Marciano (Rocky) is born in Brockton.

Born Rocco Marchegiano and the son of a shoe factory worker and housewife, Rocky Marciano drops out of Brockton High School, and is drafted into the U.S. Army, where he takes up boxing. He begins his professional career in 1947 and goes on to become heavyweight champion of the world in 1952.* The only heavyweight champion to retire undefeated (in 1956), Marciano is killed in an airplane crash near Des Moines, Iowa, on August 31, 1969.