South African

fave

Nov

3

1983

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

fave

Source: Black Past

Barbados

An island in the Atlantic about 300 mi (483 km) north of Venezuela, Barbados is only 21 mi long (34 km) and 14 mi across (23 km) at its widest point. It is circled by fine beaches and narrow coastal plains. The highest point is Mount Hillaby (1,105 ft; 337 m) in the north-central

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua, the larger of the two main islands, is 108 sq mi (280 sq km). The island dependencies of Redonda (an uninhabited rocky islet) and Barbuda (a coral island formerly known as Dulcina) are 0.5 sq mi (1.30 sq km) and 62 sq mi (161 sq

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Jul

17

2007

PBS Pinchback, born

Pickney Benton Stewart Pinchback was born in rural Georgia. Pinchback entered Louisiana politics after the Civil War and became lieutenant governor of that Reconstruction Era state. For 43 days he actually served the office of governor of the state.

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

May

10

1837

Mauritania

Coup attempts in June 2003 and Aug. 2004 were thwarted. Tayas crackdown on Islamists and his support for Israel and the U.S. were believed to have sparked the attempts to overthrow him. In Aug. 2005, however, President Taya was deposed by military officers while out of the country. In June

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Kenya

In July 2015, Barack Obama visited Kenya for the first time since he became president of the United States. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born in Nyangoma Kogelo and returned to Kenya in 1964, after he graduated from Harvard. Obama, Sr. lived in Nairobi at the time of his death in

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Boseman, Benjamin Anthony (1840-1881)

Benjamin A. Boseman, physician, politician, and postmaster, was free born in New York in 1840 to Benjamin A. and Annaretta Boseman. He was the oldest of five children, two girls and three boys. Boseman grew up in Troy, New York where his father served as a steward on the steamboat Empire in the

fave

Source: Black Past

Feb

23

1881

Wanda Sykes

Wanda Sykes has never publicly revealed a last name or other personal details for Alex, her wife… The couple had twins on April 27, 2009: a son Lucas and a daughter Olivia. Alex gave birth to the children… Wanda Sykes was married to music producer David Hall from 1991 until their divorce in

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Apr

27

2009

Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough President

Constance Baker Motley elected Manhattan Borough president, the highest elective office held by a Black woman in a major American city.

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

Feb

23

1965

Samuel L. Jackson

Actor Samuel Jackson was born on this day in Washington, DC. Jackson will begin his acting career as a student at Morehouse College. He will star in over 40 movies including box office hits The Long Kiss Goodnight, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and A Time to Kill.

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

Dec

21

1941

Dinkins, David N. (1927- )

In 1989, David N. Dinkins defeated his challenger, former federal prosecutor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani, to become the first African American mayor of New York

fave

Source: Black Past

Buckroe Beach, Hampton, Virginia (1890- )

Buckroe Beach is one of the oldest recreational regions in Virginia. In 1619, the “Buck Roe” plantation was designated for public use for the newly arrived English settlers sent by the Virginia Company of London. By 1637, however, the plantation was converted into a commercial tobacco

fave

Source: Black Past

May

30

2009

Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (1949-2008)

Currently in the political spotlight for her steadfast support of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Stephanie Tubbs Jones is a Democratic Representative of the state of Ohio. She was born on September 10, 1949 in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio and attended the county’s public schools

fave

Source: Black Past

Sep

10

1949

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf

Born: 0/29/938 Monrovia, LiberiaAfrica’s first female head of state won the 20 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in promoting Liberian reconciliation and in atoning for Liberia’s history of civil war. She was re-elected for a second term the same year, reneging on an earlier promise to run for only

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

McGee, Henry Wadsworth, Sr. (1910-2000)

The first African American Postmaster of a major postal facility, Henry W. McGee, Sr. was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1910, and moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1927. McGee was the first person to rise from the ranks of letter carriers to achieve the status of Postmaster, a post to which he was

fave

Source: Black Past

Coleman, Bonnie Watson (1945– )

