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Wilmington, North Carolina once had a thriving Black middle class and an elected interracial government. In 1898 white supremacists used violence to overthrow that government, kill Black residents and drive many others from the city.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
Christopher Calvin Harris (born 28 November 1982) from Truro, Cornwall,[2] nicknamed Bomber, is a Great Britain international motorcycle speedway and grass track rider from England.[3][4]
Harris began his racing career at the age of six and a half by competing in grasstrack events. His talent quickly became apparent when he began to win all of the junior age groups in the South-West area.[5] In 1998, aged 15, he turned to speedway racing for the St. Austell Gulls at Amateur Conference League level. The Gulls won the Championship and the Knockout Cup.
On his 16th birthday, Harris signed for the Exeter Falcons, who competed in the Premier League, the middle tier of British speedway's three-league structure. Despite the death of his father, who was his driver and mentor, he achieved his first notable individual success later that year, when he became Great Britain Under-16 Champion. He was also selected to ride for Great Britain at both Under-19 and Under-21 level.[6]
In 2000, Harris more than doubled his previous year's points total, being unbeaten by an opponent in several matches. The Exeter Falcons team finished the season as Premier League Champions and reached two cup finals and one semi-final. Harris moved clubs for the 2001 season, joining the Trelawny Tigers in Cornwall.[7] He soon became their top scorer and qualified for the 2001 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship as first reserve. He continued his form into 2002, being made club captain. Once again, he was top scorer for the club and under his captaincy Trelawny Tigers won the Premier Trophy.
Taking advantage of new rules introduced to assist young British riders, Harris also took the step up to ride in the Elite League in 2002, with the Peterborough Panthers. He progressed well during his debut Elite League season, moving up into the main body of the team. Individually, he progressed to the final of the British Speedway Championship and finished fourth in the World Under-21 Championship.
In 2003, Harris rode again for Trelawny Tigers in the Premier League and Peterborough Panthers in the Elite League. By the end of the season, he was an Elite League heat-leader. Off track, he was voted BBC South-West Sports Personality of the Year.[8]
However, it was on the individual front Harris was most successful. In the World Under-21 Championship, he won both his quarter and semi final rounds, progressing to the 2003 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship in Sweden where he finished runner-up, one point behind Jarosław Hampel.
His form during 2003 won Harris an invitation to take part as a reserve in the third round of the 2003 FIM Individual Speedway World Championship, the British Grand Prix, held at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
2004 saw Harris sign for the Coventry Bees. The following season, the Bees won the Elite League Championship, which meant Harris had won titles at all three levels of British speedway aged just 22.[9] He also represented Great Britain in the Speedway World Cup.[citation needed] Harris continued to ride for Coventry until 2011.
In 2007, Harris became British Champion. Harris was selected to ride as a permanent wild card in the 2007 Speedway Grand Prix series, riding at number 15. In only his fifth full Grand Prix meeting he won the British Grand Prix at Cardiff.[10] Winning the Grand Prix was considered to be the biggest event to happen in British Speedway for several years.[11]
Off track, Harris was again voted BBC South-West Sports Personality of the Year.[12] and was also voted BBC Midlands Sports Personality of the Year,[13] beating footballer Gareth Barry into second place.
Harris won the British Championship twice more in 2009 and 2010 and for the first time since 2004, Harris would not ride for Coventry after he moved on loan to Belle Vue Aces for the 2011 Elite League speedway season.[14] He continued to perform well in the 2011 World Championship including a second-place finish in the Croatian Grand Prix. After another season with Coventry in 2012, he would join Birmingham Brummies for the 2013 season.[14] In 2014, he returned to Coventry until the end of the 2016 season.[14]
Despite Harris finishing his Grand Prix appearances, he continued to impress in Britain. He finished his Grand Prix career with a record of 103 meetings, nine finals, one win and 608 points. He also decided to compete in both divisions of the British league for the first time in 2017, riding for Rye House Rockets and Peterborough.[14] He was part of the Peterborough team that won the SGB Championship Fours, which was held on 6 August 2017, at the East of England Arena.[15]
