October 19, 2021

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

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1991
Month Day
November 07

Magic Johnson announces he is HIV-positive

On November 7, 1991, basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson stuns the world by announcing his sudden retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers, after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. At the time, many Americans viewed AIDS as a gay white man’s disease. Johnson (1959- ), who is African American and heterosexual, was one of the first sports stars to go public about his HIV-positive status.

Revered as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Johnson spent his entire 13-season NBA career with the Lakers, helping them to win five championships in the 1980s. The 6’9″ point guard, a native of Lansing, Michigan, was famous for his extraordinary passing skills, contagious smile and love of the game. In 1981, he signed a 25-year deal with the Lakers for $25 million, one of the NBA’s first over-the-top contracts.

Johnson, a three-time NBA “Most Valuable Player” and 12-time All-Star team member, didn’t completely hang up his basketball shoes after announcing his retirement in 1991. He was voted most valuable player of the 1992 NBA All-Star Game and played on the Olympic “Dream Team” (alongside Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing) that won gold for the U.S. in Barcelona that summer. He briefly returned to the Lakers for the 1993-94 season as head coach and made a short-lived comeback as a Lakers player in the 1995-96 season.

Today, Johnson is a prominent spokesman for AIDS awareness and a successful businessman, earning millions from a range of ventures, including movie theaters and restaurants. He serves as an example of how a variety of drug treatments have transformed AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition for many people in the U.S. and around the world. 

READ MORE: How AIDS Remained an Unspoken—But Deadly—Epidemic for Years

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ALSO ON THIS DAY

US Politics
2000

Hillary Clinton is elected to the U.S. Senate

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U.S. Presidents
2000

Election results between Al Gore and George Bush too close to call

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Black History
1989

Two African American firsts in politics

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19th Century
1885

Canada’s transcontinental railway completed

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Vietnam War
1972

Nixon re-elected president

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FDR
U.S. Presidents
1944

FDR wins unprecedented fourth term

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US Politics
1916

Jeannette Rankin becomes first U.S. congresswoman

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Art, Literature, and Film History
1943

Singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is born

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Art, Literature, and Film History
1980

“King of Cool” Steve McQueen dies

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Natural Disasters & Environment
1940

Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses

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Crime
1983

A family is brutally murdered

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Civil War
1861

Battle of Belmont, Missouri

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World War II
1944

Soviet master spy is hanged by the Japanese

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World War I
1914

First issue of "The New Republic" published

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