1.
Basketball
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Basketball is a non-contact team sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of five players each. The objective is to shoot a ball through a hoop 18 inches in diameter and 10 feet high that is mounted to a backboard at each end of the court. The game was invented in 1891 by Dr. James Naismith, a team can score a field goal by shooting the ball through the basket being defended by the opposition team during regular play. A field goal scores three points for the team if the player shoots from behind the three-point line. A team can also score via free throws, which are worth one point, the team with the most points at the end of the game wins, but additional time is mandated when the score is tied at the end of regulation. The ball can be advanced on the court by passing it to a teammate and it is a violation to lift, or drag, ones pivot foot without dribbling the ball, to carry it, or to hold the ball with both hands then resume dribbling. The game has many techniques for displaying skill—ball-handling, shooting, passing, dribbling, dunking, shot-blocking. The point guard directs the on court action of the team, implementing the coachs game plan, Basketball is one of the worlds most popular and widely viewed sports. Outside North America, the top clubs from national leagues qualify to continental championships such as the Euroleague, the FIBA Basketball World Cup attracts the top national teams from around the world. Each continent hosts regional competitions for teams, like EuroBasket. The FIBA Womens Basketball World Cup features the top womens basketball teams from continental championships. The main North American league is the WNBA, whereas the EuroLeague Women has been dominated by teams from the Russian Womens Basketball Premier League, in early December 1891, Canadian Dr. He sought a vigorous indoor game to keep his students occupied, after rejecting other ideas as either too rough or poorly suited to walled-in gymnasiums, he wrote the basic rules and nailed a peach basket onto a 10-foot elevated track. Basketball was originally played with a soccer ball and these laces could cause bounce passes and dribbling to be unpredictable. Eventually a lace-free ball construction method was invented, and this change to the game was endorsed by Naismith, dribbling was not part of the original game except for the bounce pass to teammates. Passing the ball was the means of ball movement. Dribbling was eventually introduced but limited by the shape of early balls. Dribbling only became a part of the game around the 1950s
2.
Maryland Terrapins men's basketball
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The Maryland Terrapins mens basketball team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I competition. Maryland, a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, left the ACC in 2014 to join the Big Ten Conference. Gary Williams, who coached the Terrapins from 1989 to 2011, led the program to its greatest success, under Williams, Maryland appeared in eleven straight NCAA Tournaments from 1994 to 2004. He retired in May 2011 and was replaced by former Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon, the game was instrumental in forcing the expansion of the NCAA Mens Division I Basketball Championship, thus allowing for at-large bids and the inclusion of more than one team per conference. That Maryland team, with six future NBA draft picks, is considered by many to be the greatest team not to have participated in the NCAA tournament, games were played sporadically during the 1904–1905, 1910–1911, 1913–1914, and the 1918–1919 seasons, going a combined 4–32. The Old Liners, as they were known, joined the Southern Conference in their inaugural season. The team met with success that year at 5–7 and also played its first games against future ACC rivals North Carolina. The Old Liners had their first sustained success over the four seasons, finishing at or above.500 in each of them. The Aggies also played their first games against what would become their two other biggest rivals in the future during time, North Carolina State and Duke. The schools biggest success during its formative years took place in the early 1930s, around the time it adopted its current nickname, the team also had its first individual star in Louis Bosey Berger who was named to All-America teams both seasons. It was during this stretch that the school erected a new home for its teams, Ritchie Coliseum. Shipley tallied just one winning season in his last seven years before stepping down to focus on coaching the baseball team and he was succeeded by Flucie Stewart. The 1950s began with a new head coach leading the way, a disciple of legendary coach Henry Iba, Millikans emphasis on defense and fundamentals would become hallmarks of the program over the next two decades. Maryland quickly reels off seven straight winning seasons under Millikan and that season was perhaps the finest the Terrapins had experienced to date, finishing with a 23–7 record and a conference mark good enough for second in the league. Maryland experienced its first games as a team, spending the final nine weeks of the season ranked in the AP Top 20. It also featured the schools first win over a team when it beat local rival George Washington. The team was led by its second All-American, Gene Shue, after that season, the team remained the only school outside of the North Carolina Big Four – Duke, UNC, North Carolina State, and Wake Forest – to consistently field competitive teams. The Terps had another season during the 1957–58 season
3.
