Nick Newton, Date of Birth, Date of Death

Nick Newton

Sprinter, Inventor

Date of Birth: 06-Nov-1933

Date of Death: 31-Mar-2018

Profession: inventor, athletics competitor

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio

Milton "Nick" Newton (born November 6, 1933 in Tarboro, North Carolina – March 31, 2018 in Palm Springs, California) is the inventor of the Newton Starting Blocks.
Newton blocks are considered by many to be the best in the world, used at many major track meets like the Mt.
SAC Relays. Starting blocks are the device sprinters use to hold their feet at the start of a race so they don't slip as they push out at the sound of the gun. Using his experience as a tool and die maker for Waste King, Newton invented a cast aluminum block design as an improvement for his daughter Pam, who was excelling in girls' track.
Newton's solid, but lightweight versions greatly improved on the flimsy or rusty old devices that had been standard equipment for decades.
First patented in 1978 Newton has subsequently patented two additional innovations to offer sprinters more possible settings to prepare for their start. He became heavily involved as a mentor for the L.A.
Mercurettes Track Club, an elite track club of the 1970s and 80's.
In 1976, he joined Olympian John Carlos in an athletic delegation arranged by Henry Kissinger to the then segregated South Africa which was a step to the desegregation of athletics in that country.