The best free animation software for bringing your work to life

Illustrator Soyatu, background artist Pinga and technical artist Maxi discuss their inspirations, techniques, and pay tribute to the game's late creator.

For some in the car industry, the uncertainty surrounding a US-border trade war is almost worse than the tariffs themselves. If the tariffs go through, the costs might get passed down to buyers.

MacworldMirroring an Apple Watch to your iPhone might at first sound redundant. What can you do on an iPhone that you cant on an Apple Watch? The feature, available in Settings > Accessibility > Apple Watch Mirroring in iOS, is designed primarily for people with physical or motor disabilities, Apple says, extending the utility of the Apple Watchs vitals monitoring, voice-activated options, and other features without a requirement of having to always interact with the watchOS tap, rotate, and press interface. Activating mirroring lets you use Voice Control, head tracking, and other assistive features only available through an iPhone.However, most accessibility features extend their utility far beyond their core audience. Many people may find it useful to sometimes or regularly access their Apple Watch via mirroring on an iPhone to adjust settings or perform actions that are fiddly, appear with very small type, or require more precision than we can pull off at a given time.Mirror your Apple Watch screen by tapping this control on your iPhone.Check requirements and set standby optionsTo use Apple Watch Mirroring, you need to have an Apple Watch Series 6 or later (excluding the Apple Watch SE) running watchOS 9 or later and paired with an iPhone 8 model or later with iOS 16 or later installed. Your Apple Watch and iPhone must be on the same Wi-Fi network, and both must also have Bluetooth enabled and be near each other.Mirroring works over AirPlay and is an exact duplicate of the Apple Watch screen. As a result, if your watch goes to sleep, the mirror on the iPhone does, too, and you can only wake it from the Apple Watch. To avoid this, you may want to set your Apple Watch to remain active, at least while using mirroring: go to the Watch app on your iPhone and enable Display & Brightness > Always On.Your iPhone could also go into standby while mirroring the Apple Watch screen, which ends the session. To ensure it doesnt go to Settings > Display & Brightness > Auto-Lock and set it to a longer interval or to Never.You may want to keep your Apple Watch and iPhone plugged in and charging while using mirroring to avoid draining their respective batteries.Use Apple Watch MirroringThe Apple Watch Mirroring feature is unique among all screen sharing and mirroring options Apple offers and among nearly all Settings switches. The switch to enable it acts more like a launcher for the service.On your iPhone, go to Settings > Accessibility > Apple Watch Mirroring.Tap to enable the feature.Mirroring begins immediately on your iPhone. The lower portion of your iPhone screen now shows the Apple Watch display with a label beneath it that reads AirPlay Mirroring.You can tap the Digital Crown, side button, or Action button (Apple Watch Ultra) to simulate a press. Dragging simulates scrolling, while swiping left and right functions the same as swiping on the Apple Watch screen. You can even touch and hold the Digital Crowns image to activate Siri on the Apple Watch.With Apple Watch Mirroring active, your iPhone turns into a surrogate display for your watch (left). When you lock your phone or other disruptions happen, you see a note that the Apple Watch is disconnected.You may also see delays in reactions, as the responsiveness is quite low compared to other forms of sharing and mirroring because of its use of AirPlay.When youre done with your session, tap the X in the upper right corner of the mirrored display. If you return to Settings > Accessibility > Apple Watch Mirroring, you will see that the switch is set to the off position. Tap it again to resume mirroring.Set up mirroring shortcut taps or pressesIf you plan to use mirroring regularly, you can set up one or two action shortcuts on your iPhone in Settings > Accessibility:In Accessibility Shortcut, you can set or add Apple Watch Mirroring. This shortcut is triggered by a triple-click of the side button or triple-tap of the Home button and cycles through selected options.In Touch > Back Tap, you can set Double Tap or Triple Tap to Apple Watch Mirroring. Then tap the back of your iPhone twice or three times to start mirroring.Ask Mac 911Weve compiled a list of the questions we get asked most frequently, along with answers and links to columns:read our super FAQto see if your question is covered. If not, were always looking for new problems to solve! Email yours tomac911@macworld.com, including screen captures as appropriate and whether you want your full name used. Not every question will be answered; we dont reply to emails, and we cannot provide direct troubleshooting advice.