USC Trojans men's basketball
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The program was formerly coached by Tim Floyd, until his resignation on June 9,2009. Other staff members include Phil Johnson, Bob Cantu, Gib Arnold, Rob Brooks, Kevin ONeill, who last coached in the NCAA at Arizona, was named the head coach by Mike Garrett on June 20,2009. ONeill was terminated in January 2013 after a 7–10 start, longtime assistant Bob Cantu was given interim duties. On April 1,2013, Andy Enfield, head coach of the Florida Gulf Coast University team known for its upsets during the 2013 NCAA Tournament, was named head coach, the USC Trojans are 1, 500–1,097 all-time in intercollegiate basketball games. Sam Barry and four of his USC players have been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as coaches, on December 7,1906 the Los Angeles Herald declared, Basketball Is Started At U. S. C. The first official game of USC basketball was an interclass drubbing by the freshman over the sophomores, USC would later host its debut intercollegiate basketball game, the first of its kind in Southern California, on January 16,1907 with an 18–15 win over Occidental College. After a standout season in 1910, when USC placed second in the league, several football headmen served as basketball coaches during that time, including Ralph Glaze, Dean Cromwell, Elmer Gloomy Gus Henderson, and Leo Calland. In addition, USCs basketball team was often littered with football standouts such as USC Athletic Hall of Famers Morley Drury, in 1922 USC joined the Pacific Coast Conference. The Trojans then won their first conference title in 1928 under Callands leadership, edging past the Washington Huskies in the second and final game of the conference championship series. With a see-sawing score for most of the game, Charley Bone buried two shots in the last minute to secure the 27–26 victory and begin a new era of achievement for USC basketball. Jones recommended Sam Barry, one of his assistants at the University of Iowa who had also coached Hawkeye basketball for seven years. Barry agreed to follow Jones west, once more joining his staff while also taking control of the basketball program. Barry brought with him a style of play uncommon outside the midwest. His strategic innovations would lay the groundwork for the Triangle offense and it is rumored that other conference coaches are eyeing the Trojans with no little anxiety, the Daily Trojan mused in the lead up to Barrys first season. The Trojans would finish the 1929–30 season with an record of 15–5. USC defeated the Washington Huskies in three games to win the PCC championship for the time in school history. Guard Johnny Lehners and center Jess Mortensen received All-America honors at the end of the season, producing three more All-Americans, USC dominated the PCC South Division for much of the 1930s, with five straight division titles from 1932 to 1936 and a title in 1939. In 1935 the Trojans also won the title with a victory over Oregon State in Corvallis
4.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
5.
United States men's national basketball team
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The USA Basketball Mens Senior National Team, commonly known as the United States Mens National Basketball Team, represents the United States in international mens basketball. The USA team is the most successful team in competition, winning medals in all eighteen Olympic tournaments it has entered. The United States is currently ranked first in the FIBA World Rankings, traditionally composed of amateur players, a 1989 rule change by FIBA allowed USA Basketball to field teams with professional players. The first such team, known as the Dream Team, won the medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. With the introduction of professionals, the team was able to spark a run of dominance after capturing only a bronze medal in 1988. A team of professional players competed at the 1994 FIBA World Championship, in 1996,2000,2008,2012, and 2016 the USA again captured gold medals at the Olympics. Facing increased competition, the USA failed to win a medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, determined to put an end to these failures, USA Basketball initiated a long-term project aimed at creating better, more cohesive teams. The USA won its first seven games at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan before losing against Greece in the semi-finals, the USA won gold two years later, though, at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a dominant performance. The USA continued this streak of dominance by going undefeated and capturing gold once more at the 2012 Summer Olympics,2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, the United States possessed a clear advantage in the early decades of international play. Through the next six tournaments, the United States went undefeated, collecting gold while not losing a single contest in the held in London, Helsinki, Melbourne, Rome, Tokyo. Roster until the formation of the 1992 Dream Team, the 1952 team included big man Clyde Lovellette of the University of Kansas, a future Hall of Famer and NBA star, but Kurland once again led the team to victory. The 1956 team was led by San Francisco Dons Bill Russell, the 1972 Olympic mens basketball gold medal game, marking the first ever loss for the USA in Olympic play, is arguably the most controversial in Olympic history. The United States rode their seven consecutive gold medals and 63–0 Olympic record to Munich for the 1972 Summer Olympics, the team won its first eight games in convincing fashion, setting up a final against the Soviet Union. With three seconds left in the medal game, American forward Doug Collins sank two free throws to put the Americans up 50–49. However, the buzzer sounded before Collins second free throw, immediately following Collins free throws, the Soviets inbounded the ball and failed to score. But one official had whistled play to stop with one remaining after hearing the earlier horn. The Soviets argued that they had requested a timeout before Collins foul shots, the referees ordered the clock reset to three seconds and the games final seconds replayed. However, the clock was in the process of being reset when the referees put the ball in play
6.
