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| Jesse Owens in high school. Photo date unkown. |
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| Jesse Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon get married in 1932. |
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| Jesse Owens crosses the finish line while running for OSU. Photo date unkown. |
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| Jesse Owens competes in the long jump at the 1936 Olympics. Owens wins the gold medal in the event and sets a new world record of 26 feet, 5 ¼ inches. |
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| Jesse Owens visits with children in the Philippines in the 1950s. |
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| OSU awards Jesse Owens an honorary degree during its autumn 1972 commencement. |
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| Jesse and Ruth Owens are pictured with President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford after the 1976 ceremony to award Owens the Presidential Medal of Freedom. |
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| 1913 |
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| [September 12] Mary Emma Owens gives birth to James Cleveland (J.C.) Owens in Oakville, Alabama. |
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| 1920s |
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| 1922 |
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| The Owens family moves to Cleveland, Ohio. James Cleveland Owens enrolls in Bolton Elementary School where he becomes known as "Jesse" (from "J.C.") Owens. |
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| 1928 |
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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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| 1930s |
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| 1930 |
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| Owens enrolls into Cleveland’s East Technical School. Riley follows as a volunteer assistant coach. |
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| Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon meet. |
| 1932 |
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| Owens competes in the Midwestern preliminary trials at Northwestern University. Owens loses all three events in which he competes. |
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| Jesse Owens and Minnie Ruth Solomon get married. |
| [August] Minnie Ruth gives birth to their first child, Gloria. |
| [Autumn] Owens is elected president of his senior class and captain of the track team. |
| 1933 |
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| [Spring] Owens finishes first in 75 of the 79 competitions he enters. He breaks the long-jump record at the state interscholastic finals. |
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| 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. |
| [October 9] Owens enrolls in The Ohio State University. |
| 1935 |
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| Owens is appointed as an honorary page for a legislative committee at the Ohio Statehouse. |
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| [May 25] Owens 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. |
| 1936 |
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| [June 15] Owens finishes his last quarter at OSU before the Olympics. |
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| [July] Owens participates in the Olympic tryout finals in New York, winning all three of his events (100m, 200m, and long jump). |
| [August] Owens wins four gold medals in the Olympic Games. He sets new world records in the 200 meter race (20.7 seconds), long jump (26 feet, 5 ¼ inches), and 400 meter relay (39.8 seconds), while tying the world record for 100 meter dash (10.3 seconds). |
| [Winter] Owens becomes ineligible to compete for Ohio State due to poor academic standings. |
| Owens races a thoroughbred horse in Cuba for $2,000. Owens wins the race. |
| 1937 |
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| [January] Jesse signs a contract with Consolidated Radio Artists as an entertainer. |
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| Ruth and Jesse’s second child, Marlene, is born. |
| 1938 |
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| Owens works for Cleveland's Parks and Recreation Department. |
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| Owens founds Jesse Owens Dry Cleaning Company. |
| 1939 |
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| Owens files for personal bankruptcy. |
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| 1940s |
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| 1940 |
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| Ruth and Jesse’s third child, Beverly, is born. |
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[October 1] Owens returns to OSU but he is soon placed on academic probation. |
| 1941 |
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| [December 19] Owens withdraws from OSU. |
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| 1942 |
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| [January] Owens is appointed the Director of National Fitness by the U.S. Office of Civilian Defense. |
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| 1943 |
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| Ford Motor Co. hires Owens as Assistant Personnel Director of African-American workers. He is then promoted to director, then later works in public relations. |
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| 1949 |
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| Owens and his family move to Chicago, where he establishes a public relations agency. |
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| 1950s |
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| 1950 |
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| The Associated Press names Owens the greatest track athlete of the past half-century. |
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| 1953 |
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| [December] Gloria, Owens’ eldest daughter, graduates from OSU. |
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| Owens is appointed secretary of Illinois' State Athletic Commission. |
| 1955 |
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| Owens travels to India, Philippines, and Malaysia to lead running clinics, but also to promote the economic and political freedoms of the United States. |
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| 1956 |
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| Owens and several other former U.S. Olympic champions attend the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, as personal representatives of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower. |
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| 1960s |
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| 1960 |
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| Marlene, Jesse’s second-eldest daughter, is voted Homecoming Queen at OSU, becoming the first African American to receive the honor. |
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| 1961 |
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| Marlene graduates from OSU. |
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| 1965 |
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| The first ARCO Jesse Owens Games is established. |
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| [February] Owens becomes the training and running coach during spring training for the New York Mets baseball team. |
| 1970s |
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| 1970 |
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| Owens’ memoir, Blackthink: My Life as Black Man and White Man, is published. |
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| 1971 |
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| President Richard Nixon sends Owens to the Ivory Coast in West Africa to lead running clinics and promote economic and political freedoms of the United States. |
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| 1972 |
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| OSU awards Owens with an honorary doctorate of athletic arts "for his unparalleled skill and ability" as an athlete and for "his personification of sportsmanship ideals." |
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| 1973 |
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| U.S. Olympic Committee appoints Owens to its board of directors. He spends most of his time in this position pushing for funding to equip and train U.S. athletes. |
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| 1974 |
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| Owens is inducted into the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame. |
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| 1976 |
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| President Gerald Ford presents Owens with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor given by the U.S. government. |
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| 1979 |
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| Owens, a lifetime smoker, is diagnosed with lung cancer. |
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| 1980s |
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| 1980 |
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| [March 31] Owens dies at the age of 66. |
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| 1984 |
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| [May 4] The Jesse Owens Memorial Plaza is dedicated outside of Ohio Stadium. |
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| [July 8] "The Jesse Owens Story" debuts on television with actor Dorian Harewood playing Owens. |
| 1990s |
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| 1996 |
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| [June 29] Jesse Owens Memorial Park is dedicated in Oakville, Alabama. |
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| 2000s |
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| 2001 |
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| Ruth Owens dies at the age of 86. |
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| 2009 |
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| [November 6] At a hearing held at OSU, state lawmakers hear testimony on why Owens should be chosen for a statue to be placed in the Nation Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol. |
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