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James Cleveland Owens is born in Oakville, Alabama on September 12, 1913. He is born to Henry and Emma Owens. He is the youngest out of 10 children. He is born to a family of sharecroppers. His nickname was J.C.
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Jesse Owens catches pneumonia at age six. However, his family still expected him to work. He worked in cotton fields.
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Jesse Owens and his family moved to Cleveland, Ohio when he was nine. He started school in Cleveland.
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Jesse started school after moving to Cleveland. On his first day, when the teacher asked him is name, he said J.C. but his teacher misheard it as Jesse.
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In high school and Ohio State University, Jesse Owens set a record. He completed the 100 yard dash in 9.4 seconds. His coach was very impressed when he did that. He also set a long jump record at 24 feet.
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In 1935, Jesse Owens competed in the 1935 Big Ten Conference Championships. He continued to set records during those events. He set records in running.
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Jesse Owens competed in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. Those games took place when Adolf Hitler govemed Germany. Jesse Owens won four gold medals and set Olympic running records that would not be broken until 1960. This caused Hitler to become angry and storm out of the stadium.
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Jesse Owens returned to America from Germany after the games were over. He was greeted with a parade in New York City when he got back.
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After the Olympics, his family was struggling. So Jesse Owens had to do other sporting events to support his family. He ran, of course, but he also raced cars and horses to support his family.
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In 1945, Jesse Owens exploited offers that were graphed to him in Berlin. He received $10,000 because of that.
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In 1948, Jesse Owens failed to pay his income tax. As a result, he was sued and taken to court.
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Beginning in the 1950s, Jesse Owens retires from sports. He goes on doing other things with his life.
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After sports, Jesse started working for major corporations and commercial businesses. He also was a speaker, speaking for whoever he worked at.
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In 1976, Jesse Owens received the Medal of Freedom for his achievements in running. He received it from President Gerald Ford.
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Jesse Owens died on March 31, 1980 at age 66. He died from complications due to lung cancer. He smoked a pack of cigarettes a day during his later life.
