One Of The Greats Was Born Today: Jim Thorpe 1887-1953

James (Jim) Francis Thorpe was born on May 28, 1887 in a one room cabin near Prague, Oklahoma.

Thorpe began his athletic career in 1904 at Carlisle Industrial Indian School in Pennsylvania where he played football and ran track. He was coached by another great Glen "Pop" Warner.

By the time Thorpe was in his early twenties he was sailing across the world with the American Olympic Team to compete in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. He stepped out on the field for the pentathalon and the decathalon and blew away his competition. He set many records that year but the one that stands out the most was his record time in the 1,500 meter run. It was the last of nine events and Thorpe ran it in 4 minutes and 40.1 seconds in mismatched shoes (the day before Thorpes shoes had gone missing so they used what they could find which just happened to not match). The 4 minute and 40.1 second record was not broken for another 60 years.

Thorpes reputation took a big blow when the Olympic Committee stripped him of his gold medals and removed his name from the record books. They found out that he had played two years of semi pro baseball which was against their rules.

Thorpe moved on after that and signed on to play baseball for the NY Giants. After four season with the Giants he relocated to the Cincinatti Reds were he played 77 games. relocated a couple more times before ending his baseball career with the Boston Braves.

During his time in Ohio he was also involved with football. He played with the Canton Bulldogs and the Cleavland Indians.

Thorpe also appeared in movies, helped in forming the American Professional Football Association which later became the NFL, he was involved in matters with Indian affairs, served as a merchant marine, and was a public speaker.

Thorpe had a life full of accomplishments. He passed away on March 28, 1953. After his death Thorpes gold medals from so many years ago were returned, and his name was placed back in the record books where it deserved to be.

Happy Birthday!!