Loose an adult tooth, and youre left with limited options that typically involve titanium implants or plastic dentures. But scientists are working on an alternative: lab-grown human teeth that could one day replace damaged ones.Pamela Yelick and Weibo Zhang at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in Boston have grown a mixture of pig and human tooth cells in pieces of pig teeth to create bioengineered structures that resemble real human teeth.[Yelick] applied basic science to develop a tooth, says Cristiane Miranda Frana, a dentist-scientist at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, who was not involved in the work. And its amazing.A healthy tooth has dental pulp at its core. That pulp, which contains nerves and blood vessels, is surrounded by layers of hard tissues called dentin, cementum, and enamel. These layers are extraordinarily toughenamel is considered the hardest tissue in the bodybut they can be eroded by bacteria, resulting in tooth decay. And if that decay reaches the dental pulp, it can hurt. A lot.Dentists can remove areas of decay and replace them with fillings, which typically last for up to around 15 years. But then they need to be replaced, and each time that happens, more of the tooth has to be cut away. Eventually its almost inevitable that the person is going to lose that tooth, says Frana.Today, someone who loses a tooth might opt to replace it with a dental implant. These implants consist of a titanium screw anchored into the jawbone and typically topped with a toothlike porcelain crown. They look like teeth and can be used to bite and chew food, but they fall far short of the real thing.If the implant is not perfectly aligned with a persons existing teeth, biting and chewing can transmit uneven forces to the surrounding jawbone, damaging the bone that supports it, says Yelick. Bacteria can attach to the implants, sometimes causing an infection called peri-implantitis, which can lead to bone loss.Its very difficult to replace an implant, because first you have to rebuild all the bone that has been absorbed over time thats gone away, says Yelick. For the last few decades, shes been working to create more humanlike tooth substitutes, using cells taken from real teeth and grown in the lab into toothlike structures. Were working on trying to create functional replacement teeth, she says.For her research, Yelick uses cells from pig jaws, which she obtains from slaughterhouses. Pigs grow multiple sets of teeth throughout their lives, so the jawbones contain cells from underdeveloped teeth that have not yet broken through the gums. Yelick and Zhang collect cells from these teeth and coax them in the lab to grow and multiply until they have tens of millions of cells.In previous experiments, Yelick and other colleagues have seeded these cells onto scaffoldsbiodegradable tooth-shaped structuresand implanted them into rats. Rats have small jaws, so they inserted the scaffolds under the skin on the animals abdomens. It doesnt bother the rats, says Yelick.She and her colleagues found that once they were inside a living body, the cells would start to organize themselves into toothlike structures. They were small, but their morphology was identical to that of naturally forming teeth, says Yelick.Since then, she and her colleagues have been working toward growing human teeth in the lab. In their latest research, Yelick and Zhang used cells from donated human teeth. And to create a more natural scaffold, the team stripped away the cells from the teeth of mini pigs.Then, in an approach similar to the one Yelick had used before, they grew a mixture of pig and human tooth cells inside scaffolds created from pieces of pig teeth. After a few weeks in a lab dish, the tooth fragments were implanted into the jaws of six mini pigs.Two months later, the team removed the teeth to see how they were doing. They found that they had started to grow in a similar way to healthy adult teeth. They even developed hard layers of cementum and dentin. Theyre very toothlike, says Yelick, who published the work in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine in December.[These] bioengineered teeth exhibit key properties of natural teeth that are missing in titanium implants, says Frana.The finding takes us a step toward being able to create lab-grown, functional, living human teeth that can integrate with a persons gums and jaws, says Frana. [Yelick and Zhang] are starting to decode the way nature codes the cells to make teeth, she says. And thats really impressive.Theyre not beautifully formed teeth yet, says Yelick. But were optimistic that one day we will be able to create a functional biological tooth substitute that can get into people who need tooth replacement.

