Remembering: The Four Minute Mile

May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister does what had thought to be impossible. On that day he ran the mile in under four minutes, with a time of 3:59.4.

Born March 23, 1929 in Middlesex, England, his family was poor, and he had wanted to study medicine, so he ran trying for scholarships. Oxford gave him one, and there he went.

He caused a stir, when he declined an offer to run the 1500 meter in the 1948 London Olympics. To him studying was more important. Running in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, he placed fourth. After taking ridicule from the English press over not being first, he decided to go after the four minute record.

At the annual Amateur Athletic Association in Oxford, Bannister showed the world what he was capable of. In August at the British Empire Games in Vancouver, British Columbia he would do it again with 3:58.8.

After finishing at Oxford he became a neurologist and a neuroscience researcher. Later he served as director of the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases in London. In 1975, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.