Tommie Smith
Tommie C. Smith is an American former track and field athlete and former wide receiver in the American Football League. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Smith, aged 24, won the 200-meter sprint finals and gold medal in 19.83 seconds – the first time the 20-second barrier was broken officially. His Black Power salute with John Carlos atop the medal podium to protest racism and injustice against African Americans in the United States caused controversy, as it was seen as politicizing the Olympic Games. It remains a symbolic moment in the history of the Black Power movement.
6 June 1944
Born on the same birth date (6 June 1944): Monty Alexander • Phillip Allen Sharp
Born on the same birth day (6 June): Alexander Pushkin • D. Ramanaidu • DeAndre Hopkins • Dwight Twilley • Gavin Hoyte • Heinrich Rohrer • Henry Newbolt • Italo Balbo • Jimmie Lunceford • Kirk Kerkorian • Klaus Tennstedt • Louis Andriessen
Born in the same month (June 1944): Chico Buarque • Glenn Shorrock • Janric Craig, 3rd Viscount Craigavon • Laurie Colwin • Michelle Phillips • Monty Alexander • Patrick Sercu • Ray Davies • Raymond Moody • Rick Price (bassist) • Robert D. Keppel • Roger Ball (musician) • Terry Funk • Tony Scott