The first Ironman Race

In 1977, after a regular marathon in O’ahu, Hawaii, a few participants started talking about how to create an even tougher race. Apparently a marathon was not enough of a challenge for them. And since Hawaii was already home to bike and swimming races, the group agreed to combine all three and create one of the toughest challenges in sports. …

The first non-white NBA player

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is one of the most popular sports leagues in the World and has millions of fans. It was created in 1946 and did not include any non-white players until the Japanese-American Wataru “Wat” Misaka by the New York Knicks in 1947.

The first mixed martial artist star

In recent years, mixed martial arts have become a very popular sport in the US and all over the World. One man who could be called a true pioneer of the sport is the Englishman James Figg (1695-1734). At 6ft (182cm) and 185lbs (83kgs) he was a tall, lean mean fighting machine. During these times, there were fights with 3 …