Pierre de Coubertin
Born: Jan. 1, 1863 - Died: Sept. 2, 1937
French educator / Father of the Modern Olympic Games; IOC president from 1896-1925.
Mel Gibson
Actor / Filmmaker
Born: 3 January 1956
Birthplace: Peekskill, New York
Best known as: Writer and director of The Passion of the Christ
Newton, Sir Isaac
04 January 1642 / 1727
Newton, Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist), who is considered by many the greatest scientist that ever lived.
Celebrity Birthdays - January
ResponderEliminarPierre de Coubertin
Born: Jan. 1, 1863 - Died: Sept. 2, 1937
French educator / Father of the Modern Olympic Games; IOC president from 1896-1925.
Mel Gibson
Actor / Filmmaker
Born: 3 January 1956
Birthplace: Peekskill, New York
Best known as: Writer and director of The Passion of the Christ
Newton, Sir Isaac
04 January 1642 / 1727
Newton, Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English mathematician and natural philosopher (physicist), who is considered by many the greatest scientist that ever lived.
Nicolas Cage / Actor
Born: 7 January 1964
Birthplace: Long Beach, California
Best known as: Oscar-winning star of Leaving Las Vegas
Name at birth: Nicolas Coppola
Martin Luther King, Jr.
15 dec /1929–1968, American Civil Rights Leader.
American clergyman and civil rights leader, b. Atlanta, Ga., grad. Morehouse College (B.A., 1948), Crozer Theological Seminary (B.D., 1951), Boston Univ. (Ph.D., 1955). The son of the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, King was ordained in 1947 and became (1954) minister of a Baptist church in Montgomery, Ala. He led the boycott (1955–56) by Montgomery blacks against the segregated city bus lines, and he attained national prominence by advocating a policy of passive resistance to segregation. In 1956, he gained a major victory and prestige as a civil rights leader when the Montgomery buses began to operate on a desegregated basis. After the Montgomery success, King organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which gave him a base to pursue further civil rights activities, first in the South and later nationwide. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance led to his arrest on numerous occasions in the 1950s and 60s. He organized (1963) the massive March on Washington, which brought more than 200,000 people together. In 1964 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. King's leadership in the civil rights movement was challenged in the mid-1960s as others grew more militant. However, King's interests widened from civil rights to criticism of the Vietnam War and to a deeper concern for poverty. His plans for
His plans for a Poor People's March to Washington were interrupted (1968) for a trip to Memphis, Tenn., in support of striking sanitation workers. On April 4, 1968, he was shot and killed by an assassin's bullet on the balcony of the motel where he was staying. James Earl Ray was later convicted of his murder. His birthday is an American national holiday, celebrated on the third Monday in January.
Ali, Muhammad
Ali, Muhammad (muhăm'ud älē') [key], 1942–, American boxer, b. Louisville, Ky. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, he was a 1960 Olympic gold medalist. Shortly after upsetting Sonny Liston in 1964 to become world heavyweight champion, he formalized his association with the Nation of Islam (see Black Muslims) and adopted the Muslim name Muhammad Ali.
Ali's flamboyant boxing style and outspoken stances on social issues made him a controversial figure during the turbulent 1960s and early 1970s. After beating Liston, he defended his title nine times, brashly proclaiming himself the “greatest of all time.” In 1967 he refused induction into the armed services and became a symbol of resistance to the Vietnam War. The boxing establishment stripped Ali of his title and prevented him from fighting until the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 upheld his draft appeal on religious grounds. Before retiring in 1981 Ali compiled a 56–5 record and became the only man to ever win the heavyweight crown three times. His fights with Joe Frazier and George Foreman were among boxing's biggest events.
In retirement, Ali has remained one of the most recognized of all world figures. The 1984 revelation that he suffered from Parkinson's disease renewed debate over the negative effects of boxing. His appearance at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, to light the Olympic flame, moved an international audience.
"I know where I'm going and I know the truth and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want."
—after announcing he's joined the Nation of Islam (1964)
"I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong."
—refusing military induction based on religious grounds (1966)
"I strongly object to the fact that so many newspapers have given the American public and the world the impression that I have only two alternatives in taking this stand: either I go to jail or go to the Army. There is another alternative and that alternative is justice. If justice prevails, if my Constitutional rights are upheld, I will be forced to go neither to the Army nor jail. In the end I am confident that justice will come my way for the truth must eventually prevail."
—from his official statement refusing induction to the armed forces (1967)