On this day in April 28, 1967, boxing champion Muhammad
Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army and was
immediately stripped of his heavyweight title.
Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to
forgo military service.
The future three-time world champ changed his name
to Muhammad Ali in 1964 after converting to Islam.
On April 11, 1921, KDKA in Pittsburgh aired the first live sporting
event on the radio, a boxing match between Johnny Ray and
Johnny Dundee.
Pittsburgh Daily Post sports editor Florent Gibson calls the event,
about four months before KDKA’s Harold Arlin announces the
first Major League Baseball game broadcast on radio.
The lightweight bout pitted Dundee, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991, against Ray, who
would later train and manage famed boxer Billy Conn.
In the early part of the 20th century, radio had been used primarily
for two-way communication.
The medium’s popularity took a nosedive during World War I,
when the U.S. military took over all airwaves.
CARLATA BRADLEY
CAMILLE BOHANNON
On November 21, 1976, Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone
as the underdog prizefighter Rocky Balboa, debuted in
New York City.
The movie, which opened in theaters across the United
States on December 3, 1976, was a huge box-office hit
and received 10 Academy Award nominations, including
Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for the then-little
known Stallone.
Rocky ultimately took home three Oscars, including one
for Best Picture, and made Stallone one of the biggest
stars in Hollywood.
Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone is 79.
