Michael Jeffrey Jordon, 36, Basketball player, former minor league baseball player, Born New York, New York, February 17, 1963

Michael Jeffery Jordan is an American basketball legend who played for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards for 15 seasons. Jordan was born on February 17, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. In high school he played baseball, football, and basketball. When he first applied to the varsity team as a sophomore, he didn’t make it because of his height, which at the time was 5 ft 10 in. Over the summer, he grew by 4 inches and trained very hard to make it to the team at the next trials. He was selected and proved his worth with an outstanding average over his final two seasons. In his senior year of high school, he was selected to the McDonald’s All-American Team after scoring a triple-double, that is scoring double digit points in 3 out of 5 categories. Several colleges offered him basketball scholarships and he eventually chose to go to North Carolina university, majoring in cultural geography.

At college, he continued to outdo himself and became a valuable member of the basketball squad. He scored the winning basket for his team against Georgetown University, leading them to victory in the NCAA Division I championships in 1982. He won the title of NCAA College Player of the Year in the years 1983 and 1984. Jordan quit college in his junior year when he was drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA). He joined the Chicago Bulls, helping them to reach the playoffs during his rookie season. He had an average of 28.2 points per game and received the NBA Rookie of the Year Award along with being selected for the All-Stars Game.

Jordan went back to finish his college degree while still playing professional basketball. He was soon recognized for his agility, style and leadership abilities. Despite some injuries early in his career, he soon made his mark by becoming the only player since Wilt Chamberlin to score more than 3,000 points in a season. In 1990, the Chicago Bulls made it to the Eastern Conference Finals and in 1991 they won their first NBA Championship,

A. C. Richardson, a black inventor,

invented the churn, patent #466,470

Born on February 17, 1936, James Nathaniel Brown grew up off the southern coast of Georgia without a father who left the family when Brown was only two weeks old. After his mother left to take up a job in New York, the young child was brought up by his great-grandmother. At eight years of age, Jim Brown shifted to New York to live with his mother.

Changing towns proved to be beneficial for Brown as he joined Manhasset High School and thrived on the football field from the beginning. Even though he remained actively involved in basketball, lacrosse and track, football continued to be the athlete’s strongest area.

Acquiring the position of a running back, Brown averaged 14.9 yards per carry and earned himself a spot at Syracuse University. Brown eventually earned nationwide attention for his strong play and brought his career as a college player to an end with a total of six touchdowns and a rush of 197 yards.

In 1957, Brown got chosen by the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League draft and adjusted well to the new environment, leading the league by rushing 942 yards and eventually capturing the honour of Rookie of the Year. In the seasons that followed, Brown only continued to progress and soon became the standard-bearer for all NFL running backs. Showcasing outstanding speed, Brown scored remarkable season totals over various seasons including 1,527 yards in 1958, 1,863 yards in 1963 and 1,544 yards in 1965. The only year which slowed down Brown’s fast moving career was 1962 during which he rushed for only 996 yards and was unsuccessful in leading the league.

Shocking news awaited Brown’s fans in 1966 when he unexpectedly announced his retirement from the game after a short but victorious career.

Leaving football behind, the 30 year old wished to switch his focus to a movie career while critics waited for him to return to the game. Proving all doubts wrong, the former player moved on to appear in more than 30 films over the years, some of which include The Dirty Dozen, 100 Rifles and Any Given Sunday.

He was the youngest of seven children born to Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton on February 17, 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana and named after the former Governor of Louisiana, Huey Long.

Jazz Pianist Thelonious Monk dies.

James Nathaniel Brown, 63, Pro Football Hall of Fame Fullback, Born February 17, 1936 in St. Simons Island, GA

Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise Blacks.

The Navy frigate USS Jesse L. Brown was commissioned. The ship was named for Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African American naval aviator killed in combat over Korea.

On this day Mary Frances Berry, who will become the first woman to serve as a chancellor of a major research university, is born in Nashville, Tenn.

Birthday of Rep. Charles A. Hayes, D-Illinois, who was born in Cairo, Illinois. In 1989, Hayes was re-elected to a fourth term in the House of Representatives. He was first elected Sept. 12, 1983.

Ronald De Voe, Singer of Bell Biv DeVoe Born Boston, MA, February 17, 1967.

Black Panther Party Founder Huey P. Newton born. An illiterate high-school graduate, Newton taught himself how to read before attending Merritt College in Oakland and the San Francisco School of Law, where he met Seale. In Oakland in 1966 they formed the Black Panther group in response to incidents of police brutality and racism and as an illustration of the need for black self-reliance. At the hieght of its popularity during the late 1960s, the party had 2,000 members in chapters in several cities.

In 1967 Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the death of a police officer, but his conviction was overturned 22 months later, and he was released from prison. In 1971 he announced that the party would adopt a nonviolent manifesto and dedicate itself to providing social services to the black community. In 1974 he was accused of another murder and fled to Cuba for three years before returning to face charges; two trials resulted in hung juries.

Newton received a Ph.D in social philosophy from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1980); his dissertation, "War Against the Panthers" was subtitled "A Study of Repression in America." Succumbing to factionalism and pressure from government agencies, the party disbanded in 1982. In March 1989 Newton was sentenced to a six-month jail term for misappropriating public funds intended for a Panther-founded Oakland school. In August of that year he was found shot dead on a street in Oakland.

Muhammad remained national chairman of the New Black Panther Party until his death from a brain aneurysm on February 17, 2001.

Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, "Carry me back to old virginia" , a tune which glorifies slavery.

Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Anderson was entered in the New York Philharmonic Competition at age 17 by her music teacher, and placed first over 299 other singers. Awarded a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1930, Anderson went to Europe for a year of study. She returned briefly to the United States but went back to Europe in 1933 to debut in Berlin and again, in 1935, in Austria. In 1933, Anderson performed 142 concerts in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. On Easter Sunday in 1939, Anderson performed an open air recital at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The performance was scheduled for the concert hall controlled by the Daughters of the American Revolution but was cancelled when the DAR refeused to allow Anderson to sing there. In 1955, Anderson signed with New York"s Metropolitan Opera Company.