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
Rômulo Arantes medley relay. Around 1977–1981, he studied business administration and trained at Indiana University, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1981. After retiring from swimming in the early 1980s, he became a notable national film and TV actor, and was a singer with his music band. He was a son of Rômulo Duncan Arantes, thus his full name literally means Rômulo Duncan Arantes, Jr. ( = son). In the 1990s, Arantes became an amateur pilot and even built a landing strip at his farm near Maripá de Minas. Two days before his 43 birthday, while his family was preparing for