With so many multiplayer shooters receiving sequels over the years, including Overwatch 2 and Counter-Strike 2, Ubisofts Rainbow Six Siege may be next in line. Leaker Frax recently posted on Twitter about Siege X, the shooters upcoming tenth season. It will reportedly include a graphical update to textures and modes alongside an engine overhaul.The alleged reveal is coming during the Six Invitational 2025, which ends on February 16th. When it could release is unknown but Frax followed this up with another tweet, reporting that Siege X is actually Rainbow Six Siege 2 and not Year 10 of Siege.Its allegedly out sometime in the future, with the leaker confident that it arrives after Year 10, Season 1. Whether it will replace the current Siege like Counter-Strike 2 did for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is unknown. Stay tuned for more potential details and updates.Rainbow Six Siege is available for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.Siege X infoCurrently planned (and on track) to be revealed at SI 2025.A likely release window is Y10S2.It will include an engine overhaul and a graphical upgrade in textures and models.Possible that all old events will never come back in Siege X. Only new ones. (@fraxiswinning) February 5, 2025If youre in the leak server, the cat is out of the bag.Siege 2 will be releasing sometime in the future.I was wrong about Year 10 being Siege X.Siege 2 IS Siege X. (@fraxiswinning) February 5, 2025It is releasing AFTER y10s1.We dont know when, assuming y10s2 as the minimum. (@fraxiswinning) February 5, 2025

Ubisoft has taken a severe beating in recent years, having sustained a line of prominent failures either critical or commercial or both including the likes ofStar Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones, XDefiant, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (which, by the way, was excellent), and many others.Assassins Creed,of course, is the one IP that the publisher has always relied on first and foremost, which is why it has taken measures you wouldnt ordinarily expect it to to ensure that the upcomingAssassins Creed Shadowsdoesnt end up meeting the same fate as those aforementioned games. Delayed twice from its original November 2024 launch date and now due out in March, the open world action RPG has been on the receiving end of plenty of skepticism- though a newly published round of extensive hands-on previews suggests that theres actually plenty of reason to be excited and optimistic.That round of previews has also brought with it a bunch of new details. AsAssassins Creed Shadowsapproaches its March release and we continue to cross off the days, here, were going to take a look at some of those details.STORY DETAILSWeve known for a while that Assassins Creed Shadows will see us stepping into the shoes of African Samurai Yasuke the first protagonist in the series to be a real historical figure and the shinobi Naoe, but recent previews have brought more detail. The game begins with Yasuke being brought to Japan by Portuguese slavers, following which Oda Nobunaga takes him into his service and makes him a samurai. Naoe, meanwhile, is the (fictional) daughter of the real life shinobi Fujibayashi Nagato. Her own story begins with an attack from an enemy faction, a personal tragedy, and a mysterious box that she had been charged with protecting is stolen. How Naoe and Yasukes paths intersect remains to be seen, but both characters will be working together to fight against the factions who are opposing the unification of Japan.CANON MODELikeAssassins Creed OdysseyandValhallabefore it,Shadowswill allow players to make dialogue choices and determine the direction of the story at certain junctures. As an alternative, however, the game is also introducing an entirely new feature in the form of Canon Mode- which is exactly what it sounds like. Canon Mode will take player choice out of the equation and will instead tell a defined, scripted story which, as the modes name suggests, will be the canon story for the experience.HOW SWITCHING WORKSSwitching between two characters at any time will be one ofAssassins Creed Shadowskey features, but how exactly does it work?Marvels Spider-Man 2andGTA 5may have spoiled us with their seamless (or near-seamless) switching, but thats not quite how itll work inShadows. As detailed in Polygons preview, to switch between Yasuke and Naoe, youll have to enter the menu, go to your equipment screen, and press and hold a button. Its not instantaneous, and you cant switch when youre in an