Sports History On This Day: July 21

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July 21, 1957 – A milestone moment in sports history. A young lady by the name of Althea Gibson became the African-American to win a major US tennis tournament. Miss Gibson opened the door and inspired many black athletes to compete at sports that had in the past not been available for them to participate in.

In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title when she took home the French Championships. The following year she won both Wimbledon and this US Nationals (precursor of the US Open). It wasn’t a fluke either as she repeated and won them both again in 1958 and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press.

To find more great daily sports history make sure to check out the Sports Jersey Dispatch and Pigskin Dispatch.

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Althea Gibson, Wimbledon women's champion, on the cover of El Gráfico for August 29, 1958
The photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Public Domain Photo of Althea Gibson, Wimbledon women's champion, on the cover of El Gráfico for August 29, 1958. Edition 2033. Special thanks to the resources of Wikipedia.com, Newspapers.com and OnThisDay.com for the information obtained.

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