Pelé passed away on Thursday in So Paulo. He was one of the greatest soccer players of all time and a pivotal figure in 20th-century sports who attained a level of global celebrity few athletes have ever known. He was 82.

Joe Fraga, his manager, announced his passing. The cause, according to So Paulo's Israelita Albert Einstein Hospital, was...

Brazil was ousted in the first round of the 1966 World Cup with Pelé virtually missing the match. He declared that he would stop competing for the national team since he was so discouraged.

He changed his mind, though, and participated in the 1970 World Cup for Brazil in Mexico. The captain of that team, Carlos Alberto, eventually joined Pelé on the Cosmos, and it is largely regarded as the best ever.

On October 23, 1940, Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in Três Coraçes, a small rural community in the state of Minas Gerais. In honor of Thomas Edison, his parents gave him the name Edson. (The community had electricity for a short time before Pelé was born.) He started shoe shining at the nearby train station when he was around 7 to help support the family financially.

His father was a professional football player with a brief career due to injury, hence the nickname Dondinho.

Professional Brazilian soccer players frequently go by a single name, although even Pelé wasn't sure how he came up with his.

Would you be interested in learning more obscure facts about the football legend?

The reason for his demise

His children from his three marriages

His career records

How and when he played his final game

How he contributed to the growth of football in America

And a lot more...

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