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Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell was the first African American to hold the highest U.S. Military post. In August 1989 he was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
0
1989
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American
Phyllis Mae Daley, first of four African American Navy nurses to serve active duty in WW II receives her commission as an ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
8
1945
Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a U.S. Senator.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was a US Senator from Mississippi; the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. While serving in the senate, he was an advocate for civil rights for blacks, native Americans, Chinese immigrants and
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1881
Baseball Great Jackie Robinson born
In Cairo, Georgia on this date baseball great Jackie Robinson was born. The fifth African American to play major league baseball with a white team, Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, ending five decades of segregated baseball. At the time of his retirement in October 1972, Robinson is
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jan
31
1919
Jonathan A. Rodgers becomes president of CBS's television stations division, the
Jonathan A. Rodgers becomes president of CBSs television stations division, the highest ranking African American in network television. Rodgers had been general manager of WBBM-TV, CBSs Chicago Station
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
3
1990
Michael Griffith
Michael Griffith is struck by an automobile and killed while escaping from a mob of whites who were beating him, in Howard Beach (Queens), NY.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
21
1986
President John F Kennedy sends federal troops in integration of University of Mi
President John F Kennedy sends federal troops in integration of University of Mississippi, 1962
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Sep
29
1962
MaliVai Washington
Former tennis pro MaliVai Washington was born on June 20, 1969 in Glen Cove, New
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
20
1969
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first congressman from the North and the first Black in Congress since the departure of George H. White in 1901.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
6
1928
Black Entertainment Television - BET
Black Entertainment Television {BET} - first black owned company to be listed on the NYSE, begins broadcasting from Washington, DC
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Jan
25
1980
Miss America
Vanessa Williams is the 1st African American Miss America to be crowned.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Sep
17
1983
White mob prevented enrollment of students
White mob prevented enrollment of students at Mansfield High School, Mansfield, Texas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Aug
30
1956
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
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420 million, to a group led by J. Bruce Llewellyn, the largest cable TV acquisition by an African American
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
9
1989
Andrew Brimmer appointed to Fed. Reserve Bd.
Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African-American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Johnson
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
10
1966
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
The Flip Wilson Show premieres on NBC. It is the first prime time variety show
The Flip Wilson Show premieres on NBC. It is the first prime time variety show starring an African American male since the Nat King Cole Show.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Sep
17
1970
Baltimore Orioles manager Frank Robinson
Baltimore Orioles manager Frank Robinson is named assistant general manager of the club, the third African American to become as assistant GM.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jun
4
1991
Congressman William Gray
Congressman William Gray is elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking leadership position ever held by an African American in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
14
1989
President Grant suspended the writ of habeas
President Grant suspended the writ of habeas corpus and declared martial law in nine South Carolina counties affected by Klan disturbances.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
17
1871
John Mercer Langston, considered the first African
John Mercer Langston, considered the first African American to be elected to public office is elected clerk of Brownhelm, Ohio township
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
2
1855
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe makes history by becoming the first African American male to win the mens single title at Wimbledon, defeating Jimmy Connors.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
5
1975
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space missi
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space mission.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
22
1989
1st Black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall, U.S. solicitor general, named to the Supreme Court by President Johnson. He was confirmed by the Senate on August 30 and became the first Black Supreme Court justice.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
13
1967
Spottiswood W. Robinson
Spottiswood W. Robinson, representative of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, dean of the Howard University Law School, member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, U.S. Circuit Judge of the D.C. Circuit, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Jul
26
1916
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith dies in Sheffield, England. Smith had emigrated to England in 1866.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
22
1882
52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin
52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, to improve the status of African American nurses
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
23
1908
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
North American Slave Narratives
North American Slave Narratives documents the individual and collective story of the African American struggle for freedom and human rights in the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The project received a two-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to fund the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Jan
0
0
Rebel Troops take Kisangani, Zaire
Rebel troops in Zaire take the major city of Kisangani in an effort to overthrow President Mobutu Sese Seko.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
16
1997
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