Bonnie Watson Coleman has served as the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District since January 3, 2015. The 12th District includes Princeton University and major parts of the Middlesex and Mercer Counties. Coleman is the first African American woman to represent

fave

Source: Black Past

Algeria

On Jan. 16, 2013, Islamic militants took dozens of foreign hostages at the BP-controlled In Amenas gas field in eastern Algeria, near the Libyan border. Algerian officials said the militants were members of an offshoot of al-Qaeda called Al Mulathameen and were acting in retaliation for Frances

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Mar

13

2014

Gittens, Charles LeRoy (1928–2011)

Charles L. Gittens was an American Secret Service agent. He joined the Secret Service in 1956, becoming the agencys first African American agent. An Army veteran, Gittens began his career at the agencys office in Charlotte, North Carolina. However, he was soon posted to its New York field

fave

Source: Black Past

Aug

10

2011

FREE BOY: Primary Sources

In 2013, Lorraine McConaghy and Judy Bentley published FREE BOY: A True Story of Slave and Master (Seattle: University of Washington Press).FREE BOY explores the decision of slave Charles Mitchell to flee his master James Tilton, on September 24, 1860, following a tiny Puget Sound Underground

fave

Source: Black Past

Dollarhide, Douglas (1923-2008)

Douglas Dollarhide was the first African American mayor of the city of Compton, California, and a pioneer and role model for future black politicians across the state of

fave

Source: Black Past

Jun

28

2008

Cleaver, Emanuel (1944- )

Reverend Emanuel Cleaver II, born in Waxahachie, Texas in 1944, is best known as the first African American mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. Cleaver, who grew up in a public housing project in Wichita Falls, Texas, graduated from Prairie View A & M University in Texas with a B.S. in Sociology

fave

Source: Black Past

Wanda L. Nesbitt (1956-- )

Wanda L. Nesbitt holds the rank of Career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service. She joined the United States Foreign Service in 1981. She was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Madagascar by President George W. Bush and served in that capacity from 2001 to 2004. President Bush appointed her ambassador

fave

Source: Black Past

Death of Mary McLeod Bethune, educator/activist

Death of Mary McLeod Bethune (79), educator and civil rights leader, Daytona

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

May

18

1955

Abercrombie-Winstanley, Gina Kay (1957- )

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, the first woman diplomat to lead a U.S. consulate in the gender conservative Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, also serves as the U.S. Ambassador to Malta (appointed in 2011). Gina Kay Abercrombie was born in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where her mother was a secretary and her

fave

Source: Black Past

The first black post office open, Atlanta GA, 1955

fave

Source: Blackfacts.com

Oct

22

1955

Philip Downing

In 1891, anyone interested in mailing a letter would have to make the long trip to the post office. Philip B. Downing designed a metal box with four legs which he patented on October 27, 1891. He called his device a street letter box and it is the predecessor of

fave

Source: Black History Resources

Oct

27

1891

Collins, George Washington (1925-1972)

Born on March 5, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, George Washington Collins graduated from Waller High School and immediately joined the United States Army in 1943 at the age of 18. He rose to the rank of sergeant and was discharged in 1946. Collins attended the Central Y.M.C.A. College in

fave

Source: Black Past

Zambia

On Oct. 28, 2014, President Sata died while being treated in London for an undisclosed illness. Rumors about him being seriously ill had been going on for weeks, especially after he missed a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Vice President Guy Scott became acting president until an

fave

Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Gibson, Kenneth A. (1931- )

Kenneth Allen Gibson, the first African American mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was born in 1931 in the town of Enterprise, Alabama. He graduated from high school in Enterprise in 1950 and joined the U.S. Army as a civil engineer. He remained in the Army until 1958. After his discharge, he took

fave

Source: Black Past

BlackFacts Details

South African

Politics Facts

5th Graders Inspirational speech pays Tribute to Martin Luther King Jr

Random Facts

New York City Facts

Stokely Carmichael on the Black Panthers Politics

American Civil War Facts