corbis-Bettmann

by name of WALTER FRAZIER, JR. (b. March 29, 1945, Atlanta, Ga., U.S.), lack American basketball player who was one of the finest professional players in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Frazier was named All-America three times at Southern Illinois University, which he led to the National Invitational Tournament championship in 1967, earning tournament Most Valuable Player recognition.

Standing 6 feet 4 inches (1.9 m) and weighing some 200 pounds (91 kg), Frazier at guard was the first-round selection of the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the 1967 draft and was named to the league's All-Rookie team. In 1969-70, his third season in the league, he made his first of seven All-Star appearances, finishing the season with an average of nearly 21 points per game, 8.2 assists, and 6 rebounds. That season, Frazier helped the Knicks win their first NBA title, scoring 36 points and making 19 assists in the decisive seventh game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Knicks won a second NBA title in 1973, with Frazier averaging 21.1 points, 5.9 assists, and 7.3 rebounds per game. He played with the Knicks through the 1976-77 season and finished his 13-year professional career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing 51 games in 1977-78 and 15 more games in parts of his final two seasons.

Frazier scored 15,581 points in his NBA career, averaging 18.9 points per game. He also had more than 5,000 assists and nearly that many rebounds, averaging about 6 of each per game. He was selected for the league's All-Defensive team seven times.

His autobiography, written with Joe Jares, was titled Clyde (1970), which was also his nickname. He was known for his sartorial flamboyance and for his cool demeanour on the court. Frazier was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987 and named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996.

Bob Gibson

Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals pitching against the Detroit Tigers in the first game of the 1968 World Series

AP/Wide World Photos

byname of ROBERT GIBSON (b. Nov. 9, 1935, Omaha, Neb., U.S.), American professional National League right-handed baseball pitcher, who was at his best in crucial games. In nine World Series games, he won seven and lost two.

At Omaha Technical High School Gibson was a star in basketball and track, as well as a baseball catcher. He played basketball and baseball at Creighton University (Omaha) as a shortstop and outfielder. He was signed to a contract by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1957 and played with their minor-league teams until 1959. A regular with the Cardinals from 1961, he won 20 games in 1965 and 22 (including 13 shutouts) in 1968; he led the league with 23 victories in 1970. In 1968 he started 34 games, completed 28, and had an earned run average of 1.12. He pitched quickly, and his best pitches were a fastball and a slider. In his career he had 3,117 strikeouts, the first pitcher to accumulate more than 3,000 since Walter Johnson in the 1920s. He retired as a player in 1975 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.

Marvin Hagler

Hagler celebrating his victory over Thomas Hearns in defense of the middleweight title, 1985

Dave Cannon/Allsport

in full MARVELOUS MARVIN HAGLER (b. May 23, 1954, Newark, N.J., U.S.), African-American boxer, a durable middleweight champion, who was one of the greatest fighters of the 1970s and '80s.

Hagler began his boxing career in Brockton, Mass., winning 57 amateur fights and the 1973 Amateur Athletic Union middleweight title before turning professional. He won his first 26 professional bouts, which included 19 knockouts, but his streak was broken in late 1974 when he fought Sugar Ray Seales to a draw. Hagler, after losing two matches in 1976, to middleweights Bobby Watts and Willie Monroe, would remain unbeaten for another decade.

A powerful left-hander, Hagler stood 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighed 160 pounds (73 kg). In his first title fight, in 1979, he boxed world middleweight champion Vito Antuofermo to a 15-round draw. On Sept. 27, 1980, in his 54th professional fight, Hagler took the world title from Alan Minter with a third-round knockout. Hagler went on to defend the title 12 times from 1981 through 1986. On April 15, 1985, in one of his finest bouts, he pummeled Thomas Hearns, dispatching him in three rounds.

Hagler, who had legally changed his first name to Marvelous in 1982, was now ranked among the world's preeminent boxers. On April 6, 1987, in one of the most renowned middleweight title fights, Hagler lost his long-held crown to Sugar Ray Leonard in a controversial 12-round split decision. Hagler, unable to accept the defeat, retired from boxing. Although Leonard long commanded enormous earnings for his matches, the $11 million he received for this bout was $1 million shy of Hagler's record-setting $12 million purse.

