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
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
Richard Parsons
Richard Parsons, CEO of Dime Savings Bank, the first African American CEO of a large non minority U.S. savings institution, born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
4
1942
First Black Head of Veterans Organization
W. Robert Ming, Chicago lawyer, elected chairman of American Veterans Committee. He was the first Black to head a major national veterans organization.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
28
1957
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
Pilot shot down Nazi plane
Lt. Charles Hall, Brazil, Ind., became first Black pilot to shoot down Nazi plane.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
2
1943
1st Black Pro basketball team -- "The Renaissance"
The first Black professional basketball team The Renaissance organized.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
13
1923
Spingarn Medal Awarded: Charles S. Gilpin
Spingarn Medal awarded to actor Charles S. Gilpin for his performance in the title role of Emperor Jones.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Dec
21
1921
Dorothy Dandridge, actress born
Dorothy Dandrige
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
9
1922
The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson
The Chip Womans Fortune by Willis Richardson, the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be mounted on Broadway, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
15
1923
Soweto Uprising
In 1976, Hector Petersen, a young South African student is shot and killed during a massive demonstration to protest apartheid laws in South Africa.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1976
Lawrence Douglas Wilder assumes title as governor
In Richmond, Virginia former Lt. Governor Lawrence Douglas Wilder took office as the first popularly elected African American governor of an American state.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jan
14
1990
Alex Haley, renowned author, dies
American biographer, scriptwriter, author who became famous with the publication of the novel ROOTS, which traces his ancestry back to Africa and covers seven American generations as they are taken slaves to the United States. The book was adapted to television series, and woke up an interest in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
10
1992
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
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
Gale Sayers, youngest player ever to be elected to the Football Hall of Fame, bo
Gale Sayers, youngest player ever to be elected to the Football Hall of Fame, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
May
30
1943
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
Network news anchor
Max Robinson is the first African American to anchor network news. The network is ABC.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
19
1978
Nelson Mandela, now president of South Africa, and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi he
Nelson Mandela, now president of South Africa, and Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi held the first talks for almost 30 years between predominantly Zulu Inkatha and the ethnically mixed African National Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
29
1991
Pioneer African Baptist church organized
Pioneer African Baptist church organized in Savannah, Ga., with Andrew Bryan as pastor.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1788
Roy deCarava, the first African American photographer to be awarded aGuggenhei
Roy deCarava, the first African American photographer to be awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, is born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
9
1919
Charles Hamilton Houston was born on this day.
NAACP leader, Charles Hamilton Houston was born on this day.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by BARBinc
Sep
3
1895
Charles L
Charles L. Reason named professor of belles-lettres and French at Central College, McGrawville, New York. William G. Allen and George B. Vashon also taught at the predominantly white college.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
16
1849
Charles Chesnutt Born
Charles Chesnutt, one of the first African-Americans to gain a national audience, is born in Cleveland Ohio.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
20
1858
Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first licensed woman
Norma Merrick Sklarek, the first licensed woman architect in the U.S. and the first African American woman to become a fellow in the American Institute of Architects, born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
15
1928
First Free School
First free school in New York City, the African Free School opened.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
1
1787
New England Anti-Slavery Society
New England Anti-Slavery Society organized at African Baptist Church on Bostons Beacon Hill.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
6
1832
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
The Bloodiest Race Riot in History
Hostility to draft and fear of Blacks, the cause of the war and potential competitors in the labor market, led to New York Draft Riots, one of the bloodiest race riots in American history. Mobs swept through streets, murdered Blacks and hanged them on lamp posts.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
13
1863
WGPR BECOMES THE 1ST TELEVISION station owned by African Americans- given a pe
WGPR BECOMES THE 1ST TELEVISION station owned by African Americans- given a permit to operate.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
1
1973

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