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Born James Cleveland Owens on September 12, 1913, in Oakville, Alabama
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The family moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1921,he enrolls in Bolton Elementary School where he becomes known as “Jesse” Owens.
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Owens sets his first records in the high jump and long jump at Fairmount Junior High School under coach and life-long mentor, Charles Riley.
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He felt he could not leave his struggling family and his when a paycheck was needed to be earned so he enrolled into Cleveland’s East Technical School.
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Owens competes in the Midwestern preliminary trials at Northwestern University he lost all three events in which he competes. Minnie Ruth gives birth to their first child, Gloria. Owens is elected president of his senior class and captain of the track team.
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Owens finishes first in 75 of the 79 competitions he enters. He breaks the long-jump record at the state interscholastic finals. At the National Championship in Chicago, Owens wins the long jump, sets a new world record in the 220-yard dash and ties the world record in the 100-yard dash. Jesse Owens crosses the finish line while running for OSU.
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He sets world records in the 220-yard dash, 220-yard low hurdles and the long jump in less than one hour at the Big Ten Finals in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Minnie Ruth and Jesse gets married.
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Owens participates in the Olympic tryout finals in New York, winning all three of his events.He also wins four gold medals in the Olympic Games. He sets new world records in the 200 meter race, long jump, and 400 meter relay, while tying the world record for 100 meter dash.
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Jesse becomes ineligible to compete for Ohio State due to poor academic standings.So he raced a thoroughbred horse in Cuba for money.
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Ruth and Jesse’s third child, Beverly, is born and Jesse returns to OSU but he is soon placed on academic probation.
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Him and his family move to Chicago, where he establishes a public relations agency.
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The Associated Press names Owens the greatest track athlete of the past half-century.
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The first ARCO Jesse Owens Games is established.
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OSU awards Owens with an honorary doctorate of athletic arts.
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Owens is inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame.
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Owens dies at the age of 66.