Fifty-two of Hagler's 62 career wins were by knockout; he had three losses and two draws. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.

Evander Holyfield

Holyfield, 1996

Scott Harrison/Copyright Archive Photos

(b. Oct. 19, 1962, Atmore, Ala., U.S.), African-American boxer, the only professional boxer aside from Muhammad Ali to win the heavyweight championship three separate times.

As an amateur boxer, Holyfield compiled a record of 160-14 and won the National Golden Gloves Championship in 1984. Competing as a light heavyweight at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, he was disqualified in the semifinal bout for knocking out his opponent, Kevin Barry of New Zealand, while the referee was attempting to separate the fighters. Amid controversy, the International Olympic Committee subsequently awarded Holyfield the bronze medal.

In November 1984 Holyfield turned professional, and in 1986 he won the junior heavyweight title by upsetting World Boxing Association (WBA) champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi in a 15-round split decision. In April 1988 Holyfield became boxing's first undisputed cruiserweight champion with an eight-round knockout of Carlos DeLeon. Three months later, he fought his first heavyweight bout, knocking out James Tillis in five rounds.

Although Holyfield often faced much larger opponents as a heavyweight, his diligent training habits and exceptional durability in the ring helped to make up for his lack of size. On Oct. 25, 1990, he scored a third-round knockout of James "Buster" Douglas to win the undisputed heavyweight title of the WBA, the World Boxing Council (WBC), and the International Boxing Federation (IBF). After successful defenses against former champions George Foreman and Larry Holmes, Holyfield lost the title on Nov. 13, 1992, dropping a 12-round decision to Riddick Bowe. In a rematch with Bowe one year later, he recaptured the WBA and IBF titles in another decision.

On April 22, 1994, in a World Boxing Organization match and Holyfield's first defense after regaining the titles, he lost a 12-round decision to Michael Moorer. After the bout, he was diagnosed with a heart defect and announced his retirement. The diagnosis was later reversed, however, and Holyfield resumed boxing, winning a 10-round decision over Ray Mercer on May 20, 1995. In his third fight with Bowe, on Nov. 4, 1995, Holyfield scored a knockdown in the sixth round but lost by a knockout in the eighth.

After defeating Bobby Czyz in his next match, Holyfield met heavyweight champion Mike Tyson in a much anticipated WBA bout on Nov. 9, 1996. Though Tyson was heavily favoured to win, Holyfield scored a stunning upset with a technical knockout in the 11th round, becoming the heavyweight champion for a third time. He successfully defended his title on June 28, 1997, in a rematch against Tyson, who was disqualified after the third round for biting Holyfield's ear.

Reggie Jackson

Jackson

Rick Stewart/Allsport

byname of REGINALD MARTINEZ JACKSON (b. May 18, 1946, Wyncote, Pa., U.S.), professional American League baseball player.

Jackson was encouraged in sports by his Spanish father and became a star athlete at Cheltenham (Pa.) High School, excelling in track and football as well as baseball, in which he was a good pitcher as well as a hitter. He batted and threw left-handed. He continued his athletic career at Arizona State University (Tempe), but after two years he became a professional baseball player. He played with Kansas City Athletics farm teams (1967-68) and joined the Athletics in 1968 when the team moved to Oakland, Calif., remaining with the team through the 1975 season. He made his mark as a home-run hitter and was also an exceptional base runner and a good outfielder, particularly on balls that were hard to play. He led the league in home runs (1973, 1975). Playing on the World Series-winning Athletics (1972-74), Jackson in the 1973 World Series batted .310, drove in all three runs as Oakland won the sixth game, and hit a two-run homer in the decisive seventh game.

In 1976 he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles, and in 1977 as a free agent he signed a five-year contract with the New York Yankees for nearly $3 million. He led the league in home runs in 1980. In the final game of the 1977 World Series, he hit three consecutive home runs and drove in five runs as the Yankees won 8 to 4. In the 1978 World Series he hit .391 and two home runs. From 1973 he played mainly as a designated hitter (not playing in the field).