1988 Summer Olympics
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The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia, in the Seoul Games,159 nations were represented by a total of 8,391 athletes,6,197 men and 2,194 women. 263 events were held and 27,221 volunteers helped to prepare the Olympics,11,331 media showed the Games all over the world. These were the last Olympic Games for two of the worlds dominating sport powers, the Soviet Union and East Germany, as both ceased to exist before the next Olympic Games. North Korea, still officially at war with South Korea, and its allies, Albania, Ethiopia, Cuba, Madagascar, Nicaragua boycotted the games because of the U. S. military support to the Contra rebels. However, the much larger boycotts seen in the previous three Summer Olympics were avoided, resulting in the largest ever number of participating nations during the Cold War era, before the opening of the games, thousands of homeless were captured by the police and sent to work camps. Several died under torture. ′ Seoul was chosen to host the Summer Games through a vote held on 30 September 1981, below was the vote count that occurred at the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden, West Germany. After the Olympics were awarded, Seoul also received the opportunity to stage the 10th Asian Games in 1986, Soviet Vladimir Artemov won four gold medals in gymnastics. Daniela Silivaş of Romania won three and equalled compatriot Nadia Comănecis record of seven Perfect 10s in one Olympic Games, to these medals, she added a gold in the 4×100 relay and a silver in the 4×400. Just after the Games, she announced her retirement, Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100 m final with a new world record, but was disqualified after he tested positive for stanozolol. Johnson has since claimed that his positive test was the result of sabotage, the US finishes in fourth place after the completion of the optional rounds with a combined score of 390.575, three tenths of a point behind the German Democratic Republic. The USSR won their team gold medals in artistic gymnastics on both the mens and womens sides with scores of 593.350 and 395.475 respectively. The mens team was led by Vladimir Artemov, while Elena Shushunova lead the womens team, lawrence Lemieux, a Canadian sailor in the Finn class, was in second place and poised to win a silver medal when he abandoned the race to save an injured competitor. He arrived in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with the Pierre de Coubertin medal honoring his bravery and sacrifice. U. S. diver Greg Louganis won back-to-back titles on both diving events, but only hitting the springboard with his head in the 3 m event final. This became a minor controversy years later when Louganis revealed he knew he was HIV-positive at the time, since HIV cannot survive in open water, no other divers were ever in danger. Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany became the first athlete to win Olympic medals at the Winter Olympics and she added a cycling silver to the speed skating gold she won earlier in the Winter Olympics of that year in Calgary. Swimmer Kristin Otto of East Germany won six gold medals, other multi-medalists in the pool were Matt Biondi and Janet Evans
7.
