A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa
A commemorative stamp is issued by the U.S. Postal Service to honor Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist elected to the National Academy of Design
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
10
1973
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs the worlds first open-heart surgery on a young man named James Cornish. James was rushed to Provident Hospital in Chicago with a stab wound.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
10
1893
1641 Massachusett colony.
In 1641, the first colony to legalize slavery, and to forbid use of unjust violence in the capture of slaves, was Massachusetts.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
South Carolina constitutional convention
South Carolina constitutional convention, the first official assembly in the West with a Black majority, met in the Charleston Clubhouse with seventy-six Black delegates and forty-eight white delegates. Two-thirds of the Black delegates were former slaves. A New York Herald reporter wrote: Here in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Jan
14
1868
King Holiday
Today the first national Martin Luther King Jr holiday was celebrated.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Jan
20
1986
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
White terrorists attacked Black Republicans
White terrorists attacked Black Republicans in Hamburg, S.C., killing five.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
8
1876
Second annual report of the NAACP
Second annual report of the NAACP listed total receipts from May through December, 1911, of $10,317.43. Organization had local chapters in Chicago, Boston and New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Jan
1
1912
Sammy Davis Jr., dies
Sammy Davis Jr., actor, dancer, singer and world class entertainer dies in Beverly Hills, California at age 64. Davis, born in Harlem, was a member of the popular and notorious Hollywood Rat Pack. He also held starring roles in a host of Broadway musicals and motion pictures.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
16
1990
Cowboy Willie "Bill" Pickett dies
World famous African American cowboy Willie Bill Pickett died in Ponca, Oklahoma, hospital of injuries sustained after he was kicked in the head by a horse on the Millers Brothers Fabulous 101 Ranch.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
2
1932
Charles Edward Anderson
In 1960, Charles Edward Anderson earned a Ph.D. in Meteorology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Edward Anderson the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in Meteorology; died today.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
21
1994
Frederick Douglass Escapes
Frederick Douglass, disguised as a sailor escapes from slavery
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Sep
3
1838
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
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
Dan McClellan
Dan mcClellan was the first black baseball player to pitch a perfect game.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
2000
William and Ellen Craft escaped from slavery
William and Ellen Craft escaped from slavery in Georgia. Mrs. Craft impersonated a slave holder and her husband, William, assumed the role of her servant in one of the most dramatic of the slave escapes.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
26
1848
Elijah Muhammad founds the Nation of Islam in Detroit, 1930
Elijah Muhammad founds the Nation of Islam in Detroit, 1930
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Nov
22
1930
DuSable Abandons Chicago
On this date in 1800, Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, frontier trader, fur trapper, farmer, businessman and father of Chicago sold all his property for $1,200 and left the area. He died 18 years later, almost penniless, and was buried in St. Charles, Missouri.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
May
7
1800
Freed American slaves established Liberia, 1824
Freed American slaves established Liberia, 1824
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
15
1824
Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry) in 1950.
Gwendolyn Brooks, poet, first Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry) in 1950. Brooks was born in Topeka, Kansas but grew up in Chicago. She is a witty poet who satirizes blacks and whites and attacks racial discrimination. She uses black language and rituals to proclaim black solidarity.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
1
1950
Congress Fight For Blacks Freedom
Congress authorized president to accept Blacks for military service. Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which freed the slaves of all rebels.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jul
17
1862
First Slave revolt in America
The first slave revolt in America actually occurred 93 years
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1526
First of a succession of Reconstruction acts
First of a succession of Reconstruction acts passed by Congress. The acts divided the former Confederate states into five military districts under the command of army generals.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
2
1867
Knights of Pythias established
Knights of Pythias established. Confederate troops defeated three Black and six white regiments at Battle of Olustee, about fifty miles from Jacksonville, Florida.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Feb
19
1864
Legislation giving the suffrage to Blacks
Legislation giving the suffrage to Blacks in the District of Columbia was passed over President Andrew Johnsons veto.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
8
1867
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
1st Black to argue impeachment
Cheryl Mills, White House Deputy Counsel, becomes the first Black to argue a case before a U.S. Senate impeachment hearing in the case of Pres. William Clinton.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1999
The Massachusetts Body of Liberties outlaws bondslavery (a term used interchan
The Massachusetts Body of Liberties outlaws bond
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1641
Samuel David Ferguson
Samuel David Ferguson consecrated bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church and named bishop of Liberia. He was the first Black American with full membership in the House of Bishops.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
24
1885
Robert Weaver
Robert Weaver, born on this day, beacme the first Black appointed to a presidential cabinet when President Lyndon B. Johnson named him to head the newly created Departmentof Housing and Urban Development.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
29
1907

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