Jackson also enjoyed a career as a sports commentator.

Magic Johnson

Johnson, 1990-91 season

Stephen Dunn/Allsport

byname of EARVIN JOHNSON, JR. (b. Aug. 14, 1959, Lansing, Mich., U.S.), American basketball player who led the National Basketball Association (NBA) Los Angeles Lakers to five championships in the 1980s.

The son of an auto worker, Johnson earned his nickname "Magic" for his creative and entertaining ball handling. He was an intense competitor who won everywhere he played. He led his high school team to a state championship in 1977, Michigan State University to the National Collegiate Athletic Association championship in 1979, and the U.S. team to a basketball gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

Johnson achieved his greatest success in the professional ranks, guiding the Lakers to NBA championships in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. He was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 1987, 1989, and 1990. He played point guard and brought new versatility to that position. At 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m), he was a dangerous inside scorer and a capable rebounder. However, he was best known for innovative no-look and bounce passes and expert floor leadership. At the time of his initial retirement due to HIV infection in 1991, Johnson was the NBA's all-time leader in assists (9,921). Later he served briefly as head coach of the Lakers (1994), and he returned as a player for a portion of the 1995-96 seaso

Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan (centre), a member of the U.S. "Dream Team," jumping to make a shot in a game against the Angolan team at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain

Mike Powell--Allsport

in full MICHAEL JEFFREY JORDAN (b. Feb. 17, 1963, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.), American collegiate and professional basketball player, often considered the greatest all-around player in the history of the game. He led the National Basketball Association (NBA) Chicago Bulls to six championships (1991-93, 1996-98).

Jordan grew up in Wilmington, N.C., and entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. As a freshman, he made the winning basket in the 1982 national championship game. Jordan was named College Player of the Year in both his sophomore and junior years, leaving North Carolina after his junior year. He led the U.S. basketball team to Olympic gold medals in 1984 in Los Angeles and in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.

In 1984 Jordan was drafted by the Chicago Bulls. In his first season (1984-85) as a professional, he led the league in scoring and was named Rookie of the Year; after missing most of the following season with an injury, he returned to lead the NBA in scoring for seven consecutive seasons, averaging about 32 points per game. He was only the second player (after Wilt Chamberlain) to score 3,000 points in a single season (1986-87). Jordan was named the NBA's Most Valuable Player five times (1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998) and was also named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.

In October 1993, after leading the Bulls to their third consecutive championship, Jordan retired briefly to pursue a career in professional baseball. He returned to basketball in March 1995. In the 1995-96 season Jordan led the Bulls to a 72-10 regular season record, the best in the history of the NBA. Between 1996 and 1998 the Jordan-led Bulls again won three championships in a row, and each time Jordan was named MVP of the NBA Finals. He retired from professional basketball in 1999.

At 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m), Jordan, a guard, was an exceptionally talented shooter and passer and a tenacious defender. He earned the nickname "Air Jordan" because of his extraordinary leaping ability and the acrobatic maneuvers he used to evade defenders as he approached the basket. As a spokesman for many products, his image was widely marketed, which helped make him one of the most recognizable athletes in the world.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jackie Joyner-Kersee throwing the javelin during the heptathlon at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul

Steven E. Sutton--Duomo

in full JACQUELINE JOYNER-KERSEE (b. March 3, 1962, East St. Louis, Ill.), American athlete who became the first participant ever to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon. She broke the 7,000-point barrier six times, four times establishing a new world record in the event. She is considered by many to be the greatest female athlete ever.

