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First Olympics
The first Olympics that even happened, held in Athens. -
Joe Lewis versus Max Schmeling
In the 1930’s and 1940’s there were two heavyweight boxers whose names were on everyone’s lips; these men were Joe Lewis and Max Schmeling. Schmeling was born in Germany, near the Baltic Sea. From 1930 to 1932, he was the heavyweight champion of the world. As the Nazi Party took over his homeland, Schmeling became one of the athletes championed by Hitler. They called him “The Black Uhlan of the Rhine”, and he perfectly represented the “fighting spirit” Goebbels had so often mentioned. In 1936, -
NBA Founded
NBA was founded in New York City, United Stated -
Jackie Robinson Gets Called Up to the Majors
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play major league baseball. At the time, baseball was the only major sport in the United States. Other sporting leagues existed, but they lacked the type of mass market audience that baseball had attained. The NFL may have signed black players as early as 1920, but football didn’t gain real popularity until the early 1950’s. When Robinson first played in the big leagues, more than 14,000 black fans filled the stands to wat -
West Germany versus Hungary
After World War 2 ended, the German people were completely demoralized. The country was divided and the economy was destroyed; families from each side of the conflict had lost relatives and their cities lay in rubble. There was no national pride left in Germany; in fact, there was hardly even a nation. A decade later, when the West German team struggled their way through to the World Cup Finals, the country finally had something of which they could be proud. Unfortunately, the Germans were abou -
Bob Beamon Shatters Long Jump World Record
In what is widely considered the greatest individual physical feat in human competition, 24 year-old, New Yorker Bob Beamon obliterated an Olympic/World Record in the long jump by a mind-bending two feet. Fellow American, Ralph Boston established the record years before at 27 feet, 43/4 inches, and it was Boston who coached Beamon through his record leap after he had failed to even qualify for a gold metal in two previous jumps. As the Mexico City crowd watched in stunned awe, Beamon tossed his -
US Plays China in Ping Pong
In the United States, very few people think of Ping Pong as an important sport; however, the game played a vital role in US-Chinese relations. While the American Table Tennis Team was visiting Japan for the 1971 Championships, they received an invitation to come play a game in China. The American squad accepted the offer and, consequently, became the first US delegation to enter the Chinese capital since 1949. The match represented a major turning point for US-Chinese relations. The following -
USA vs USSR, 1980 Olympic Hockey Match
For many years, there was one national hockey team so fierce that they dominated the entire sport. From 1953 to 1979, the Soviet Union’s National Hockey team won 13 world championships and 7 Olympic gold medals. They were called “The Red Army” and no one could stand in their way. The Soviets were known to inspire anger and frustration in their enemies. So much so that, in 1987, a meeting with the Canadian National Team ended in violence. A brawl broke out between both teams and the game ended w -
NBA All-Star Game
On November 7, 1991, Earvin “Magic” Johnson announced that he had HIV. When this happened, much of the world had no idea how to process the information. The HIV virus outbreak had only been first observed in 1981 and the early exposures were limited to a small group of gay men and intravenous drug users. The prevalence of HIV infections has been slowly spreading across the United States since 1985. In 1989, the New York Times was describing the AIDS crisis as an epidemic that had “the children -
India versus Pakistan
Ever since Britain divided the Indian Subcontinent in 1947 there’s been conflict in the region. The borders that were drawn in the late 40’s would eventually lead to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which left the area split into three countries: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. While the English left the locals with a lot of pain, they also left them with a love of cricket. When the 2011 Cricket World Cup started, the Indian and Pakistani national teams had not faced each other since the 2008
