1946

    
    
    

 
CARLATA BRADLEY    
    
    
 
  

Dave Brubeck was a jazz pianist and composer. Often regarded
as a foremost exponent of cool jazz.

Born in Concord, California, Brubeck was drafted into the US
Army, but was spared from combat service when a Red Cross
show he had played at became a hit. Within the US Army,
Brubeck formed one of the first racially diverse bands.

Brubeck died of heart failure on December 5, 2012, in
Norwalk, Connecticut, one day before his 92nd birthday.

On December 6, 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis
became the first African American player to win the
Heisman Trophy, college football’s top individual award,
beating Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson. Earlier in day,
Davis met with President John Kennedy at the Waldorf-
Astoria Hotel in New York. "I never thought I’d ever be
shaking the hand of the President of the United States,"
he says.   

As a senior in 1961, Davis rushed for 823 yards and scored
14 touchdowns. The previous season, he rushed for 877
yards.

Davis was the first pick in the 1962 NFL draft, by Washington,
which traded him to the Cleveland Browns. But he never
played in the NFL. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia later
in 1962, and died on May 18, 1963. He was only 23.