Joyner showed great enthusiasm for athletics early on, and, at the age of 14, she won the first of four consecutive National Junior Pentathlon championships. In high school Joyner was a determined student and athlete, graduating near the top of her class and competing on the school's volleyball, basketball, and track teams. As a junior she set the Illinois high school girls long-jump record at 20 feet 7 1/2 inches (6.68 m). Her high school success led to a scholarship to the University of California-Los Angeles, where she initially focused on basketball and the long jump. After the sudden death of her mother from meningitis in 1981, Joyner became even more determined to succeed, and, under the tutelage of assistant track coach Bob Kersee (whom she later married), she began training for the heptathlon. She showed great promise at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when she overcame a pulled hamstring to win the silver medal in the heptathlon, narrowly missing the gold medal by five points. On July 7, 1986, she finally emerged as the dominant heptathlete, setting a world record (7,148 points) in the event at the Goodwill Games in Moscow. Her score bettered the old record by 202 points. Joyner-Kersee set the heptathlon world record (7,291) for the fourth time while winning the gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In 1992 she became the first athlete ever to win the heptathlon gold medal in consecutive Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. In her final Olympic appearance at the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Ga., she earned a bronze medal in the long jump; a hamstring injury forced her to withdraw from the heptathlon.

Joyner-Kersee's explosiveness made her an exceptional sprinter and leaper, and her best events were those that emphasized these qualities (e.g., long jump, 100-metre hurdles, 200-metre run, high jump). She often competed in single events, particularly the long jump in which she tied the world record (24 feet 5 1/2 inches [7.45 m]) in 1987, and won the long-jump gold medal in 1988 and the bronze in 1992.

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson (right) fighting Randy Turpin, 1951

AP/Wide World Photos

byname of WALKER SMITH, JR. (b. May 3, 1921, Detroit, Mich., U.S.--d. April 12, 1989, Culver City, Los Angeles), American professional boxer, six times a world champion: once as a welterweight (147 pounds), from 1946 to 1951, and five times as a middleweight (160 pounds), between 1951 and 1960. He is considered by many authorities to have been the best fighter in history.

He won 89 amateur fights without defeat, fighting first under his own name and then as Ray Robinson, using the amateur certificate of another boxer of that name in order to qualify for a bout. He won Golden Gloves titles as a featherweight in 1939 and as a lightweight in 1940.

Robinson won 40 consecutive professional fights before losing to Jake LaMotta in one of their six battles. On Dec. 20, 1946, he won the welterweight championship by defeating Tommy Bell on a 15-round decision. Robinson resigned this title on winning the middleweight championship by a 13-round knockout of LaMotta on Feb. 14, 1951. He lost the 160-pound title to Randy Turpin of England in 1951 and regained it from Turpin later that year. In 1952 he narrowly missed defeating Joey Maxim for the light-heavyweight (175-pound) crown and a few months later retired.

Robinson returned to the ring in 1954, recaptured the middleweight title from Carl (Bobo) Olson in 1955, lost it to and regained it from Gene Fullmer in 1957, yielded it to Carmen Basilio later that year, and for the last time won the 160-pound championship by defeating Basilio in a savage fight in 1958. Paul Pender defeated Robinson to win the title on Jan. 22, 1960, and also won their return fight.

Robinson continued to fight until late 1965, when he was 45 years old. In 201 professional bouts, he had 109 knockouts. He suffered only 19 defeats, most of them when he was past 40. His outstanding ability and flamboyant personality made him a hero of boxing fans throughout the world. In retirement he appeared on television and in motion pictures and formed a youth foundation in 1969.

Gale Sayers

Sayers of the Chicago Bears running for a touchdown past Roger Brown of the Detroit Lions, 1965

AP/Wide World Photos

in full GALE EUGENE SAYERS (b. May 30, 1943, Wichita, Kansas, U.S.), African-American collegiate and professional football player, an explosive running back who played for the Chicago Bears (1965-71) of the National Football League (NFL). His exceptional career was shortened owing to injuries.

Sayers grew up in Omaha, Neb., where, as a high school player, he established himself as an outstanding break-away runner. He attended the University of Kansas and was twice named All-American (1963, 1964). In 1965 he was the Chicago Bears' top pick in the NFL draft.

