Short answers, pulled from the story.
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on the 17th of January 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He is widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time and was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated in 1999. He is equally famous for his refusal to be drafted into the military during the Vietnam War, his civil rights activism, and his pioneering role in spoken word performance.
Ali changed his name after converting to the Nation of Islam following his first fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. He denounced Cassius Clay as a slave name and a white man's name, saying he had not chosen it and did not want it. On the 6th of March 1964, Elijah Muhammad announced the new name in a radio address: Muhammad, meaning one worthy of praise, and Ali, meaning most high.
Ali refused induction on the 28th of April 1967 in Houston, citing his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the war. He stated that war was against the teachings of the Quran and questioned why he should fight abroad while African Americans were denied basic rights at home. He was convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his titles, and banned from boxing for over three years before the Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 1971 by an 8-0 vote.
Ali compiled an amateur record of 100 wins and 8 losses and won a light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. As a professional, his most celebrated bouts included his 1964 upset victory over Sonny Liston, the Fight of the Century against Joe Frazier in 1971, the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974 (watched by an estimated 1 billion television viewers), and the Thrilla in Manila against Frazier in 1975. He was the first heavyweight champion to win the belt three times.
Ali joined the Nation of Islam in the early 1960s and converted to Sunni Islam in the mid-1970s, a transition he attributed in a 2004 autobiography to Warith Deen Muhammad, who led the Nation after his father Elijah Muhammad died in 1975. Ali had made the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in 1972 and again in 1988. He later developed an interest in Sufism, which he explored in his 2003 autobiography, tracing it to the writings of Inayat Khan.
Ali made public his diagnosis of Parkinson's syndrome in 1984. He and his specialist physicians disputed reports attributing the condition to boxing-related injuries, though the Holmes fight in 1980 is widely cited as a contributing factor. Ali continued making public appearances for years but reduced them as his condition worsened. He died on the 3rd of June 2016.