“James Brown Calms Boston Riots,” and “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sets record career points,” - This Day in History – Apr 5th

The Godfather of Soul,” calms Boston crowd

Back in 1968, the morning after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Boston, MA officials prepared for a second night of violent situations within in the city.  Similar protests have occurred in other cities due to the slain Civil Right Leader.  However, at a venue at Boston Gardens on this night entertainer, James Brown, known as, “The Godfather of Soul,” was able to calm down people who were attempting to riot the city. 

According to history.com, “Brown's appearance that night at the Boston Garden had been scheduled for months, but it nearly didn't happen. Following a long night of riots and fires in the predominantly black Roxbury and South End sections of the city, Boston's young mayor, Kevin White, gave serious consideration to canceling an event that some feared would bring the same kind of violence into the city's center. The racial component of those fears was very much on the surface of a city in which school integration and mandatory busing had played a major role in the recent mayoral election. Mayor White faced a politically impossible choice: anger black Bostonians by canceling Brown's concert over transparently racial fears, or antagonize the law-and-order crowd by simply ignoring those fears. The idea that resolved the mayor's dilemma came from a young, African American city councilman name Tom Atkins, who proposed going on with the concert, but finding a way to mount a free, live broadcast of the show in the hopes of keeping most Bostonians at home in front of their TV sets rather than on the streets.” 

James Brown’s comments were successful in restoring order within the crowd, which helped police to pursue any arrest.  The concert became a peacekeeping setting, which honored Dr. Martin Luther King.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sets NBA points record

Back in 1984, one of the greatest NBA players of all time reached an all-time points record of 31,420 points in his career, this man was, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 

History.com stated that, “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr., on April 16, 1947, in New York City, and changed his name in 1971 after converting to Islam. As a star center at UCLA, he led his team to three NCAA championships, in 1967, 1968 and 1969. He was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the first overall pick in 1969 NBA draft and named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1970. The following season, the Bucks took home the NBA championship and Abdul-Jabbar won the first of a record six Most Valuable Player awards he received during his 20-year NBA career. In 1975, Abdul-Jabbar joined the Lakers and became part of a dynasty that won the NBA championship in 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987 and 1988. Abdul-Jabbar, who was named to a record 19 NBA All-Star teams, retired from pro basketball at age 42 in 1989 with 38,387 points. He remains the NBA's all-time leading scorer. By comparison, Karl Malone scored 36,374 in 19 seasons, Michael Jordan had 32,392 points in 15 seasons, while Wilt Chamberlain racked up 31,419 points in 14 seasons and Moses Malone had 27,409 points in 19 seasons.

In addition to his all-time scoring record, Abdul-Jabbar holds the league record for most minutes played (54,446) and most blocked shots (3,189). He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.”

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pocahontas-marries-john-rolfe