In his first year as a professional, Sayers led the league in touchdowns (22) and scoring (132 points) and tied an NFL record, scoring 6 touchdowns in a single game. As a result he was the overwhelming favourite for the 1965 Rookie of the Year award. Regarded as one of the greatest open-field runners, he led the league in rushing in 1966 and 1969. He was named All-Pro from 1965 to 1969 and amassed a career total of 4,956 yards. During the 1968 season Sayers suffered the first of several knee injuries, and, after numerous operations, he retired in 1971.

Following his retirement, Sayers served as athletic director at several universities, including Southern Illinois and Tennessee State. In 1977 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Isiah Thomas

Thomas (centre) of the Detroit Pistons maneuvering the ball away from Harvey Grant (left) and Tom Gugliotta (right) of the Washington Bullets, 1993

AP/Wide World Photos

in full ISIAH LORD THOMAS III (b. April 30, 1961, Chicago, Ill., U.S.), African-American collegiate and professional basketball player, considered one of the best point guards in the history of the game. He led the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to consecutive world championships in 1989 and 1990.

Thomas was reared in Chicago, where, at an early age, he developed exceptional basketball skills. A highly sought-after college prospect, he entered Indiana University in 1979 after helping the U.S. team win the gold medal in the Pan-American Games. He led his team to the national championship in 1981 and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament finals. At the end of his sophomore year, he left Indiana to enter the NBA draft. He was the second overall pick, selected by the Detroit Pistons, then one of the weakest teams in the league.

Though considered small at 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m), Thomas proved himself to be a dominant player on the strength of his dribbling and passing skills and his fearless drive to the basket. He was the first player in league history to be voted to the All-Star team during each of his first five seasons; in 1984 and 1986 he was named MVP of the contest.

In 1988 Thomas led Detroit to the NBA finals, narrowly losing the title to the Los Angeles Lakers. In a 1989 rematch, however, the Pistons prevailed, capturing their first NBA championship. The following year, the Pistons repeated as champions by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers, and Thomas was named MVP of the finals. Detroit's title teams were noted for their tough, physical play, earning the nickname "Bad Boys."

During his 13-year career, Thomas became the Pistons' all-time leader in points, assists, steals, and games played. He was also the fourth NBA player to amass more than 9,000 assists. After his retirement in 1994, Thomas became general manager of the Toronto Raptors, an NBA expansion team that made its debut in the 1995-96 season.

Tiger Woods

Woods competing at the PGA (Professional Golfers' Association of America) Championship in Louisville, Ky., 1996

© Keiichi Sato

byname of ELDRICK WOODS (b. Dec. 30, 1975, Cypress, Calif., U.S.), American golfer who enjoyed one of the greatest amateur careers in the history of the game and became a dominating player on the professional circuit in the late 1990s. On April 13, 1997, he became the first golfer of African descent to win the Masters Tournament, one of the most prestigious events in the sport.

Woods was the only child of Earl Woods, an African-American who served as an officer in the U.S. Army, and Kultida Woods, a native of Thailand. A naturally gifted player, Woods took up golfing at a very young age and soon became a prodigy, taking swings on a television program when he was two years old and shooting a 48 over nine holes at age three. He was 15 in 1991 when he became the youngest winner of the U.S. Junior Amateur championship; he also captured the 1992 and 1993 Junior Amateur titles. In 1994 he came from six holes behind to win the first of his three consecutive U.S. Amateur championships. He enrolled at Stanford University in 1994 and won the collegiate title in 1996. After claiming his third U.S. Amateur title, Woods left college and turned professional on Aug. 29, 1996. Playing as a pro in eight Professional Golfers' Association of America events in 1996, he won two titles, earned almost $800,000 in prize money, and was named the PGA Tour's outstanding rookie.

Woods's slender build and graceful swing allowed him to generate such speed on his club that he routinely hit drives of more than 300 yards. His booming long game, coupled with his expert putting and chipping and his reputation for mental toughness, made him an intimidating opponent and a popular player among fans. At the 1997 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga., Woods shot a tournament record 270 over 72 holes and finished 12 strokes ahead of the rest of the field in one of the most dominating performances in the history of professional golf.