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List Of African-American Sports Firsts
African Americans are a demographic minority in the United States. The first achievements by African Americans in various fields historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier". The world of sports generally is invoked in the frequently cited example of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African American of the modern era to become a Major League Baseball player in 1947, ending 60 years of segregated Negro leagues. 19th century 1879 * First African American to play major league baseball: Possibly William Edward White; he played as a substitute in one professional baseball game for the Providence Grays of the National League, on June 21, 1879. Work by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) suggests that he may have been the first African-American to play major league baseball, predating the longer careers of Moses Fleetwood Walker and his brother Weldy Walker by five y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
African Americans
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslaved Africans who are from the United States. While some Black immigrants or their children may also come to identify as African-American, the majority of first generation immigrants do not, preferring to identify with their nation of origin. African Americans constitute the second largest racial group in the U.S. after White Americans, as well as the third largest ethnic group after Hispanic and Latino Americans. Most African Americans are descendants of enslaved people within the boundaries of the present United States. On average, African Americans are of West/ Central African with some European descent; some also have Native American and other ancestry. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, African immigrants generally do not se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, or ability. How the championship title is assigned The title is usually awarded through a combination of specific contests or, less commonly, ranking systems (e.g. the ICC Test Championship), or a combination of the two (e.g. World Triathlon Championships in Triathlon). This determines a 'world champion', who or which is commonly considered the best nation, team, individual (or other entity) in the world in a particular field, although the vagaries of sport ensure that the competitor recognised at the best in an event is not always the 'world champion' (see Underdog). This may also be known as a world cup competition; for example cycling (UCI World Championships and UCI World Cups). Often, the use of the term cup or championship in this s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Pollard
Frederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard (January 27, 1894 – May 11, 1986) was an American football player and coach. In 1921, he became the first African-American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two African-American players in the NFL in 1920. Football pioneer Walter Camp called Pollard "one of the greatest runners these eyes have ever seen." Early life Pollard attended Albert G. Lane Manual Training High School in Chicago, also known as "Lane Tech," where he played football, baseball, and ran track. He then went to Brown University, majoring in chemistry. Pollard played halfback on the Brown football team, which went to the 1916 Rose Bowl.Reasons and Patrick, "Pollard Set Records as Black Football Player, Coach", ''The Plain Dealer'', Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, February 27, Section E: 5. He was the first African American football player at Brown. He became the first African American running back to be named to Walter Camp' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1916 Rose Bowl
Originally titled the "Tournament East-West football game," the second of what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played on January 1, 1916. The Rose Bowl game has been played annually since this game. The first game, the 1902 Tournament East-West football game, was so lopsided that for the next 13 years, the Tournament of Roses officials ran chariot races, ostrich races, and other various events instead of football.Bowl Games: College Football's Greatest Tradition, by Robert Ours, 2004, pgs. 3-4 But, on New Year's Day 1916, football returned to stay as undefeated Washington State College defeated Brown University in this first annual Tournament of Roses football game. Tournament Park Before the Rose Bowl stadium was built for the 1923 game, the Rose Bowl was played in Pasadena's Tournament Park, approximately of the current stadium. It is best known for being the site of the first edition in 1902, and the second to eighth (1916 to 1922) before the current stadium opened ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Track And Field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events. Track and field is categorized under the umbrella sport of athletics, which also includes road running, cross country running and racewalking. The foot racing events, which include sprints, middle- and long-distance events, racewalking, and hurdling, are won by the athlete who completes it in the least time. The jumping and throwing events are won by those who achieve the greatest distance or height. Regular jumping events include long jump, triple jump, high jump, and pole vault, while the most common throwing events are shot put, javelin, discus, and hammer. There are also "combined events" or "multi events", such as the pentathlon consisting of five events, heptathlon consisting of seven events, and decathlon consisting of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Taylor (athlete)
