May 13 in Alabama history
1914: Joe Louis, “The Brown Bomber,” is born near LaFayette. In 1926 the family moved to Detroit and Louis began boxing. Louis held the world heavyweight boxing title from 1937 to 1948 and made a division record 25 successful title defenses. His matches in 1936 and 1938 against Max Schmeling of Germany were seen by many as heroic fights between the democratic free world and the Nazi forces. Louis died in 1981.
- Most historical information provided by the ADAH.
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Comment by wayne
HBO sports had agood documentary on him a while back. It is little known but Max Schmeling paid Louis’ burial costs because Joe was penniless.
Comment by Dan
That’s disputed.
Comment by Danny
Fun info… I debated whether or not putting the daily entries on the front page when we started doing This Day in Alabama History at the Political Parlor, but ended up making it available a click away in the front page sidebar… (with links to the two most recent entries or the whole category). Walt has done a terrific job setting it up and has drawn on other sources, though ADAH is a main one.
I will be interested to see how it goes with your plugin. Good luck with that! I have no doubt that you can do it, though I have no idea what kind of obstacles are involved and whether it will feel like it’s worth it to see it through.