Harris continued to ride in both divisions and made debuts for Glasgow Tigers, Poole Pirates and Ipswich Witches in 2018 and Somerset Rebels and Berwick Bandits in 2019.[14] He won another fours championships, this time as part of the Somerset team that won the Fours, held on 23 June 2019, at the East of England Arena.[16]
In 2022, Harris rode for the Peterborough in the SGB Premiership 2022 and captained Berwick in the SGB Championship 2022.[14] He was named rider of the year for Berwick.[17] He also had a successful longtrack season winning a bronze medal at the 2022 Individual Long Track World Championship.[18]
In 2023, Harris signed for Leicester Lions for the SGB Premiership 2023[19] and made a return to Glasgow for the SGB Championship 2023,[20] where he won the league title and the Championship pairs.[21] Also in 2023, he also claimed a silver medal in the 2023 Individual Long Track World Championship[22] and a bronze medal at the 2023 Team Long Track World Championship.[23]
Harris signed for the Oxford Spires for the 2024 Premiership season.[24] and re-signed for Glasgow for the 2024 Championship season.[25] Harris won the 2024 European Grasstrack Championship.[26][27] He previously came second in 2022 and 2023.[28][29]
Harris signed for King's Lynn Stars for the SGB Premiership 2025[30] and became the tier 2 Rider's champion for Glasgow.[31]
In 2025, Harris was a member of the Great Britain team that won the longtrack world championships (2025 FIM Long Track of Nations)[32][33] and shortly afterwards finished runner-up behind Zach Wajtknecht in the world longtrack individual championship.[34]
| Year | Position | Points | Best Finish | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 46th | 1 | 18th | |
| 2007 | 9th | 91 | Winner | Won the British GP (Harris's first GP win). |
| 2008 | 13th | 58 | 6th | |
| 2009 | 14th | 62 | 5th | |
| 2010 | 6th | 107 | 2nd (Three times) | Finished 2nd in the Croatian GP, 2nd in the Italian GP, 2nd in the Polish 2 GP and Finished 3rd in the Danish GP. |
| 2011 | 11th | 74 | 2nd | Finished 2nd in the Croatian GP. |
| 2012 | 12th | 65 | 4th | Finished 4th in the Danish GP. |
| 2012 | 20th | 7 | 10th | Finished 10th in the British GP. |
| 2014 | 15th | 48 | 11th | Finished 11th in the Czech, British & Polish II GP. |
| 2015 | 13th | 55 | 2nd | Finished 2nd in the Polish GP. |
| 2016 | 15th | 40 | 3rd | Finished 3rd in Czech GP |
Wrocław (12 May 2007) – 3rd place
Cardiff (30 June 2007) – 1st place
Copenhagen (5 June 2010) – 3rd place
Gorican (28 August 2010) – 2nd place
Terenzano (25 September 2010) – 2nd place Bydgoszcz (9 October 2010) – 2nd place Goričan (24 September 2011) – 2nd Warsaw (18 April 2015) – 2nd place
Prague (25 June 2016) - 3rd placeIndividual Speedway Long Track World Championship
Team Long Track World Championship
Morizes 16/46pts (with James Shanes, Zach Wajtknecht & Adam Ellis) Second
Vechta 14/41pts (with Zach Wajtknecht, Edward Kennett & Adam Ellis) Fourth Herxheim 4/38pts (with Zach Wajtknecht, James Shanes) 5th
Roden 25/49pts (with Zach Wajtknecht, Andrew Appleton) 3rd Morizès 26/46pts (with Zach Wajtknecht, Andrew Appleton, Edward Kennett) 3rd Vechta 17/56pts (with Zach Wajtknecht, Andrew Appleton) championsEuropean Grasstrack Championship
Swingfield - 2nd Werlte - 2nd Tayoc - WinnerBritish racer Bomber Harris, who was second at last year's Final in Germany
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
Christopher Calvin Harris (born 28 November 1982) from Truro, Cornwall, nicknamed Bomber, is a Great Britain international motorcycle speedway and grass track rider from England.
Richard Cranwell Harris (24 January 1909 – 5 February 1987) was an international motorcycle speedway rider from England. He earned five international caps for the England national speedway team.
Bomber or The Bomber, as a nickname, may refer to the following people: Chris Bombolas (born 1960), former Australian politician and sports journalist Martyn "Bomber" Bradbury (born 1974), left-wing New Zealand media commentator and radio and TV host George Brown (footballer born 1903) (1903–1948), English football player and manager John Brown (footballer, born 1962), Scottish football player and manager Tony Brown (footballer, born 1945) (born 1945) Bernard Chanda (1952–1993), Zambian footballer nicknamed "the Bomber" Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet (1892–1984), air chief marshal of the Royal Air Force known as "Bomber Harris" Chris Harris (speedway rider) (born 1982) Tommy Harris (rugby) (1927–2006), Welsh rugby league footballer Eoin Liston (born 1957), Irish Gaelic footballer Joseph Mermans (1922–1996), Belgian footballer nicknamed "The Bomber" Gerd Müller (1945–2021), German footballer nicknamed "Der Bomber der Nation" Yuji Nakazawa (born 1978), Japanese footballer John Peard (born 1945), Australian former rugby league footballer and coach Hamdi Salihi (born 1984), Albanian footballer nicknamed "The Bomber" Kevin Sheldon (born 1956), English former footballer Mark Thompson (footballer) (born 1963), former Australian rules footballer known as "Bomber Thompson" Maurice Van Robays (1914–1965), American Major League Baseball player
Chris Harris may refer to:
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Madam C.J. Walker