Villanova University
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Villanova University is a private research university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in the United States. Named after Saint Thomas of Villanova, the school is the oldest Catholic university in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, U. S. News & World Report ranks Villanova as tied for the 50th best National University in the U. S. for 2017. The university is a member of the Augustinian Secondary Education Association, in October 1841, two Augustinian friars from Saint Augustines Church in Philadelphia purchased the 200-acre Belle Air estate in Radnor Township with the intention of starting a school. The school, which was called the Augustinian College of Vilanova, however, the Philadelphia Nativist Riots of 1844 that burned Saint Augustines Church in Philadelphia caused financial difficulties for the Augustinians, and the college was closed in February 1845. The college reopened in 1846 and graduated its first class in 1847, in March 1848, the governor of Pennsylvania incorporated the school and gave it the power to grant degrees. In 1859, the first masters degree was conferred on a student, in 1857, the school closed again as the demand for priests in Philadelphia prevented adequate staffing, and the crisis of the Panic of 1857 strained the school financially. The school remained closed throughout the Civil War and reopened in September 1865 and its prep department later moved to Malvern, a town along the Main Line, and is still run by the order. The School of Technology was established in 1905, in 1915, a two-year pre-medical program was established to help students meet medical schools new requirements. This led to a four-year pre-medical program, the B. S. in biology, Villanova was all-male until 1918, when the college began evening classes to educate nuns to teach in parochial schools. In 1938, a laywoman received a Villanova degree for the first time and it was not until the nursing school opened in 1953 that women permanently began attending Villanova full-time. In 1958, the College of Engineering admitted its first female student, Villanova University became fully coeducational in 1968. During World War II, Villanova was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission, after World War II, Villanova expanded, returning veterans swelling enrollments and the faculty growing fourfold. Additional facilities were built, and in 1953, the College of Nursing, Villanova achieved university status on November 18,1953. Between 1954 and 1963,10 new buildings were built or bought on land adjacent to the campus, including Bartley, Mendel, during the 1970s and 1980s, Villanova worked to become a nationally recognized university. The quality of faculty and students improved dramatically and international studies programs were introduced, additional residential and recreational facilities were constructed, and efforts to increase the endowment were undertaken. In the 1980s, endowed chairs were established in theology, philosophy, engineering, and business, scholarship funding was increased, and the curriculum expanded and improved. An extensive building campaign created facilities for the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Commerce, and Finance, as well as student residences on the south, in 1985, the school also won the Mens NCAA basketball tournament, giving the school increased national exposure. Augustine High School in San Diego, which was established in 1922 with teaching staff dispatched from Villanova, Villanova University sits on 254 acres just 12 miles from Center City Philadelphia
8.
Nike, Inc.
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The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. It is one of the worlds largest suppliers of athletic shoes and apparel, as of 2012, it employed more than 44,000 people worldwide. In 2014 the brand alone was valued at $19 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses. The company was founded on January 25,1964, as Blue Ribbon Sports, by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company takes its name from Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. Nike also owned Bauer Hockey between 1995 and 2008, and previously owned Cole Haan and Umbro, in addition to manufacturing sportswear and equipment, the company operates retail stores under the Niketown name. Nike sponsors many high-profile athletes and sports teams around the world, with the highly recognized trademarks of Just Do It, Nike, originally known as Blue Ribbon Sports, was founded by University of Oregon track athlete Phil Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman in January 1964. The company initially operated as a distributor for Japanese shoe maker Onitsuka Tiger, says Davis, I told Tom Brokaw that I was the first. I dont care all the billionaires say. Bill Bowerman made the first pair of shoes for me, in fact, I didnt like the way they felt on my feet. There was no support and they were too tight, but I saw Bowerman make them from the waffle iron, and they were mine. In 1964, in its first year in business, BRS sold 1,300 pairs of Japanese running shoes grossing $8,000, by 1965 the fledgling company had acquired a full-time employee, and sales had reached $20,000. In 1967, due to increasing sales, BRS expanded retail and distribution operations on the East Coast, in Wellesley. By 1971, the relationship between BRS and Onitsuka Tiger was nearing an end, BRS prepared to launch its own line of footwear, which would bear the Swoosh newly designed by Carolyn Davidson. The Swoosh was first used by Nike on June 18,1971, patent and Trademark Office on January 22,1974. In 1976, the company hired John Brown and Partners, based in Seattle, the following year, the agency created the first brand ad for Nike, called There is no finish line, in which no Nike product was shown. By 1980, Nike had attained a 50% market share in the U. S. athletic shoe market, together, Nike and Wieden+Kennedy have created many print and television advertisements, and Wieden+Kennedy remains Nikes primary ad agency. Walt Stack was featured in Nikes first Just Do It advertisement, wieden credits the inspiration for the slogan to Lets do it, the last words spoken by Gary Gilmore before he was executed. Throughout the 1980s, Nike expanded its line to encompass many sports
9.
