Pelé in the sport. Pelé was born Edson Arantes do Nascimento on 23 October 1940, in Três Corações, Minas Gerais, Brazil, the son of Fluminense footballer Dondinho (born João Ramos do Nascimento) and Celeste Arantes. He was the elder of two siblings. He was named after the American inventor Thomas Edison. His parents decided to remove the "i" and call him "Edson", but there was a mistake on the birth certificate, leading many documents to show his name as "Edison", not "Edson", as he is called. He was originally nicknamed "Dico" by his family. He received the nickname "Pelé" during his
Francisco José do Nascimento the abolitionists. In August 30 1881, the harborworkers of Fortaleza were on strike, refusing to transport black slaves to the southern Brazil. The port authority fired Francisco and other harbor workers. Nevertheless, the state of Ceará abolished slavery in 1884, four years before the rest of Brazil. Francisco was celebrated and invited to visit Rio de Janeiro. There he was received as a hero by the local abolitionists; the writer Aluísio de Azevedo was the first to refer to him as "Dragão do Mar. Francisco José do Nascimento died in 1914, in Fortaleza. The Dragão do Mar Center of Art