On some games, Saperstein himself had to play instead of injured players, those were difficult years, but Globetrotters knew their mission and in 1934 they already had 1,000 matches in their record, during that period they were probably the best team all over USA.
First show on the court started in 1939 when they were leading against one local team 112:5... They realized that clowning they made, that show, was a thing that people wanted, so they decided to continue with exhibitions in matches where they had huge advantage.
In 1940 Globetrotters had a 159-8 record, at the same time our Harlem boys got an invitation card for the World Professional Basketball tournament. Their huge rivals New York Rens were defeated for the first time in semi-finals and Globetrotters had opened the road to their first World Basketball Championship title. They returned to Chicago and played famous game in front of 22,000 people.

Boid Buie is surely one of the biggest legends of that period. This man had only one arm, and had 18 pts per match! But, real comedian shows started when Reece "Goose" Tatum signed for Globetrotters, Bobby Milton for example knew to score 9 times in a row from half of the court. They played at the time around 160 matches per year.

Harlem Globetrotters were not joking back then… in 1949 they had arranged a game against NBA’s Minneapolis Lakers and famous center George Mikan. Globetrotters won 49:45 in front of 22,000 people in Chicago - That was their 114^th win in a row.

One of the greatest moments in basketball history happened in 1950, when New York Knicks signed the first black player in NBA history, and you can probably guess, that was man was from Harlem - Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton. Whole transfer was worth 25,000 dollars. That helped Saperstein to bring Globetrotters for the first time to Europe.

But also, that transfer totally turned upside-down whole NBA and they started with signing black players which meant that Globetrotters had huge problems to find new players to stay competitive, again, Saperstein decided to change tactics and to put entertainment in front of everything.

In 1951, 31,684 fans watched the Globetrotters defeat the College All-Stars, 55-34 at the Rose Bowl, and in 1953 that number was 36,256 - at the time Globetrotters had problems to find opponents - they were simply so good that no one wanted to play against them....

One of the most glorious moments in their history happened in 1951 when Globetrotters played in front of 75,000 people on Berlin Olympic stadium. They came to the field by an helicopter together with legendary Jesse Owens who won unforgettable Gold Medal 15 years earlier in front of Adolph Hitler on the same stadium. That was a magic moment in West Berlin where USA forces had their territory. In the same year Columbia Pictures made the first movie about our heroes - "The Harlem Globetrotters". The biggest stars were "Meadowlark" Lemon, Clarence Wilson and Willie Gardner.

1956 in Peru, people stopped for a while with the civil war just because Globetrotters were around there and played few matches. 2 years later Saperstein signed Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain and wrote a new page in history. This legend played for Globetrotters just one year, but enough to be written in history that he played in Moscow in Lenin Central Stadium in front of Nikita Khrushchev, Globetrotters retired his jersey with number 13 in March 9, 2000.

Hubert "Geese" Ausbie is the second legend, People like to say that he was the biggest show man ever in Harlem Globetrotters, he played for this team 24 years. After him club had "Curly" Neal who stayed 22 seasons, he was one of the best dribbles and shooters ever. In 1963 Globetrotters played a private game just for Pope Paul VI.

In 1966, Abe Saperstein, inventor and owner of team, died. That was a difficult moment for the club, trio Potter Palmer IV, John O'Neil and George Gillett Jr bought the club and brought it immediately to Harlem, New York - for the first time…

In 1970, Globetrotters got a unique cartoon TV series named "The Harlem Globetrotters Show". It was broadcasting for the next 3 years and every episode had its own "unique" plot, who usually was - Globetrotters stop to help someone in trouble - they get involved in a dispute that is agreed to be settled by a basketball game - the villains cheats in the first half and by halftime they are leading something like 230:2, and during the second half our heroes use their special skills to make a comeback and winning the game. On 1979 another animated series was made, "The Super Globetrotters", with exactly the same plot as the earlier series but with a twist - this time the players were actually super heroes with special powers, and used those powers to win the game on the second half.