Scranton, Pennsylvania
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Scranton is the sixth-largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie and Reading. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvanias Wyoming Valley, with a population of 77,118, it is the largest city in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of about 570,000. Scranton was incorporated on February 14,1856, as a borough in Luzerne County and it became a major industrial city, a center of mining and railroads, and attracted thousands of new immigrants. It was the site of the Scranton General Strike in 1877, people in northern Luzerne County began to seek a new county in 1839 but the Wilkes-Barre area resisted losing its assets. Lackawanna County did not gain independent status until 1878, under legislation allowing the issue to be voted by residents of the proposed territory, voters favored the new county by a proportion of 6 to 1, with Scranton residents providing the major support. The city was designated as the county seat when Lackawanna County was established in 1878, the city took its first step toward earning its reputation as the Electric City when electric lights were introduced in 1880 at Dickson Locomotive Works. Six years later, the nations first streetcars powered exclusively by electricity began operating in the city, rev. David Spencer, a local Baptist minister, later proclaimed Scranton as the Electric City. Present-day Scranton and its area had been long inhabited by the native Lenape tribe. In 1778, Isaac Tripp, the areas first known European-American settler, built his home here, it stands in North Scranton. More settlers from Connecticut came to the area in the late 18th and early 19th centuries after the American Revolutionary War and they gradually established mills and other small businesses in a village that became known as Slocum Hollow. People in the village during this time carried the traits and the accent of their New England settlers, though anthracite coal was being mined in Carbondale to the north and Wilkes-Barre to the south, the industries that precipitated the citys early rapid growth were iron and steel. It initially started producing nails, but that venture failed due to low-quality iron. The Erie Railroads construction in New York State was delayed by its having to iron rails as imports from England. The Scrantons firm decided to focus to producing T-rails for the Erie. In 1851, the Scrantons built the Lackawanna and Western Railroad northward, with recent Irish immigrants supplying most of the labor, to meet the Erie Railroad in Great Bend, thus they could transport manufactured rails from the Lackawanna Valley to New York and the Midwest. They also invested in mining operations in the city to fuel their steel operations. In 1856, they expanded the railroad eastward as the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and this railroad, with its hub in Scranton, would be Scrantons largest employer for almost one hundred years. The Pennsylvania Coal Company built a gravity railroad in the 1850s through the city for the purpose of transporting coal, the gravity railroad was replaced by a steam railroad built in 1886 by the Erie and Wyoming Valley Railroad
10.
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, with the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia, and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech, on October 14,1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, in the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition towards poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam. In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D. C. to be called the Poor Peoples Campaign, Kings death was followed by riots in many U. S. cities. Ray, who fled the country, was arrested two months later at London Heathrow Airport, King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, hundreds of streets in the U. S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, King was born on January 15,1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to the Reverend Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. It was during this time he chose to be called Martin Luther King in honor of the German reformer Martin Luther, King had Irish ancestry through his paternal great-grandfather, as well as African ancestry. King was a child, between an older sister, Willie Christine King, and a younger brother, Alfred Daniel Williams King. King sang with his choir at the 1939 Atlanta premiere of the movie Gone with the Wind. His mother was an accomplished organist and choir leader, and she took him to various churches to sing and he received attention for singing I Want to Be More and More Like Jesus. King later became a member of the choir in his church. King said that his father regularly whipped him until he was fifteen, King saw his fathers proud and fearless protests against segregation, such as King Sr. When King was a child, he befriended a boy whose father owned a business near his familys home. When the boys were six, they started school, King had to attend a school for African Americans, King lost his friend because the childs father no longer wanted the boys to play together. King suffered from depression throughout much of his life, in his adolescent years, he initially felt resentment against whites due to the racial humiliation that he, his family, and his neighbors often had to endure in the segregated South
