Hiram Rhodes Revels (September 27, 1827 – January 16, 1901)

Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, 
was sworn into the U.S. Senate on February 25, 1870, becoming
the first African American ever to sit in Congress.

During the Civil War, Revels, a college-educated minister, helped
form African American army regiments for the Union cause,
started a school for freed men, and served as a chaplain for the
Union army.

Drawing of Revels being sworn in.

On February 25, 1964, 22-year-old Cassius Clay shocked the odds-makers by dethroning world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny
Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout. The dreaded Liston,
who had twice demolished former champ Floyd Patterson in one
round, was an 8-to-1 favorite. However, Clay predicted victory,
boasting that he would “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and
knock out Liston in the eighth round.

Muhammad Ali
(born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.)
(January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)