enemys vicinity or during combat.FIXING MAP BLOATMultipleAssassins Creedgames in a row have been criticized for having bloated maps, not only due to their massive sizes, but also the overwhelming amount of icons and side activities populating those maps.Shadowsis looking to fix that in several ways. Developers have, of course, stressed multiple times over the months that the game is much smaller thanValhalla, instead instead being roughly equivalent toOriginssize (which is still pretty damn large, of course). On top of that, recent previews have also revealed that the game has also continued to refine its approach to parsing out and presenting side content. Synchronizing with viewpoints, for instance, will only reveal the important locations on the map, according to Engadgets preview.Meanwhile, speaking to GamesRadar, creative director Jonathan Dumont explained that traversal and exploration will be less focused on stringing players alone from one side activity to the next, with more of an emphasis instead being placed on taking in the level of detail of the environments. The travel time is a little different its not a point of interest [followed immediately by another] point of interest, [every] 50 meters, he said. Theres more open, natural landscaping that will be a little bit longer to travel, but when you get to a place theres a lot more to it. The scale ratio changed from Odyssey, and what we had done before, and then just the fidelity of trying to make incredible attention to detail in the environment, so that we craft the crap out of it.SKETCHING WILDLIFESpeaking of side activities, you can expectAssassins Creed Shadowsto introduce some new kinds to fit better with its new setting and tone. One in particular will see players engaging with wildlife in an unusual way- rather than hunting animals, youll now be sneaking up on them in the wild so you can sketch them in your journal.CLAWS OF AWAJI EXPANSIONAssassins Creed Shadowswill, of course, receive extensive post-launch support, asAssassins Creedgames tend to, and Ubisoft has offered a first look at the first planned expansion. TitledClaws of Awaji,it will launch later this year and will be free to everyone who has pre-ordered the base game. Said to be over 10 hours long, it will feature a new location, story content, weapons, skills, and more.PC FEATURESOn PC,Assassins Creed Shadowsis promising an expansive suite of features. Support is confirmed for DLSS 3.7, FSR 3.1, and XeSS 2, as well as ultrawide resolutions, uncapped frame rates, and more. On the platform, the game will also tour ray traced global illumination and reflections, in addition to featuring a benchmark tool for performance analysis.PC REQUIREMENTSUbisoft has also revealed system requirements forAssassins Creed Shadowson PC across eight different setups. On the lowest possible settings, youll be able to run the game at 1080p and 30 FPS, requiring either an i7 8700K or a Ryzen 5 3600, along with either a GeForce GTX 1070 (8 GB), a Radeon RX 5700 (8 GB), or an Arc A580 (8 GB). On the opposite end, the highest possible settings which will run the game at 4K and 60 FPS with full ray tracing support will require either an i7 13700K or a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, as well as a GeForce RTX 4080 (16 GB). Across all setups, youll also need 16 GB of RAM and an SSD.ACCESSIBILITYShadowsfull suite of accessibility features have also been detailed, and its quite extensive. On the visual side of things, the game will feature colourblind options, screen narration, and full HUD customization. Other options include aim assistance, subtitles (of course), four unique difficulty settings for stealth and combat each, a mode that simplifies combat to a single input, full controls remapping and a variety of camera options, a guided mode to streamline exploration and traversal, and more.ANIMUS HUBRememberAssassins Creed Infinity, the hub that was supposed to tieAssassins Creedtogether going forward. Ubisoft has now officially unveiled it. Unimaginatively dubbed the Animus Hub, it will launch on March 20 alongsideShadows,and will also be tied to allAssassins Creedtitles release after (and including)Origins. The hub will feature exclusive free content that players will unlock by playing the actual games, give out rewards, and more. Its not a standalone launcher, but Ubisoft says it has ambitious plans for how to evolve and grow the Animus Hub. Interestingly, those plans might also be tied to advancing the series modern-day storyline, though details are currently scarce.

