CASSIUS CLAY WON WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP 50 YEARS AGO TODAY
Miami Beach, Florida (JFK+50) Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky was declared the winner of a heavyweight championship fight 50 years ago today, February 25, 1964, here in Miami Beach.
Clay, who won a gold medal in the Summer Olympic Games in 1960, won the match in the seventh round over reigning world champion, Sonny Liston.
Despite his opponent being an 8 to 1 favorite, Clay said before the fight that he would...
"float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."
Clay also predicted a victory in eight rounds.
Liston, who did not come out for the seventh round, had become champion in 1962 by defeating Floyd Patterson.
Just two days later Clay announced he had joined the Nation of Islam and was changing his name to Muhammad Ali.
In 2005, Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
"ONE IF BY LAND, TWO IF BY SEA," REVERE LANTERNS HANG IN JFK'S OVAL OFFICE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy accepted a pair of lanterns crafted by Colonial Williamsburg's master silversmith, William de Matteo, on February 25, 1961.
The lanterns were functional electric reproductions of the original tin lamps that hung in the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts on the night of Paul Revere's famous midnight ride, April 18-19, 1775.
JFK had the lanterns hung on the wall of the oval office behind the famous Resolute desk.
SOURCE
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston.
Miami Beach, Florida (JFK+50) Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky was declared the winner of a heavyweight championship fight 50 years ago today, February 25, 1964, here in Miami Beach.
Clay, who won a gold medal in the Summer Olympic Games in 1960, won the match in the seventh round over reigning world champion, Sonny Liston.
Cassius Clay
World Heavyweight Champion
"float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."
Clay also predicted a victory in eight rounds.
Liston, who did not come out for the seventh round, had become champion in 1962 by defeating Floyd Patterson.
Just two days later Clay announced he had joined the Nation of Islam and was changing his name to Muhammad Ali.
In 2005, Ali was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy accepted a pair of lanterns crafted by Colonial Williamsburg's master silversmith, William de Matteo, on February 25, 1961.
The lanterns were functional electric reproductions of the original tin lamps that hung in the Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts on the night of Paul Revere's famous midnight ride, April 18-19, 1775.
JFK had the lanterns hung on the wall of the oval office behind the famous Resolute desk.
JFK and Caroline in Oval Office
Lantern visible on the wall
Colonial Williamsburg Lantern
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston.
