Up Next
Today in black history: Earl Lloyd dies, Fats Domino and Marshall Faulk are born and more
Black History Month: The Undefeated edition Feb. 26
1926 — Theodore Flowers becomes middleweight boxing champ
Theodore “Georgia Deacon” Flowers was the first black boxer to be middleweight champion of the world, defeating titleholder Harry Greb in Madison Square Garden. Flowers, who started boxing at 18, was the first black boxer after Jack Johnson to fight for a world title. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1993.
1928 – Happy birthday, “Fats” Domino
New Orleans native Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. was a singer and songwriter known for hits such as “The Fat Man” and “Blueberry Hill.” Five of his records sold more than a million copies.
1976 — Happy birthday, Marshall Faulk
Marshall Faulk, the second overall pick in the 1994 NFL draft, Super Bowl winner and Hall of Famer, was born. Faulk is one of only three NFL players — Marcus Allen and Tiki Barber are the others — to amass at least 10,000 rushing yards and 5,000 receiving yards and he stands alone for finishing his career with 12,000 yards rushing and 6,000 yards receiving. In 2000, he won the Super Bowl as a member of the “The Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams and 11 years later, Faulk was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
1985 — Grammy Awards
At the Grammy Awards ceremony in 1985, Lionel Richie’s Can’t Slow Down won best album of 1984. Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It” took the best record slot and earned her the title best female pop vocalist. The Pointer Sisters won best pop group for “Jump.”
2015 — The first African-American to play in the NBA dies
Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to play in an NBA game, died in Tennessee. On Oct. 31, 1950, when Lloyd stepped on the hardwood for his Washington Capitals game against the Rochester Royals, which the Capitals lost 78-70, he broke the color barrier for the league. He played nine seasons in the league for the Capitals, Syracuse Nationals and Detroit Pistons before his retirement. He started at power forward for the Syracuse Nationals during its NBA championship run.