Thursday, February 6th, 2025Article by Cirstyn Bech-YagherReview: Huion Kamvas 22 Plus pen displayhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Huions Kamvas 22 Plus is an affordable pen display for beginners and pro artists on a budget. CG artist Cirstyn Bech-Yagher checks out how it performs with 3D as well as 2D applications.As a longtime user of Wacom and Xencelabs hardware, I was new to Huion, a Shenzhen, China-based company specializing in input devices like pen tablets, pen displays, and pen computers. So, being in the market for a new pen display, I was eager to take one of Huions latest offerings, the Kamvas 22 Plus, for a spin.Huions tagline for the 22-inch display is Simple, but powerful. Its a phrase that always makes me sceptical, as it tends to be marketing-speak for almost no features, but plenty of hassle. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case, although I cant say that it was all plain sailing.Bundled content and priceThe Kamvas 22 Plus is a laminated display with a reported 140% sRGB color gamut, and ships with an adjustable stand, a hex key, a battery-free pen (Huions PW517), a generous ten pen nibs and a nib removal ring, a pen holder, a three-in-one cable, a USB-C to USB-C cable for mobile compatibility, plus a power adapter, artist glove, cleaning cloth, and a quick-start guide. If you are new to pen displays, a laminated display has its screen layers fused together without an air gap. This eliminates parallax, the small gap between where the pen touches the screen and where the cursor appears. No parallax means greater precision, especially on detailed or color-critical artwork. Additionally, the laminated display improves clarity by reducing light refraction, and the anti-glare etched glass provides a smooth, paper-like texture.The Kamvas 22 Plus normally sells for $549 $100 more than the standard Kamvas 22, which ships with almost the same content but has an anti-glare screen with a 120% sRGB color gamut, and does not come with a mobile USB cable. The Kamvas 22 Plus ships with Huions PW517 pen, nibs, cables, and stand.First impressions and setupUnboxing and initial assembly were pretty straightforward: get everything out of the box, attach the display stand to the screen, and plug it in. This was fast and easy.However, the rest of the setup process highlighted the things I did not like about the display. The Kamvas 22 Plus comes with a three-in-one cable, connecting the display to a power outlet, a HDMI port, and a USB port for the pen. While this reduces the number of loose cables, tying everything into a single proprietary cable makes replacements harder to get hold of. Worse for me was the driver install. Huion specifically tells you to turn off your security settings during the process: something that used to be common for troubleshooting, but which feels outdated and potentially risky here. Getting the drivers signed and whitelisted could help avoid this issue and improve the overall user experience. The biggest hassle was a series of unexpected driver conflicts. It was a real pain to use the Kamvas 22 Plus with my SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro headset: every time I rebooted, I had to manually reassign the headset to default, then tinker to make it work. The display also had a tendency to knock out the headset when I used the two together. Deleting the Huion driver or removing it from the boot sequence fixed the issues, but it needed to be removed entirely if disabled, it reactivates itself on reboot. These arent critical issues, but they reduce quality of life, and I had similar issues with other peripherals.Although primarily marketed at 2D artists, the Kamvas 22 Plus can also be used with 3D software: I tested it with Marvelous Designer, ZBrush and TopoGun.The penEven though the Kamvas 22 Plus is primarily marketed at 2D applications on Huions website, I figured it wouldnt hurt to take it for a spin in a few 3D staples, designing a set of clothing in Marvelous Designer, tweaking and retopologizing it in ZBrush, before moving on to Substance 3D Painter for texturing, and Photoshop for a little simple photomanipulation.The PW517 pen is a two-button battery-free pen that supports the unofficial industry standard of 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 of tilt. Compared to Xencelabs and Wacom pens, its very light, but it feels good: for me, it could compete with the Cintiq 22s Pro Pen 2, or the Xencelabs Medium tablets slim pen. I especially enjoyed using it in Painter and Photoshop. However, while you cant fault a two-button pen for not having three buttons, the lack of further customization options feels like a missed opportunity for Huion to cater to a broader audience.The Kamvas 22 Plus was at its best in 2D apps like Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint.The screenThe Kamvas 