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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
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
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
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Jan
7
2002
Civil Rights Movement
On this day the African American community of Montgomery, Alabama voted unanimously to end its 385 day bus-boycott.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Dec
20
1956
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago
Ground is broken for the Harold Washington wing of the DuSable Museum in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by artist and poet Margaret T. Burroughs in 1961, the DuSable is one of the oldest African American museums in the U.S.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
17
1991
Blacks Elected to Congress
Sixteen Blacks were elected to Congress. Andrew Young of Atlanta was the first Black elected to Congress from the Deep South since the Reconstruction era. Also elected for the first time were Barbara Jordan (Tex.) and Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (Calif.). Republican Senator Edward W. Brooke of
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
17
1972
Congress Adopts 15th Amendmant
Congress adopted the 15th constitutional amendment, making it illegal for the US or any single government to deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Feb
27
1869
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
Thaddeus Stevens (1792-1868).
Born in Danville, Vermont, in 1792, he graduated from Dartmouth in 1814, and moved to York, Pennsylvania. He was admitted to the bar and practiced law in Gettysburg, PA for fourteen
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
4
1861
First Black elected to Congress
First Black elected to Congress John W. Menard, defeated a white candidate, 5,107 to 2,833, in an election in Louisianas Second Congressional District to fill an unexpired term in the Fortieth Congress. U.S. Grant elected president with Black voters in the South providing the decisive margin. Grant
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
3
1868
Booker T. Washington gains honorary degree
Booker T. Washington receives an honorary degree from Harvard University.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
15
1896
Alabama Educational Television Commission
Alabama Educational Television Commission has its application for license renewal denied by the Federal Communications Commission because of racial discrimination against African Americans in employment and programming.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
8
1975
Slavery
Africans accompany Spanish colonizer Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1526
The first African American nursing school
The first African American nursing school opens at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1881
Juanita Hall becomes the first African American
Juanita Hall becomes the first African American to win a Tony award for her role as Bloody Mary in the musical South Pacific.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
9
1950
Slavery
New England seamen enter slave trade when Capt. William Pierce sails to the West Indies and exchanges enslaved Native Americans for Africans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jan
0
1639
Congress passed resolution readmitting the state
Congress passed resolution readmitting the state of Tennessee.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
24
1866
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
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
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
William Levi Dawson
William Levi Dawson is born, first African American representative to chair a committee in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Apr
26
1883
Passing of Civil Rights Bill
U.S. Congress pass Civil Rights Bill banning racial discrimination in sale or rental of approximately 80 per cent of the nations housing.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Apr
10
1968
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American unit is formed and the Tuskegee Training Program is established, the 99th will fly more than 500 missions and more than 3,700 sorties during one year of combat before being combined with the 332nd Fighter Group.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jan
16
1941
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
Congress refused to accept the first recorded
Congress refused to accept the first recorded petitions from American Blacks.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
30
1797
Arthur Ashe
22 year old Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American to make the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
14
1963
Early Sermon for Abolition
On this date in 1791, Jonathan Edwards Jr. (1745-1801) preached a strong anti-slavery sermon before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons unlawfully holden in Bondage. Edwards was a Congregationalist minister, like his more famous father, and later
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
15
1791
Jefferson F. Long born
Jefferson F. Long, a merchant and tailor, was born in Knoxville, Georgia. He became the first African American from Georgia elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving two months and 9 days.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
3
1836
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
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