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Cassius Clay is born
Cassius Clay is born in Louisville, Kentucky -
Period: to
Ali's Life
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Cassius Clay starts boxing
Clay's bike is stolen, and he is directed to a police officer, Joe Martin, who runs a training gym. Clay starts taking boxing lessons with Martin. -
Clay wins gold medal in Olympics
Cassius Clay wins a gold medal in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome against Poland's Zbigniew Pietrzykowski. -
Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston
Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston and becomes the heavyweight champion of the world for the first time -
Clay becomes Ali
Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and settles on the name, Muhammad Ali, meaning "one worthy of praise." -
Ali refuses to join U.S. Army
Muhammad Ali refuses to join the U.S. Army in the Vietnam War. Ali is banned from boxing for three years. -
Ali returns
Muhammad Ali returns to boxing to defeat Jerry Quarry -
Ali vs Frazier 1
Ali gains his first loss profesionally against Joe Frazier. The fight is billed as "The Fight of the Century" -
Ali vs Frazier 2
Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in their second battle. -
Ali defeats Foreman in "Rumble in the Jungle"
In Zaire, Africa, Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in a huge upset in what's known as "The Rumble in the Jungle" -
Ali vs Frazier 3
Muhammad Ali defeats Joe Frazier in their third and final battle which is dubbed "The Thrilla in Manila". Both men had to go to the hospital afterwards. -
Ali announces retirement
Ali announces his retirement from boxing -
Ali comes back from retirement
Ali returns to boxing to lose to Larry Holmes, and loses his last fight to Trevor Berbick -
Ali is diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
Muhammad Ali is diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, which infiltrates the brain and starts ravaging the central nervous sytem -
Ali lights Olympic torch
Ali is chosen to light the Olympic torch for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games