22 Pluss desktop stand can be adjusted between 20 to 80 for a good working position, and the screen itself is big, smooth, and very comfortable to work on. For those wanting a grittier feel, Huion also sells felt nibs for the PW517 pen in its online store. Colour-wise, the screen has vibrant colours and minimal glare. However, if your work is colour-critical, its worth checking out this video by Teoh on Tech, where he compares the advertised sRGB gamut to measurements made using a SpyderPro monitor calibrator.For most intended users, this wont be an issue, but for workflows that require exact color matching, such as digital painting or color grading, its something to keep in mind.That said, the screen performs very well overall for its price point and resolution, and can be a versatile addition to your desktop. Ive used it as a tertiary screen for mine, and it handled tasks from gaming to acting as a dedicated PureRef screen without a hitch.Being used to displays with keypads, I did miss being able to use those on the Kamvas 22 Plus. Luckily, I found a workaround: even though Huion offers its own keydial in its online store, I tested the Kamvas 22 Plus with my Xencelabs Quick Keys dial, and they worked well together. The Kamvas 22 Plus was also easy to use in Substance 3D Painter, although with its 1,920 x 1,080 display resolution, it was a pain dragging dialogs across screens. Overall impressionsOverall, I enjoyed using the Kamvas 22 Plus. Its very what you see is what you get, but what you get is fair. That said, theres room for improvement. If Huion wishes to expand its user base among 3D artists, it wouldnt be a bad start to offer a bundle that includes their dialpad and a three-button pen, like its newer PW600L, in future releases. The driver could also use a significant update to align with modern security practices and generally play nicer with other peripherals. But all in all, the Kamvas 22 Plus is a solid choice for its price, especially for beginners exploring display tablets for the first time, or pros on a budget.About the author: Cirstyn Bech-Yagher is a long-time CG artist with experience ranging from Rizom-Lab to AMD and Future Publishing. She is currently freelancing for old and new clients. Follow Cirstyn on Bluesky.Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.Related Topics # Clip Studio Paint # color gamut # driver # Huion # Kamvas 22 # Kamvas 22 Plus # Marvelous Designer # pen display # Photoshop # Pro Pen 2 # PW517 # resolution # Review # specifications # Substance 3D Painter # test # Thin Pen # TopoGun # Wacom # Xencelabs # ZBrush

Solve the right problems by questioning your assumptionsPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter2 min readJust now-- Thursday!Issue #262: balancing confidence and humility, serious hobbies, and hi-res writingBy Harris SockelHumans have a problem-solving instinct. Our urge to solve problems is so strong that well often think of solutions before weve fully understood what were trying to fix.One of the classic (and kind of funny) examples is Juicero the wi-fi connected blender that raised over $100 million and tanked one year later. It promised to annihilate your bananas and blueberries with enough force to lift two Teslas. (It was also $700.) No one bought it because it didnt solve a real problem. Another example: Blackberry tirelessly optimized its tiny chiclet keyboards, believing their sinking sales were a symptom of a hardware problem, when their software was the real turnoff.Understanding the problem youre facing is difficult, because problems usually arent what they seem. In the Medium archive, entrepreneur Jasper Kroese writes: Remember, customers will rarely hand you solutions. Use your creativity and intellect to uncover what they are trying to tell you. He recounts how Disney World was once wringing its hands over the problem of annoyingly long lines for rides. Obvious solution? Limit the number of visitors allowed in the park, or build more rides. After digging deeper into the problem, though, they found a better solution: install videos, audio storytelling, and beautiful signage in each waiting area. The real problem (which no customer would ever say) wasnt a long wait, but an unpleasant one.Let this be your sign to sit with your problems this week which is hard! Problems are uncomfortable. One way to get closer to a problem is by questioning, or at least naming, the assumptions youre making (i.e. that people hate waiting in long lines). The hardest problems are usually one or two unquestioned assumptions away from being solved. Also today: confidence and trustA former VP of engineering on every good leaders best trait: confident humility, i.e. being skilled enough to recognize and admit when youve messed up. (Vinita Bansal)Public health director Ren F. Najera, MPH, DrPH remembers leading a team of nurses in northern Virginia as they went door to door explaining the risks of Covid in early 2020. It taught him the nature of trust, which to him is a delicate souffl: It takes effort to create, can collapse easily, and requires attention at every stage. Your daily dose of practical wisdomWrite to experience what you care about in higher resolution. (Henrik Karlsson)

