Grammy-Nominated Music Producer Tommy Brown Talks Spotify's New Frequency Platform + More

Birthday of Natalie Cole

Singer Natalie Cole, daughter of legedary singer Nat Cole, born in Los Angeles, California. Singing professionally at age 11, by 1976 Cole had won Grammys for New Artist of the Year and Best R&B Female Vocalist.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

5

1950

Ben Harper

Ben Harper is an American musician, known for his success as an artist, instrumental skills and social activism. He was born on October 28, 1969 as Benjamin Chase Harper to Leonard and Ellen-Chase Verdries in Pomona, California. His father was African American and his mother was Jewish. He came

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

28

1969

Baseball Outfielder William "Bill" White born

Baseball outfielder William Bill White was born in Lakewood, Ohio. Now baeballs National League President, White played in 1,673 games and ended his career with a .286 batting average on 1,706 hits. He won the Golden Glove award in 1960 and 1966.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

28

1934

Coachman, Alice Marie (1923-2014)

Alice Coachman became the first African American woman from any country to win an Olympic Gold Medal when she competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, UK. Born November 9, 1923, in Albany, Georgia, to Evelyn and Fred Coachman, Alice was the fifth of ten children. As an athletic child of the

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Source: Black Past

Martin Luther King Jr. Born

Martin Luther King Jr. born in Atlanta. He was first given the name of Michael Luther King Jr. The name was formally changed to Martin at a later date.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

15

1929

Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah co-founded her own record label in 1993 — Flavor Unit Records, a part of her media company Flavor Unit Entertainment.

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Bert Williams--a Leading Comedian

At the turn of the century Bert Williams was one of Americas top comedians. Comedian Eddie Cantor called him a comic genius, W.C. Fields, a comic genius himself, once described Williams as the funniest man I ever

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

4

1922

Rhue, Sylvia (1947- )

Sylvia Rhue is a distinguished writer, religious scholar, documentarian, and public speaker. She has engaged in significant work in religious communities around lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender (LGBT) rights and sexuality as well as co-produced an award-winning

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Source: Black Past

Grammy Awards

On this day at the Grammy Awards ceremony, African-American musicians won awards in several categories. Lionel Richies Cant Slow Down won best album of 1984. Tina Turners Whats Love Got to Do With It took the best record slot and earned her the title Best Female Pop Vocalist. The Pointer Sisters

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

26

1985

Kathleen Battle, operatic soprano

1948 : Kathleen Battle, operatic soprano, winner of Grammy awards in 1987 and 1988, born

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Aug

13

1948

Martin Luther King

Born: 1/15/1929 Atlanta, GeorgiaDied: 4/4/1968 Memphis, TennesseeKing was a pivotal figure in the non-violent civil rights movement. During the 1950s and 1960s, he sought to improve race relations and overturn discrimination in American society. He is remembered for his powerful speeches which

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Ella Fitzgerald Born

Ella Fitzgerald, First Lady of Song, born. In 1934, an awkward sixteen-year-old girl made her singing debut at the Harlem Apollo Theatre amateur night in New York City. She intended to dance, but she lost her nerve when she got on stage. The man said, do something while youre out there, the singer

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Apr

25

1918

Dr. Rufus Clement

Dr. Rufus Clement, president of Atlanta University elected to Atlanta Board of Education.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

2

1953

Singer Gladys Knight born

Singer Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

28

1944

Williams, Sidney (1942- )

Former professional football player, businessman, and diplomat, Sidney Williams was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on March 24, 1942. Raised in Houston, Texas, he attended the city’s Phillis Wheatley High School and upon graduation in 1959 enrolled at Southern University in Baton

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Source: Black Past

Morehouse College organized in Augusta, Georgia

Morehouse College organized in Augusta, Georgia. The institution was later moved to Atlanta. New registration law in Tennessee abolished racial distinctions in voting.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

14

1867

David Crosthwait Jr.

Born: 5/27/1827 Nashville, TennesseeDied: 2/25/1976 West Lafayette, IndianaDavid Crosthwait Jr. was an African-American mechanical and electrical engineer, inventor, and writer. He was born in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. Once he completed high school he

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Source: Blackfacts.com

James, Charles A. (1922- )

Ambassador Charles A. James was born in 1922 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he attended public schools. After high school, James enrolled at Westchester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania (now Westchester University) where he studied for one year before

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Source: Black Past

Sep

16

1976

Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton is a religious leader and political activist. He was born on October 3, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York. His father left the family and Sharpton was raised by his mother. They had to move to the public housing projects, where his mother worked as a maid and supported the family on her

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Source: Black History Resources

Oct

3

1954

Louis Armstrong

Born: 8/4/1901 New Orleans, LouisianaDied: 7/6/1971 New York City, New YorkLouis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter, composer and singer who was one of the pivotal and most influential figures in jazz music.Awards / Achievements:

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Britton, Theodore R., Jr. (1925- )

Ambassador Theodore Roosevelt Britton, Jr. was born on October 17, 1925 in North Augusta, South Carolina. In 1936, he and his family migrated to New York City, New York. Britton was drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps out of high school soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although he was unaware

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Source: Black Past

Basketball star Walt Frazier born

Basketball legend Walt Frazier was born in

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Mar

29

1945

Eric Dickerson

Born in a small town of Sealy, Texas, in 1960, Eric Dickerson was raised by his uncle and aunt after his mother decided not to marry his father at the young age of 17. Even though he did not grow up with his father, Dickerson inherited athletic abilities from the former running back of Prairie View

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Source: Black History Resources

Boxer Jersey Joe Walcott born

Boxer Jersey Joe Walcott was born Arnold Raymond Cream in Merchantville, New Jersey. Walcott won the World Heavyweight Championship from Ezzard Charles, whom he knocked out in the 7th round of their 1951 title bout in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Walcott had 69 professional fights. He won 30 of them

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

31

1914

Massey, Walter E. (1938 - )

Prominent educator Walter Eugene Massey was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, on April 5, 1938. His father, Almar, was a steelworker and his mother, Essie, a teacher. Massey had an exceptional mind, even at an early age. By the time he finished 10th grade, his skills in mathematics were strong

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Source: Black Past

Apr

5

1938

Angela Bassett

Angela Bassett is a well known African American actress and director. She was born in New York in August 1958 to Betty Jane and Daniel Benjamin Bassett. Her ancestors adopted the name of Bassett after William Henry Bassett, who was a slave who adopted the name of his former master. Shortly after

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Source: Black History Resources

Mrs. M.L.K. and deacon Boykin were killed

A Black man shot and killed Mrs. Martin Luther King Sr. and deacon Edward Boykin during church services at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta. The assailant, Marcus Chennault of Dayton, Ohio, was later convicted and sentenced to death.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jun

30

1974

Patricia Louise Holte is born

Patricia Louise Holte is born in Philadelphia, Pa. She will be better known as Patti LaBelle, organizer and lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells in 1960. In the 1970s she will reconfigure the group and later reteam with Nona Hendryx and Sara Dash as LaBelle. In 1976, LaBelle will pursue

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Source: Blackfacts.com

May

24

1944

Berry Lawson Case (1938)

On March 26, 1938, Berry Lawson, a twenty-seven-year-old African American waiter staying at the Mt. Fuji Hotel located on Yesler Way in downtown Seattle, Washington, was reportedly asleep in a chair in the hotel lobby. He was spotted by three Seattle Police Department officers, who approached

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Source: Black Past

Shirley Franklin is sworn in

Shirley Franklin is sworn in as the first African American Mayor of Atlanta and the only African American female mayor of a major American city.

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Source: Blackfacts.com

Jan

7

2002

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