Jesse Owens
12 September 1913 – 31 March 1980
Jesse Owens (1913-1980) was an American track and field athlete born in Oakville, Alabama, and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Competing for Ohio State University, he set three world records and equalled a fourth in under an hour at the 1935 Big Ten Championships, and in 1936 he won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympic Games. He later worked as a public speaker and goodwill ambassador and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1976.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Jesse Owens.
- Alan Paton (1903–1988) Overlapped 67 years →
- Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002) Overlapped 67 years →
- Bette Davis (1908–1989) Overlapped 67 years →
- Bill Hewlett (1913–2001) Overlapped 67 years →
- Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) Overlapped 67 years →
- Cahit Arf (1910–1997) Overlapped 67 years →
Life events
Born James Cleveland Owens, the youngest of ten children of a sharecropping family.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe Owens family joined the Great Migration north when he was a boy.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTrained under coach Charles Riley and set national high school records in sprinting and the long jump.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCompeted for the Ohio State Buckeyes while working part-time jobs to support himself.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAt Ann Arbor, Michigan, he achieved the marks in the 220-yard dash, 220-yard low hurdles, long jump and 100-yard dash within about 45 minutes.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe couple, who had met as schoolchildren in Cleveland, had three daughters.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTook the 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump and 4x100 metres relay titles.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgTravelled abroad on behalf of the US government and spoke widely on sport and opportunity.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgPresented by President Gerald Ford.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgDied of lung cancer at the age of 66.
Source: en.wikipedia.org