Twenty Million Dollar Gift to Spelman College
Bill and Camille Cosby gave an unprecedented gift of $20 million to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
4
1988
First African American, William Tucker, born
First African American, William Tucker, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
3
1621
'This Far By Faith'
On this date in 1999, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released This Far By Faith: An African American Resource for Worship, which compiles hymns of liturgies of Lutheran African Americans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
8
1999
Massachusetts bars blacks and Native Americans from military service becauseco
Massachusetts bars blacks and Native Americans from military service because colonists fear black and Native American uprisings.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1656
Congressman William H. Gray is elected chairman
Congressman William H. Gray is elected chairman of the House Budget Committee, the highest congressional post held by an African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jan
4
1985
Chicago's first African American mayor, Harold Washington, was born.
Chicagos first African American mayor, Harold Washington, was born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Apr
15
1922
First Prizefighter Bill Richmond born
Bill Richmond, son of a slave, became the first African American to distinguish himself as a prizefighter. On this date, Richmond knocked out Jack Holmes in England.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Jul
8
1805
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance Company founded by John Merrick and associates in Durham, North Carolina as the first African American owned insurance company.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
20
1898
James B. Parsons, first African American ap
James B. Parsons, first African American appointed to a lifetime federal judgeship in the U.S. (1961) , born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1911
Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams
Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, the first African American quarterback to play in a Super Bowl game, is named MVP in Super Bowl XXII.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
31
1988
Fifty-fifth Congress (1897-99) Convened
Fifty-fifth Congress (1897-99) convened. One Black congressman: George H. White, North Carolina.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
15
1911
African Americans Replaces Reluctant Whites
African Americans Replaces Reluctant Whites: By 1777, losses on the field of battle and rising White desertions had reduced the Continental Armys ranks of men. Northern colonies began to accept African Americans, free and slave, because these colonies could not fill their quotas with White man. In
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
5
2002
Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African American
Lawrence Douglas Wilder of Virginia is inaugurated as the first African American to be elected governor in the U.S. Wilder won the election in Virginia by a mere 7,00 votes in a state once the heart of the Confederacy.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Jan
13
1990
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Su
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, its second African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Oct
15
1991
The People's Savings Bank is incorporated in Philadelphia by former African Amer
The Peoples Savings Bank is incorporated in Philadelphia by former African American congressman George H. White of North Carolina. The bank will help hundreds of African Americans buy homes and start businesses until the illness of its founder forces its closure in 1918.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
26
1907
Journalist Ralph Waldo Tyler born
Birthday of Ralph Waldo Tyler, journalist, Auditor-General of the Navy and World War I foreign correspondent. Te oldest of 12 children, Tyler is believed to have been born in Ohio. He attended elementary and high schools in Columbus, Ohio, studied a year in Baldwin,Missouri, and began teaching
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Mar
18
1860
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby
Jimmy Winkfield wins his second Kentucky Derby in a row. African American jockeys have won 15 of 28 Derby races.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
May
1
1902
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win the crown since the inception of the pageant in 1921.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
16
1989
Violette Neatley Anderson
Violette Neatley Anderson is the first African American woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
29
1926
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becom
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becomes the first African American woman to govern a metropolitan city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
5
1973
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African A
Lelia Smith Foley becomes the first African American woman to be elected mayor of a U.S. city (Taft, OK)
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
16
1973
COINTELPRO Memorandum
A memorandum sent to field offices of the FBI set goals for what was termed as a new counterintelligence program against African American Nationalist groups. The objective was to block attempts by targeted groups to coalesce, grow and exist. The agencey believed unity was the first step toward
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
3
1968
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.
Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. becomes the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force. His father was the first African American general in the U.S. Army
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
22
1959
Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church
Atlantas Ebenezer Baptist Church , the nearby crypt containing the remains of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his boyhood home are dedicated as part of a memorial to be known as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jan
15
1970
Wellington Webb is elected mayor
City Auditor Wellington Webb is elected mayor of Denver, Colo. He is the first African American to hold the post.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
18
1991
Basketball star Walt Frazier born
Basketball legend Walt Frazier was born in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
29
1945
Laurence Fishburne, Jr. Born
Actor Laurence Fishburne, Jr. was born on this day in Augusta, GA. Fishburne , nicknamed Fish will start his theatrical career at the young age of 10. He will become the son of the first African American family featured on a daytime drama at the age of 11. He will continue his rise to fame starring
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jul
31
1961
Joseph Haynes Rainey
Joseph Haynes Rainey, first African American representative in the U.S. House of Representatives where he will serve five terms, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
21
1832
Marcus Garvey entered federal prison in Atlanta
Marcus Garvey entered federal prison in Atlanta. Students staged strike at Fisk University to protest policies of white administration.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
8
1925
Daniel Alexander Payne
On this date in 1893, Daniel A. Payne died. The sixth bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church, Payne was the first African American ordained by the Lutheran Church in 1837. In 1856, he founded Wilberforce University, where he became the first Black president of a college in America. Payne
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Feb
24
1811

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