The characters also made several guest appearances in movies and TV shows, for example "Scooby-Doo".

Back to real life - one year later they lost a game against New Jersey Reds - that loss ended their 2,495-game winning streak! But, anyway, when Premier Deng-Hsiao Ping of the People's Republic of China was visiting USA, his personal wish was to watch the Globetrotters, so they organized a match especially for him and 900 million people all over China watched the game over satellite TV.

In 1976, the club was sold to Metromedia, Inc. (big television and Radio Corporation) which meant that their first goal in the next period will be practically only entertainment. 2 years after they visited Africa for the first time and President Gerald Ford honored them as "America's Ambassadors of Goodwill".

"Bullet" Bob Gibson was a unique player in those years, besides perfect basketball technique and great love for this sport, he was playing also baseball. Culmination happened in 1981 when he was elected for Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York… unbelievable…
The Globetrotters became the first and only sports team to be honored with their own star on Hollywood's famous "Walk of Fame."

Also, it's interesting to know that in 1985 they signed Olympic Gold Medalist Lynette Woodard as first woman who played official basketball with men. Whoopi Goldberg and Jackie Joyner-Kersee are also members of Globetrotters, but honorary.

The latest history of Harlem Globetrotters begins in 1993 when Mannie Jackson, ex honorable member of Globetrotters bought the club and saved it from bankruptcy. He made this team magic again and opened new page in history book.
In 1995, Globetrotters lost their first game after 24 years, or after 8,829 matches! That is, of course, the biggest winning streak in sport history.
Globetrotters Michael "Wild Thing" Wilson and Fred "Preacher" Smith establish a Guinness Book World Record for the vertical slam-dunk at an 11 feet, 11 inches (around 3.6 meters).

But humanitarian work, especially child care, was always the main task for all Harlem Globetrotters actions. Foundation for Blind Children in Phoenix and Minneapolis had opportunity to be part of the games several times. They played several games for tornado victims in 2002, Mannie Jackson donated personally 200,000$ for victims of Hurricane Katrina, which led them to John Bunn Award from the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for the team’s outstanding lifetime contributions to basketball. In 2002 Mannie Jackson decided to give 1$ for each mile their buses travel to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, They were traveling 100,000 miles. In the same year Q Sports Ratings named the Harlem Globetrotters as the most recognized sports team in the world

Sharavjamts "Shark" Tserenjanhor from Mongolia was the first ever basketball player from Asia who signed for Globetrotters. Year after that, 2003, Magic Johnson signed a lifetime contract with Harlem Globetrotters.

But our heroes knew to surprise the World several times with controversial games in front of Dr. Henry Kissinger, Nikita Khrushchev, Deng-Hsiao Ping, Pope Paul VI, they were the first professional basketball squad to play in a free democratic South Africa, they also played on Nelson Mandela's 79th birthday party.

In 2006 they won their 22,000^th game and sent the ball from that match to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In first 75 years of their history they lost only 332 games.

Harlem Globetrotters are "America's Ambassadors of Goodwill" and 8 their members were elected in hall of fame in Springfield, among them are William "Pop" Gates, Connie Hawkins, Marques Haynes, founder Abe Saperstein, Lynette Woodard. They visited 117 countries.

It is impossible to talk about Harlem Globetrotters and not to mention famous Washington Generals. Generals were a totally white team, without black players and they were eternal rivals with Globetrotters from early beginning. Harlem Globetrotters were practically making their reputation with unforgettable wins over Washington Generals. It is hard to describe how funny Generals were in matches with Globetrotters and in memories will forever stay indescribable moments when Globetrotters were doing amazing pirouettes and whistling "Sweet Georgia Brown", their official song and practically their signature. Names of Reece "Goose" Tatum, Marques Haynes, Fred "Curly" Neal, Michael "Wild Thing" Wilson, Fred "Preacher" Smith, Meadowlark Lemon or Lynette Woodward, will stay forever in hearts of basketball fans.