John Baxter Taylor Jr. (November 3, 1882, Washington, D.C. – December 2, 1908, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American track and field athlete, notable as the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal. Biography Dr. Taylor was born in Washington D.C. to former slaves. The family settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he attended public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1902. He spent a year at Brown Preparatory School, also in Philadelphia, where he was the fastest high school quarter-miler in the country. As a freshman at the Wharton School of Finance st University of Pennsylvania, he was the IC4A (Inter-Collegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America) champion in the quarter mile. He bested his personal time in 1907, and again was the ICAAAA quarter mile champion. He transferred to and graduated from University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 1908, and was a member of Sigma Pi Phi, the first black fraternityHe was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Johnson (boxer)
Jack Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). He is widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers in history, and his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries was dubbed the "fight of the century".John L. Sullivan, cited in: Christopher James Shelton, Historian for The Boxing Amusement ParkFight of the Century' Johnson vs. Jeffries, the 100th anniversary"/ref> According to filmmaker Ken Burns, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth".Ken Burns, ''Unforgivable Blackness'' Transcending boxing, he became part of the culture and history of racism in the United States. In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" (desegregated) restaurant and nightclub, which in part was run by his wife, a white woma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring. Although the term "boxing" is commonly attributed to "western boxing", in which only the fists are involved, boxing has developed in various ways in different geographical areas and cultures. In global terms, boxing is a set of combat sports focused on striking, in which two opponents face each other in a fight using at least their fists, and possibly involving other actions such as kicks, elbow strikes, Knee (strike), knee strikes, and headbutts, depending on the rules. Some of the forms of the modern sport are western boxing, Bare-knuckle boxing, bare knuckle boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, muay-thai, lethwei, savate, and Sanda (sport), sanda. Boxing techniques have been incorporated into many martial ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, and the World Boxing Organization. In 2020, the World Boxing Council increased their heavyweight classification to 224 pounds (102 kg; 16 st) to allow for their creation of the bridgerweight division. Historical development Because this division had no weight limit, it has been historically vaguely defined. In the 19th century, for example, many heavyweight champions weighed or less (although others weighed 200 pounds). In 1920, the light heavyweight division was formed, with a maximum weight of . Any fighter weighing more than 175 pounds was a heavyweight. The cruiserweight division (first for boxers in the 175–190 pound range) was established in 1979 and recognized by the various boxing organizations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Poage
George Coleman Poage (November 6, 1880 – April 11, 1962) was an American track and field athlete. He was the first black and the first African-American athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games in St. Louis. Biography Early life Born in Hannibal, Missouri, his family moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1884. After his father, James, died in 1888, George Poage, along with his mother and surviving sibling, moved into the home of Mary and Lucian Easton; Lucian was the son of local lumberman Jason Easton, who employed James in his stables. At La Crosse High School Poage excelled as both a student and an athlete; he was considered the top athlete at the school and, in 1899, was the class salutatorian, becoming the school's first African-American graduate. College and Olympic years The following fall he became a freshman at the University of Wisconsin. After competing with the freshman track squad in 1900, he joined the varsity track ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joe Gans
Joe Gans (born Joseph Gant; November 25, 1874 – August 10, 1910) was an American professional boxer. Gans was rated the greatest lightweight boxer of all-time by boxing historian and ''Ring Magazine'' founder, Nat Fleischer. Known as the "Old Master", he became the first African-American world boxing champion of the 20th century, reigning continuously as world lightweight champion from 1902–1908, defending the title 15 times versus 13 boxers. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. Career Gans started boxing professionally in early 1891. Starting in Baltimore, he gained many fans within the boxing world, both white and black alike, with his "scientific" approach to fighting. Unlike the more brutish and adrenaline-fueled fighting styles more prevalent in the time, Gans’ fighting method involved learning an opponent's strengths and weaknesses to compete with a game plan. He fought through much adversity and unfair stipulations for certain fights. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Follis
Charles W. Follis, also known as "The Black Cyclone," (February 3, 1879 – April 5, 1910) was the first Black professional American football player. He played for the Shelby Blues of the "Ohio League" from 1902 to 1906. On September 16, 1904, Follis signed a contract with Shelby making him the first Black man contracted to play professional football on an integrated team. He was also the first Black catcher to move from college baseball into the Negro leagues. Biography Charles W. Follis was born on February 3, 1879 to James Henry and Catherine Matilda Anderson Follis in Cloverdale, Virginia. James Henry (b. 1846– d. 1910) and Catherine Matilda (b. 1848– d.1922) were married in Virginia in 1873. Charles W. Follis' father was a farm laborer. Charles was probably the third born of seven children. The older siblings were Lelia M. (b. 1874) and Cora Belle (b. 1876). Sister Laura Alice was born in 1880 and brother Curtis W. was born in 1884 and died in 1903. In 1885, the family m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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