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M10D Saturday, February 28, 2009 www.star-telegram.com
1875 Oliver Lewis: jockey towin the Kentucky Derby
1878 Bud Fowler: professionalbaseball player (New Castle,Pa.)
1884 Moses Fleetwood“Fleet” Walker: to play major-league baseball (Toledo Blue Stockings)
1899 Marshall W. “Major”Taylor: world cycling champion
1901 Harry “Bucky” Lew:professional basketball player(New England ProfessionalBasketball League)
1904 George Poage: Olympicmedalist (two bronzes, 200hurdles and 400 hurdles)
1904 Charles Follis: profes-sional football player (ShelbyBlues)
1908 John Taylor: Olympicgold-medal winner (track andfield, medley relay)
1908 Jack Johnson: heavy-weight boxing champion
1917 Lucy Diggs Slowe:woman to win a major nation-al sports title (AmericanTennis Association)
1920 Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall: NFL players(Akron Pros, Rock Island Independents)
1921 Fritz Pollard: NFLcoach (player-coach, Akron Pros)
1924 William DeHart Hub-bard: to win individual Olym-pic gold medal (long jump)
1947 Jackie Robinson: MLBplayer of the modern era(Brooklyn Dodgers)
1947 Larry Doby: AmericanLeague player (Cleveland Indians)
1948 Don Barksdale: on anOlympic basketball team andbasketball gold medal winner
1950 Chuck Cooper: to bedrafted by an NBA team (Bos-ton Celtics); Nat “Sweetwater”Clifton: to sign an NBA contract(New York Knicks); Earl Lloyd:to play in an NBA game (Wash-ington Capitols).
1950 Arthur Dorrington: professional hockey player(Atlantic City Sea Gulls)
1951 Duke Slater: CollegeFootball Hall of Fame inductee(Iowa)
1953 Willie Thrower: NFLquarterback (Chicago Bears)
1955 Sam “Toothpick” Jones:first MLB no-hitter (ChicagoCubs)
1955 Elias Bowie: to drive in a NASCAR Grand National race (Bay Meadows Speedway)
1956 Althea Gibson: TennisGrand Slam event winner(French Open)
1960 Fuller Gordy: profession-al bowler
1961 John McLendon: professional basketball coach(Cleveland Pipers)
1961 Ernie Davis: HeismanTrophy winner (Syracuse)
1962 Buck O’Neil: coach inMLB (Chicago Cubs)
1963 Wendell Scott: to win arace in what now is known asNASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series(Speedway Park)
1966 Emmett Ashford: MLBumpire
1966 Bill Russell: head coachof a major professional sportsteam (Boston Celtics)
1967 Charlie Sifford: to win a PGA Tour event (GreaterHartford Open)
1967 Emlen Tunnell: Pro Foot-ball Hall of Fame inductee (NewYork Giants, Green Bay Packers)
1968 Jackie White: NBA referee
1968 Arthur Ashe: man to win a Grand Slam event(U.S. Open)
1968 Marlin Briscoe: modern-era NFL starting quarterback(Denver Broncos)
1975 Lee Elder: to play in TheMasters
1975 Frank Robinson: MLBmanager (Cleveland Indians)
1981 Val James: to play in theNHL (Buffalo Sabres)
1988 Debi Thomas: to medalat the Winter Olympics(bronze, figure skating)
1988 Johnny Grier: NFL referee
1989 Art Shell: NFL headcoach in league’s modern era(Los Angeles Raiders)
1991 Willy T. Ribbs: to qualifyfor the Indianapolis 500
1992 Cito Gaston: to manage a World Series team (TorontoBlue Jays)
1997 Tiger Woods: golfer towin a Grand Slam event (TheMasters)
2002 Ozzie Newsome: NFLgeneral manager (BaltimoreRavens)
2002 Vonetta Flowers: Win-ter Olympic gold medal win-ner (two woman-bobsleigh)
2006 Shani Davis: individualWinter Olympic gold medalwinner (1,000-meter speed-skating)
2007 Tony Dungy and LovieSmith: NFL head coaches toreach the Super Bowl (India-napolis Colts, Chicago Bears)
DAVID THOMAS, 817-390-7760
During Black History Month, we look at some ofsports’ individual trail blazers with a timeline of50 notable sports firsts for African-Americans:
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
By DAVID THOMAS [email protected] first 50 of America1948 Alice Coachman:woman to win Olympic gold medal (high jump)
1988 Doug Williams: start-ing quarterback in a SuperBowl (Washington Redskins)
PHOTOS: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, GETTY IMAGES
