Simiens_Mountains_National_Park

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER JACKIE ROBINSON 1919-1972 The first African-American player in the modern major leagues.He grew up in Pasadena Ca. where he became an outstanding athlete in high school and junior college. PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER ALTHEA GIBSON Althea Gibson was the first black person to play in and win Wimbledon and the United States National Tennis Championship. Gibson won 56 tournaments including five Grand Slam singles events. PROFESSIONAL HOCKEY PLAYER ANSON CARTER BORN: JUNE 6, 1974 A professional hockey right winger of Barbadian descent who last played for HC Lugano in the Swiss Nationalliga. He is also the founder of Big Up Entertainment, a record label specializing in Hip-Hop music. PROFESSIONAL MALE TENNIS PLAYER ARTHUR ASHE 1943 - 1993 The first African American male tennis player. He won the 1965 intercollegiate singles championship while at the University of California at Los Angeles HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION JACK JOHNSON 1878 – 1946 He defeated Tommy Vurns in 1908 to become the world’s first African-American heavyweight champion. TRACK AND FIELD ALICE COACHMAN BORN: NOVEMBER 9, 1923 She became the first black women to win an Olympic gold medal with her win in the high jump in 1948. She broke the high school and college records despite not wearing shoes for this event. PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER JOSH GIBSON (THE BLACK BABE RUTH) HE WAS ONE OF THE GREATEST PLAYERS KEPT FROM THE MAJOE LEAGUES BY THE UNWRITTEN RULE AGAINST BLACK BALL PLAYERS. BASKETBALL IS HIS GAME EARVIN “MAGIC” JOHNSON JR. BORN AUGUST 14, 1959 He is a retired American Professional Basketball Player who point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. His career achievements include three NBA-MVP awards, nine NBA Final appearances, twelve All-Star games and ten All-NBA first and second team nominations. This professional basketball player and I share the same birthday (8/14/1996). HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION GEORGE FOREMAN JANUARY 10, 1949 An American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Olympic gold medalist, and successful entrepreneur. He became the oldest man ever to become heavyweight boxing champion of the world. At age 45 he knocked out Michael Moorer, age 26, to reclaim his title he held 20 years earlier. He is now a successful businessman and an ordained Christian minister who has his own church. We all recognize him as the famous grill man. PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL (PITCHER) PLAYER LEROY ROBERT “SATCHEL” PAIGE JULY 7, 1906 – JUNE 8, 1982 An American Baseball player whose pitching in the Negro Leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime. Paige was a right-handed pitcher and was the oldest Baseball player at the age of 42. His professional career lasted from 1926 until 1966. THOMAS EDWARD “EDDIE” TOLAN SEPTEMBER 23, 1908 – JANUARY 30, 1931 An American athlete and sprinterwhose nickname was Midnight Express. He set world record in the 100-yard dash and 100-meter event and Olympic records in the 100-meter and 200-meter events. He was the first African American to receive the title of the “world’s fastest human” after winning gold medals in the 100-and 200 events. In his full career as a sprinter, Tolan won 300 races and lost only 7. “CAMPY” IS HIS NICKNAME ROY CAMPANELLA NOVEMBER 19, 1921 – JUNE 25, 1993 An American Baseball Player-primarily at the position of a catcher in the Negro League and the Major League Baseball. He was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Widely greatest catcher in the history of the game. Campy played for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the 1940s and 1950s, as one of the pioneers in breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. His career was cut short in 1958 when he was paralyzed in an automobile accident. MUHAMMAD ALI (BORN Cassius Marcellus Clay) January 17, 1942 A retired American Boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight championship boxer of all time. Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, which he described as “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. Ali developed Parkinson’s disease due to injuries he sustained throughout his career.