by Anthony McCartney

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Just a few months ago, Rodney King was once again the center of attention as the world checked back in on the man whose videotaped beating by police sparked one of the nation’s worst race riots.

King had left Los Angeles behind, moving an hour east to a home where neighbors would often hear him splashing in the pool late at night.

HISTORIC VIDEO IMAGE—This March 3, 1991 image made from video provided by KTLA Los Angeles shows police officers beating a man, later identified as Rodney King. (AP Photo/Courtesy of KTLA Los Angeles, George Holliday)

The physical and emotional scars from the more than 50 baton blows remained, but King struck an upbeat note on his life.

“America’s been good to me after I paid the price and stayed alive through it all,” he told The Associated Press. “This part of my life is the easy part now.”

1967—Boxing champion Muhammad Ali is convicted in a Houston, Texas, federal court of violating the Selective Service Act by refusing to be inducted into the armed services. He was fined $10,000 and given five years in prison. The United States Supreme Court would later overturn the conviction. Ali’s refusal to be inducted was based, in part, on his opposition to America’s war in Vietnam. He often said, “No Vietnamese ever called me Nigger.”

MUHAMMAD ALI

by Linda Deutsch

LOS ANGELES (AP)--Rodney King, who died Sunday after a troubled life, never meant to change the Los Angeles Police Department—but that’s what he ended up doing.

The mention of King’s name will always recall painful video images of his 1991 beating and the following year’s Los Angeles riots, which were sparked by the acquittals of the officers and resulted in vast destruction and dozens of deaths.

RODNEY KING

But the King affair also transformed basic practices of policing, not just in Los Angeles but across the country, author Lou Cannon said.

NEW YORK (AP)—Five years after being treated for breast cancer, “Good Morning America” co-host Robin Roberts has a new health fight on her hands.

Roberts said Monday she is beginning chemotherapy treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS, a blood and bone marrow disease once known as preleukemia. She is expected to get a bone marrow transplant sometime this fall.

NEW HEALTH FIGHT—Robin Roberts is shown on "Good Morning America" June 11, after announcing she has been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood and bone marrow disease once known as preleukemia. (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)