More of the Timeline: 1980 - 1989 / 2000 -

• Sharon Pratt Kelly elected mayor of Washington, DC, the first African-American mayor of a major American city

• Roselyn Payne Epps became the first woman president of the American Medical Association

• Sarah Vaughan died (singer)

• Clarence Thomas nominated for a seat on the US Supreme Court; Anita Hill, who had worked for Thomas in the federal government, testified about repeated sexual harassment, bringing the issue of sexual harassment to public attention (Thomas was confirmed as Justice)

• (August 3) Jackie Joyner-Kersee became the first woman to win two Olympic heptathlons

• (September 12) Mae Jemison, astronaut, became the first African-American woman in space

• (November 3) Carol Moseley Braun elected to the US Senate, the first African-American woman to hold that office

• (November 17) Audre Lorde died (poet, essayist, educator)

• Rita Dove named the US Poet Laureate.

• Rita Dove became the first African American poet laureate

• Toni Morrison became the first African-American winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.

• (April 8) Marian Anderson died (singer)

• (June 12) Supreme Court, in Adarand v. Pena, called for strict scrutiny before establishing any federal affirmative action requirements

• Ruth J. Simmons installed as president of Smith College in 1995. becoming the first African-American president of one of the Seven Sisters

• (June 23) Betty Shabazz, widow of Malcolm X, died of burns sustained in a June 1 fire in her home

• DNA evidence was used to test the theory that Thomas Jefferson fathered the children of a woman he enslaved, Sally Hemings -- most concluded that the DNA and other evidence confirmed the theory

• (September 21) track and field great Florence Griffith-Joyner died (athlete; first African-American to win four medals in one Olympics; sister-in-law of Jackie Joyner-Kersee)

• (September 26) Betty Carter died (jazz singer)

• (November 4) Daisy Bates died (civil rights activist)

More of the Timeline: 1980 - 1989 / 2000 -

BlackFacts Details

Dr.William Edward Burghardt DuBois

Sports Facts

Facts About Women

Sports Facts

Literature Facts

Michael Steele and Dave Rubin Talk Republicans, Trump, and Free Speech

New York City Facts

Politics Facts