Michael Franks

Michael or Mike Franks may refer to:

Mike Franks (tennis)

Myron ("Mike") Jay Franks (born December 23, 1936) is a former excellent tennis player. He was the #1 ranked Junior player in 1954. He was on the Junior and Senior Davis Cup squads.

Mike was ranked # 3 in doubles in America in 1956, 1957, and 1959 and was ranked # 7 in America in singles in 1959.

Background

Born on December 23, 1936 in Beverly Hills, California, Franks started playing tennis in 7th grade and continued at Beverly Hills High School. He took lessons from Frank Feltrop at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. He often practiced with Bill Tilden and Pancho Gonzales.

Tennis career

In 1954, Franks was seeded #1 in the Junior Singles draw at the National Tennis Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1953, he had won the National Junior Doubles Title with Jon Douglas.

Franks attended the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played #1 Singles for 3 years on a team consisting of Mike Green, Franklyn Johnson(former USTA President), John Cranston, John Lesch, and Joe Blatchford(former Director of the Peace Corps). He was runner-up to Alex Olmedo in the Pac-10 Singles Championships in 1956 and 1958. UCLA was on NCAA probation in 1957. Franks only singles losses in college were to Olemedo. After college Franks lived with clothing designer and tennis player Oleg Cassini while serving part of his Navy commitment in New York City.

Michael Franks (athlete)

Michael "Mike" Franks (born September 23, 1963) is a former American track and field athlete who competed in the 400-meter dash.

He was the silver medalist in the event at the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics. He was given the Harrison Dillard Award in 1984 for his achievements. While attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale, he took the 400 m title at the 1985 NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship. That same year he took the gold medal at the 1985 IAAF Grand Prix Final and two further golds at the 1985 IAAF World Cup in the 400 m and 4×400-meter relay events. He was the fastest athlete of 1985 over 400 m with his personal best time of 44.47 seconds.

He competed at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships and secured the bronze medal behind Antonio McKay and Roberto Hernández. Turning to the outdoor season, he won at the 1987 Summer Universiade, taking the 400 m students' title. He was selected as an alternate for the 4×400 m relay at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and helped set a championship record of 2:59.06 in the semi-finals (which was later improved upon when the Americans took gold in the event final.

Franks

The Franks (Latin: Franci or gens Francorum) are historically first known as a group of Germanic tribes that roamed the land between the Lower and Middle Rhine in the 3rd century AD, and second as the people of Gaul who merged with the Gallo-Roman populations during succeeding centuries, passing on their name to modern-day France and becoming part of the heritage of the modern French people. Some Franks raided Roman territory, while other Frankish tribes joined the Roman troops of Gaul. In later times, Franks became the military rulers of the northern part of Roman Gaul. With the coronation of their ruler Charlemagne as Imperator Romanorum by Pope Leo III in 800 AD, he and his successors were portrayed as legitimate successors to the emperors of the Western Roman Empire.

The Salian Franks lived on Roman-held soil between the Rhine, Scheldt, Meuse, and Somme rivers in what is now Northern France, Belgium and the southern Netherlands. The kingdom was acknowledged by the Romans after 357 AD. Following the collapse of Rome in the West, the Frankish tribes were united under the Merovingians, who succeeded in conquering most of Gaul in the 6th century. The Franks became very powerful after this. The Merovingian dynasty, descendants of the Salians, founded one of the Germanic monarchies that would absorb large parts of the Western Roman Empire. The Frankish state consolidated its hold over the majority of western Europe by the end of the 8th century, developing into the Carolingian Empire. This empire would gradually evolve into the state of France and the Holy Roman Empire.

Franks (disambiguation)

The Franks were a confederacy of ancient to early medieval Germanic tribes.

Franks may also refer to:

See also

Franks (surname)

Franks is also an Anglo-American surname, derived from the given name Frank. The name is on record in Virginia from the 1660s.

People with the surname include: