NBA

Today in History 11/07 (Magic Johnson)

Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers circa 1991 (© Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)(1991) NBA star Magic Johnson announces he’s HIV-positive
The gifted and popular Lakers basketball star stuns the world when he reveals he’s HIV-positive and that he’s retiring immediately from the sport. The 32-year-old promises to use his celebrity to raise AIDS awareness, and Johnson will go on to do precisely that.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons. After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Born: Aug 14, 1959 (age 59) · Lansing, MI
Height: 6′ 9″
Net worth: $600 million USD (2016)
Spouse: Cookie Johnson (m. 1991)
Children: Andre Johnson (Son) · Earvin Johnson III (Son) · Elisa Johnson (Daughter)
Education: Michigan State University (1977 – 1979) · Everett High School
Highlights
  • 1984: In the 1984–85 regular season, Johnson averaged 18.3 points, 12.6 assists, and 6.2 rebounds per game and led the Lakers into the 1985 NBA Finals, where they faced the Celtics again.

  • 1985: Johnson again averaged a double-double in the 1985–86 NBA season, with 18.8 points, 12.6 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game.

  • 1988: In the 1988–89 NBA season, Johnson’s 22.5 points, 12.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game earned him his second MVP award, and the Lakers reached the 1989 NBA Finals, in which they again faced the Pistons.

  • 1990: Mike Dunleavy became the Lakers’ head coach in 1990–91, when Johnson had grown to be the league’s third-oldest point guard.

  • 1991: In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha “Cookie” Kelly in a small wedding in Lansing which included guests Thomas, Aguirre, and Herb Williams.

  • 2006: In 2006, ESPN.com rated Johnson the greatest point guard of all time, stating, “It could be argued that he’s the one player in NBA history who was better than Michael Jordan.”

Magic Johnson (with Nancy Pelosi)
In 2003, Johnson met with Nancy Pelosi to discuss federal assistance for those with AIDS.
wiki/Magic_Johnson
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(1991) NBA star Magic Johnson announces he’s HIV-positive.
Also on this day,

1492 | A fireball ‘omen’ falls from the sky as Meteorite strikes Earth
A boy just outside the walled village of Ensisheim, in what will one day be Alsace, France, witnesses a huge fireball fall from the sky and plunge a metre deep into a field. Locals, who view the meteorite as a good omen, will chisel pieces of the heavenly stone for themselves until a local official orders them to stop.
1917 | Lenin seizes power in Russia during ‘October Revolution’
Vladimir Lenin and Bolshevik forces begin to seize power of the Russian state with an armed insurrection in Petrograd on October 25—according to their Julian calendar. Soon after, they will adopt the Gregorian calendar, and the anniversary of the ‘October Revolution’ will be marked in November. The revolution will lead to the creation of the Soviet state, which will remain in power for more than 70 years.
1944 | FDR wins an unprecedented fourth term as US president
Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats GOP candidate Thomas Dewey and becomes the only president in history to win four terms. Roosevelt had concealed his failing health during the campaign. He will die three months after he’s sworn into office.

Today in History 11/07/17

President Franklin Roosevelt, circa 1944 (© Harold M. Lambert/Lambert/Getty Images)(1944) FDR wins an unprecedented fourth term as US president
Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt defeats GOP candidate Thomas Dewey and becomes the only president in history to win four terms. Roosevelt had concealed his failing health during the campaign. He will die three months after he's sworn into office.
The United States presidential election of 1944 was the 40th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1944. Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Democratic nominee, sought his fourth term in office; he defeated Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the general election.
Election year: Nov 07, 1944

Electoral College 1944
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Roosevelt/Truman, red denotes states won by Dewey/Bricker. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1944
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Today in History 10/31 (Indira Gandhi)

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982 (© AP)(1984) India’s first female prime minister is shot and killed
On a morning walk through her garden, India’s Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is shot multiple times by two of her own Sikh bodyguards. The daughter of India’s previous prime minister, Nehru, and the country’s first female leader, her assassination will spark deadly riots.
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated at 9:20 a.m. on 31 October 1984 at her residence in Safdarjung Road, New Delhi. She was killed by her bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh in the aftermath of Operation Blue Star, the Indian Army’s June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple in Amritsar which left the Sikh temple heavily damaged.
Date: Oct 31, 1984

Indira Gandhi Memorial
Memorial at the place of assassination, Safdarjung Road, New Delhi
wiki/Assassination_of_Indira_Gandhi
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(1984) India’s first female prime minister is shot and killed.
Also on this day,

1517 | The Protestant Reformation starts with a posting of Luther’s 95 Theses
According to tradition, German theologian Martin Luther nails a document to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, questioning Catholic Church traditions that he sees as questionable and possibly corrupt. Luther’s ’95 Theses’ will lead to the founding of a new religion.
1950 | Sports pioneer Earl Lloyd integrates the NBA as racial barrier broken
Just three years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color line, Earl Lloyd does the same for the sport of basketball as he takes the court with the Washington Capitols. The first African American NBA player scores 6 points in his opening game against the Rochester Royals.
1974 | Manhattan streets transform with Halloween revels for NYC’s Halloween Parade
Puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee promenades with his creations through the streets of his New York City neighborhood. This whimsical start will launch the annual Village Halloween Parade, mixing huge puppets and costumed revelers in one of the largest nighttime parades on the planet.

Today in History 10/31/17

NBA player Earl Lloyd, circa 1950 (© The Stevenson Collection/ NBAE/ Getty Images)(1950) Sports pioneer Earl Lloyd integrates the NBA
Just three years after Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line, Earl Lloyd does the same for the sport of basketball as he takes the court with the Washington Capitols. The first African American NBA player scores 6 points in his opening game against the Rochester Royals.
Earl Francis Lloyd was an American professional basketball player. He was the first black person to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950–51 NBA season. Three other African Americans played in the same season: Chuck Cooper, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, and Hank DeZonie.
Born: Apr 03, 1928 · Alexandria, VA
Died: Feb 26, 2015 · Crossville, TN
Height: 6' 5" (1.96 m)
Spouse: Charlita Lloyd
Education: West Virginia State University
Upcoming movies: The First To Do It
Earl Lloyd - CIAA HOF Brunch
Major General Walter E. Gaskin, left, greets with basketball hall of famer, Earl "The Pearl" Lloyd during the CIAA Hall of Fame brunch, March 3, 2006. Lloyd was the first African-American to play in an NBA game.
Highlights
  • 1948: Lloyd led West Virginia State to two CIAA Conference and Tournament Championships in 1948 and 1949.

  • 1951: Lloyd played in only seven games for the Washington Capitols before the team folded on January 9, 1951.

  • 1965: According to Detroit News sportswriter Jerry Green, in 1965 Detroit Pistons General Manager Don Wattrick wanted to hire Lloyd as the team's head coach.

  • 2007: On December 1, 2007, the newly constructed basketball court at T. C. Williams High School in Lloyd's home town of Alexandria, Virginia, was named in his honor.

  • 2015: In 2015 Lloyd, along with fellow basketball player Alonzo Mourning, was one of eight Virginians honored in the Library of Virginia's "Strong Men & Women in Virginia History" because of his contributions to the sport of basketball.

  • 2015: Earl resided in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, just outside Crossville, until his death in February 2015.

wiki/Earl_Lloyd
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