What woman boxer had an undefeated record of 24 of 24 matches won, including 21 knockouts?
1. Gloria Patterson
2. Sonya Liston
3. Laila Ali
4. Rasheda Ali
Laila Ali
Laila Ali, daughter of Muhammad Ali, remained undefeated throughout her career and was inducted into the International Women's Boxing Hall of Fame in 2015.
One of the first boxers and the first African-American boxer to be installed into Boxing’s Hall of Fame was who?
1. Jackie Robinson
2. Jim Flynn
3. Jack Johnson
4. John Jackson
Jack Johnson
Often called the “Galveston Giant”, Jack Johnson was the first Black Heavyweight Champion and the first Black Boxing Hall of Fame recipient.
Who was the Black figure skater who was a 1986 World champion and two-time US champion?
1. Dominque Dawes
2. Debi Thomas
3. Lia Neal
4. Vonetta Flowers
Debi Thomas
Debi Thomas was a renowned figure skater becoming the 1986 World champion, the 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, and a two-time U.S. national champion; she later became an orthopedic surgeon.
Who was the Black jockey who won three Kentucky Derby Titles?
1. Isaac Murphy
2. James Wilson
3. Raleigh Colston
4. Garrison Lewis
Isaac Murphy
Isaac Burns Murphy was one of the best jockeys of all time having earned three Kentucky Derby titles, a record that stood for forty years.
What was the name of the boxer, born into slavery in New York but fought most of his fights in England?
1. George Dixon
2. Bill Richmond
3. George Godfrey
4. Tom Molyneys
Bill Richmond
Bill Richmond, often called “The Terror”, was a self-taught boxer who excelled in the sport both in New York and in England.
What was the name of the Black Jockey that won the first Kentucky Derby?
1. Johnny Mendez
2. Pompey
3. Cato
4. Oliver Lewis
Oliver Lewis
The first Kentucky Derby was held in 1875 and 13 of the 15 participating jockeys were Black. Oliver Lewis was the winner and rode a three year-old horse named Aristides.
What was the first “white” team that Jackie Robinson played for?
1. Chicago White Sox
2. Brooklyn Dodgers
3. Montreal Royals
4. St. Louis Cardinals
Montreal Royals
Before moving to the big leagues, Jackie Robison played for one season in the Minor Leagues and led the International League in hitting and guiding the Montreal Royals to a championship in 1946.
Who was the first Black starting quarterback in the NFL?
1. Doug Williams
2. Randall Cunningham
3. Cam Newton
4. Marlin Briscoe
Marlin Briscoe
Although he played for only the last 10 minutes of his first game, Denver Bronco rookie quarterback Marlin Briscoe, made history in 1968 by becoming the first African-American to play quarterback in the NFL and again by directing plays that led to the first touchdown by a Black quarterback. The following week, he was the starting quarterback
Who was the first black player in the National Hockey League?
1. Waymon Simmonds
2. Mike Grier
3. Mike Marson
4. Willie O’Ree
Willie O’Ree
Willie Eldon O'Ree, a Black Canadian former professional ice hockey player, in 1957, became the first Black player in the National Hockey League; he played a winger for the Boston Bruins.
Who was the first Black athlete to break the color line in international tennis, winning the French Open, followed by the Wimbledon and the U.S. Open?
1. Althea Gibson
2. Arthur Ashe
3. Venus Williams
4. James Blake
Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson, who was both a professional tennis player and golfer, was the first Black athlete to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African-American to win a Grand Slam title.
Who was the first Black player to be named captain of a team in the Big Ten?
1. Willis Ward at University of Michigan
2. Homer Harris at University of Iowa
3. Bernie Jefferson at Northwestern
4. Archie Harris at University of Indiana
Homer Harris at University of Iowa
Homer Harris, playing for the University of Iowa football team in 1937, became the team's Most Valuable Player and the first black player to captain a Big Ten team. He was named an All-Big Ten End three years in a row.
Who was the baseball manager responsible for stopping Blacks from playing in the big leagues in the 1880s?
1. Frank Grant
2. Charlie Morton
3. Cap Anson
4. Hop Fields
Cap Anson
In 1887, Adrian Constantine "Cap" Anson, manager for the Chicago White Stockings, refused to play against a Newark Black pitcher and began a crusade against all Black players, which resulted in team owners finally voting to ban Black players from all major leagues.
