By Tatiana Ponil
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Nikola Jokić (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Јокић, pronounced [nǐkola jôkitɕ] ⓘ; born February 19, 1995) is a Serbian professional basketball player who is a center for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed “the Joker“, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players and centers of all time, and is often considered the greatest draft steal in NBA history. A seven-time NBA All-Star, Jokić has been named to the All-NBA Team on six occasions (including four first-team selections), and won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2020–21, 2021–22, and 2023–24 seasons. He represents the Serbian national team, with which he won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Jokić was selected by the Nuggets in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. He was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2016. In the 2018–19 NBA season, while leading the Nuggets to the Western Conference Semifinals, Jokić received his first All-Star and All-NBA First Team selections. The following season, he once again received All-Star and All-NBA honors, while leading his team to the Western Conference Finals. In the 2022–23 NBA season, Jokić was awarded NBA Finals MVP after leading the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA championship. He ranks among the top three on the all-time list of the NBA players with the most triple-doubles (regular season and playoffs), where Jokić is the leading international player and center, and he holds the record for the fastest triple-double (achieved in 14 minutes and 33 seconds).
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Nicolaus Copernicus (astronomer) –
- Luigi Boccherini (composer) –
- Adelina Patti (opera singer; namesake of the song You’re the Flower of My Heart Sweet Adeline) –
- Eddie Arcaro (jockey) –
- John Frankenheimer (director of film) –
- Smokey Robinson (singer) –
- Jeff Daniels (actor) –
- Seal (singer) –
- Justine Bateman (actress) –
- Haylie Duff (actress) –
- Nikola Jokic (basketball player) –
Died
- Grandpa Jones (country musician) –
- Jose Lopez Portillo (as president of Mexico from 1976-1982, brought the nation to the brink of economic collapse) –
- Richard Belzer (actor) –
Events
- USS Constitution captured British brig HMS Catherine –
- First practical U.S. coal-burning locomotive (York) tested, York, Pennsylvania –
- The first rescuers reached the Donner Party in the Sierra Nevada mountains, California –
- Knights of Pythias founded –
- First official U.S. government weather predictions published –
- Patent for the first gramophone awarded to Thomas Edison –
- Kansas approved an act to prohibit alcohol –
- Prizes are included in Cracker Jack boxes for the first time –
- U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima (WW II) –
- U.S. Senator Carl Hayden was honored for completing 50 years of Congressional service –
- The world’s largest snowman was completed in Bethel, Maine. He stood 113 feet, 7.5 inches tall and weighed about nine million pounds. In 2008, Bethel, Maine, also created the largest snowwoman (122 feet, 1 inch tall). –
Weather
- The first official U.S. government weather predictions (called probabilities) were published –
- Mt. Shasta, California, saw the end of a five-day storm with a total accumulation of 189 inches of snow –
- 25 inches of snow fell in 24 hours in Dover, Delaware –
- Fort Valley, Arizona, received 17 inches of snow –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
