A Muhammad Ali timeline will give you many of the highlights of this man's life. You might only know one or two tidbits about him; however, you will soon know a lot more.
Muhammad Ali, an award-winning professional boxer, was the only professional boxer to win the heavyweight championship three times. He is a living legacy. Even those who were born after he stopped fighting have heard his name mentioned or watched a recording of one of his fights at one point or another.
1942 - January 17, Muhammad Ali was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His name at birth was Cassius Clay.
1960 - He won the light heavyweight gold medal at the Rome Olympics, his first major success in athletics.
1964 - February 25, he knocked out Sonny Liston. This defeat allowed him to become the heavyweight champion.
1964 - He joined the Nation of Islam, and changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali. Therefore, his new image was established at 22 years of age.
1964 - August 14, he married his first wife Sonji Roi.
1966 - His marriage to Sonji Roi ended in divorce.
1967 - He was drafted into the Army, but refused to serve saying that he could not fight because of his religious beliefs. The government convicted him of draft evasion and his boxing titles were taken from him.
1967 - He married his second wife, Belinda Boyd. They would go on to have four children together.
1971 - In a famous match, called "The Fight of the Century," Joe Frazier knocked Ali down, but Ali got up. However, it was still ruled that Frazier won.
1971 - The Supreme Court ruled that he was not guilty of evading the military, since he should not have been drafted in the first place.
1974 - January 28, he won over Joe Frazier.
1974 - October 30, he defeated George Foreman. This fight was a very famous one known as the "Rumble in the Jungle" since the fight was at a stadium in Zaire.
1977 - Due to an affair with Veronica Porsche, his marriage to Boyd ended, once again in divorce. He went on to marry Porsche and had two daughters together.
1978 - February 15, Ali lost the heavyweight title to Leon Spinks.
1979 - Ali announced that he was officially going into retirement at the age of 37. Remember, boxing certainly takes a toll on the body. However, this was not the last that the world would see of Ali.
1980 - He came back and fought with Harry Holmes. Ali lost.
1981 - Once again, Ali came back and fought with Trevor Berbick this time. Ali lost this time as well.
1984 - He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
1986 - Ali and Porsche got a divorce, and Ali married a woman named Yolanda Ali. They adopted a son together.
1996 - Ali was invited to light the Olympic flame in Atlanta, Georgia. He accepted.
1997 - He received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
Muhammad Ali is not really in the public eye anymore, although there is a website with information regarding what he has done in the past decade or so.
North Virginia Community College has put out extensive information about Muhammad Ali which was a source for the information in this timeline.