On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays
at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-
and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the
United States Army.
On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays
at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-
and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the
United States Army.
Muhammad Ali, the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion, entered the combative ring of politics and culture by refusing to
serve in the United States military at the height of the Vietnam
War on this day in history, April 28, 1967.
"I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong," Ali famously said the
year before, the exact quote the source of some dispute, in a
battle that made it all the way to the United States Supreme
Court. The Vietnam War was at its heights at the time.
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Ali was convicted and given five years in prison for refusing induction in to the United States draft as mandated by the Selective Service Act.
On April 25, 1950, the Boston Celtics make Chuck Cooper, an
All-American forward from Duquesne University, the first
African American picked in NBA draft. With the selection,
the first pick in the second round, Cooper breaks the NBA’s
color barrier and changes the league for the better.
Cooper continued his pace-setting off the court upon his
retirement. He earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work
from the University of Minnesota in 1960. In 1970, he
became the City of Pittsburgh’s first Black department
head and later served as Pittsburgh National Bank’s first
Urban Affairs Officer.
The Boston Celtics posthumously awarded him with a
‘Heroes Among Us’ award in 2016.
Charles Henry Cooper (September 29, 1926 – February 5, 1984)
On December 20, 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays
at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-
and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the U.S.
Army.
Graceland was Elvis’s home base.
Muhammad Ali, the reigning world heavyweight boxing champion, entered the combative ring of politics and culture by refusing to
serve in the United States military at the height of the Vietnam
War on this day in 1967.
"I ain’t got no quarrel with those Vietcong," Ali famously said the
year before, the exact quote the source of some dispute, in a
battle that made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
He later wrote, "I refuse to be inducted into the Armed Forces
of the United States because I claim to be exempt as a minister
of the religion of Islam."