On This Day in HistoryThe Death of a Sports Legend on This Day in 1993 Changed How Americans Viewed AIDSTennis star Arthur Ashe achieved many firsts as a Black athlete. In the months leading up to his death, he thrust AIDS advocacy into the mainstream Arthur Asheplaying tennis against Dennis Ralston in 1964 Art Rogers, Los Angeles Times, via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0Arthur Ashe had achieved multiple firsts in tennis. But his premature death on February 6, 1993, would make another kind of history, drawing unprecedented attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis in an era of stigma and fear.Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, Ashe was drawn to athletics as a young boy. He started playing tennis at age 7 and quickly gained the attention of a prominent Black tennis player and instructor, Ron Charity. With a mentor and coach, Ashe began to seriously train and enter local tournaments.Over the following years, Ashe climbed the ranks within the sport despite repeatedly facing racial discrimination. He received a scholarship to play tennis at the University of California, Los Angeles, and in 1963, he became the first Black tennis player to be selected for the United States Davis Cup team, representing the country in the largest international tennis event.Arthur Ashe becomes the first African-American man to win the US Open! | US Open 1968Watch on As he climbed higher and higher in global rankings, Ashe became one of the worlds most famous tennis players, eventually becoming the firstand to date onlyBlack man to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. Using his success as leverage, he served as president of the Association of Tennis Professionals, a role he used to advocate for better compensation for players. He also participated in several boycotts protesting South Africas apartheid policies.At the height of Ashes fame, however, his career came screeching to a halt when he experienced his first heart attack in 1979. With a family history of cardiovascular disease, he underwent bypass surgery in 1979 and again in 1983.Years later, Ashe learned that he was HIV positive. His doctors believed he had contracted the infection from blood transfusions following his second surgery. Though he initially chose to keep his illness a secret, he went public just prior to a 1992 USA Today expos on his health.I was taught to remain calm on the tennis court, no matter what the score or how questionable the call or discourteous my opponent, Ashe laterwrotein his autobiography. But the anger was building in me that this newspaper, any newspaper or any part of the media, could think that it had the right to tell the world that I had AIDS. Ashe shakes hands with President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Public domain via Wikimedia CommonsIn the months between his public revelation and his death in February 1993, Ashe worked tirelessly to raise awareness and change the national conversation on AIDS. He founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Then, in December 1992, he spoke before the U.N. General Assembly on World AIDS Day. He used his speech to fight misconceptions around AIDSnamely that it only impacted gay men and intravenous drug users. Ashe reportedly felt the speech was the most important thing he had ever doneand even afterward, the tennis star continued to push for funding for HIV/AIDS diagnosis, treatment and prevention.Ashes revelation and HIV/AIDS advocacy helped break through the longstanding stigma and fear surrounding the disease, leveraging his status as a familiar sports star to help politicians and everyday people become more receptive to public discussion of the disease. The same year he went public with his diagnosis, AIDS became a presidential agenda item for the first time.Ashes legacy of athleticism and advocacy work continues decades after his death at age 49. He posthumously received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the United States Tennis Association named its main stadium in New York, where the U.S. Open is held every year, after him. His HIV/AIDS activism added another facet to his boundary-breaking legacy. As Ashe told the Los Angeles Times in 1992, You never know what breakthroughs are around the corner.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Activism, African American History, AIDS, American History, Disease, Disease and Illnesses, Health, On This Day in History, South Africa, Sports, Tennis