Which of the following was NEVER a player in the Negro League?
1. Satchel Paige
2. Dizzy Dean
3. Jackie Robinson
4. Josh Gibson
Dizzy Dean
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean also known as Jerome Herman Dean, was a white professional baseball player who played in Major League Baseball as a pitcher for several teams.
Which Black Olympic athlete was the only one to match Jesse Owens’ record of four gold medals in a single Olympics?
1. Florence Griffith Joyner
2. Michael Johnson
3. Jackie Joyner Kersee
4. Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis
Over his career, Carl Lewis was voted "World Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations; "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee; "Olympian of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Athlete of the Year" by Track & Field News, but it was in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, that he matched Jesse Owens’ record and earned four gold medals.
Which of the following players was NOT among the first three Black football players at the University of California at Los Angeles?
1. Bernie Jefferson
2. Willie Strode
3. Jackie Robinson
4. Kenny Washington
Bernie Jefferson
Yes, Jackie Robinson was a football and track star before he was a professional big league baseball player and played football with Willie Strode and Kenny Washington beginning in 1939. Bernie Jefferson played for Northwestern University in the 1930s.
Many believe that Jackie Robinson was the first big league baseball player, but the actual pioneer was a player named _______.
1. Alexander Cartwright
2. Bud Fowler
3. Moses Fleetwood Walker
4. Abner Doubleday
Moses Fleetwood Walker
In 1884, Moses Fleetwood Walker broke through barriers of racism to become the first Black man to play in the Major League fifty years before Jackie Robinson signed with the Dodgers.
Who, in 2014, was named America’s Greatest Athlete by The New Yorker?
1. Kobe Bryant
2. Serena Williams
3. James LeBron
4. Lisa Leslie
Serena Williams
After earning her eighteenth Grand Slam singles title, tying her with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Serena Williams was named America’s Greatest Athlete by The New Yorker and referred to as the “Queen of the Court” by much of the media.
Who was the first woman to dunk in a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game?
1. Candace Parker
2. Lisa Leslie
3. Sheryl Swoopes
4. Tina Charles
Lisa Leslie
In 2002, Lisa Leslie, 6'5" center playing for the Los Angeles Sparks, was the first player to dunk in a WNBA game.
Black colleges played football as early as 1890. Which were two of the first?
1. Biddle and Livingston
2. Lincoln and Shaw
3. Howard and Lincoln
4. Tuskegee and Atlanta
Biddle and Livingston
In 1892 HBCUs entered the collegiate football arena with the historic game between Livingston College and Biddle College, which later became Johnson C. Smith. The game ended with a 5-0 victory for Biddle.
Who was the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal?
1. Jackie Joyner Kersee
2. Wilma Rudolph
3. Louise Stokes
4. Alice Coachman
Alice Coachman
Alice Marie Coachman specialized in high jump and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal, in the 1948 Olympics in London.
Whom did Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, beat in the 1964 heavyweight fight?
1. Joe Erskine
2. Floyd Patterson
3. Karl Mildenberger
4. Sonny Liston
Sonny Liston
Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali) stripped Sonny Liston of the World Heavyweight Champion Title in Miami Beach on February 25, 1964.
Who was the very first player to be signed with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA)?
1. Sheryl Swoopes
2. Sheryl Snipes
3. Lisa Leslie
4. Gloria Banks
Sheryl Swoopes
On October 23, 1996 Houston Comets forward Sheryl Swoopes became the first player to sign with the WNBA.
Joe Lewis became the champ in the unforgettable fight of 1938 with what fighter?
1. Max Weber
2. Max Schneider
3. Max Schmidt
4. Max Schmeling
Max Schmeling
Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling fought in two separate fights; Schmeling won the first match by a knockout in round twelve, but in 1938 Louis won through a knockout in the first round.
Who was the first woman to play for the Harlem Globetrotters?
1. Sheryl Swoopes
2. Lynette Woodard
3. Lisa Leslie
4. Ora Mae Washington
Lynette Woodard
Of the nine women who have played with the Harlem Globetrotters, Lynette Woodward was the first. After a stellar college career at the University of Kansas, she joined the Globetrotters in 1985, after which she started a career in the WNBA.
