James Connolly was a leading figure in recent Irish history. James Connolly played a leading part in the Easter Uprising of 1916 and his execution outraged many in Ireland. James Connolly was born in June 1868. For a man so linked to Irish history, Connolly was born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In an unpublished autobiography, Patrick Pearse described himself as the 'strange thing that I am'. So intimately was he to become associated with the Easter Rising that it has become almost impossible for historians since to 'see the man'. He was born in Dublin, the son of a self-educated, free-thinking sculptor from England who specialised in ecclesiastical work.
Ali would continue his trek to boxing and, ultimately, social dominance in the coming years. His professional career began with a victory over Tunney Hunsaker on October 29, 1960, and would end some twenty-one years later with a loss to Trevor Berbick on December 11, 1981, only his fifth loss in more than two decades of professional boxing.
Photo courtesy of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture In 1960, Cassius Clay launched his professional boxing career after a successful Olympics. Pictured is his Everlast head protector from the 5th Street Gym in Miami, where he trained for his first fight with Sonny Liston in 1964.