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McFerrin, Robert Keith, Sr. (1921–2006)
In 1953 baritone Robert McFerrin Sr. made history as the first African American to win the Metropolitan Opera House’s Auditions of the Air radio contest.  On January 27, 1955, in the role of Ethiopian King Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, McFerrin made history again by becoming the first African American
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Source: Black Past
lsiah Lord Thomas is born
lsiah Lord Thomas is born in Chicago, Ill. One of nine children raised by a single mother, Thomas will become a basketball star, first for Indiana University and later for the Detroit Pistons, where he will lead the team to 1989 and 1990 NBA championships.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
30
1961
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
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Feb
23
1881
Football player and actor Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was born in Orange, Texas.
Football player and actor Charles Aaron Bubba Smith was born in Orange, Texas. Smith began his professional football career with the Baltimore Colts. He later played for the Houston Oilers and Oakland Raiders before retiring and making a name for himself in movies.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jan
29
1945
Charles Edward Anderson--Meteorologist
Born: August 13, 1919
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1919
Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George “Sammy” Davis, Jr. simply known as Sammy Davis Jr., was an acclaimed American entertainer of the 20th century. Born in Harlem, New York on December 8, 1925, Davis spent the better half of his life enjoying the rare skill of making other people happy. While he was primarily
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Branford Marsalis
Best Known
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Warren Moon
Warren Moon is a retired football player, who played for the Canadian and American football leagues. He was born in Los Angeles, California on November 18, 1956 and was the only brother of 6 sisters. His father was a laborer who died of liver disease when Warren was a young child and his mother was
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Nov
18
1956
Blacks in Battle
In one of the decisive battles of the war, two brigades of Black troops helped crush one of the Souths finest armies at the Battle of Nashville. Black troops opened the battle on the first day and successfully engaged the right of the rebel line. On the second day Col. Charles R. Thompsons Black
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Dec
15
1864
Documentary Films on Blackpast.org - African American History - Director
A&E Television Americas Black Warriors (on World War II) 1998
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Source: Black Past
The Black National Anthem
Lift Every Voice and Sing
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Source: Black Past
Ernie Davis is born
Ernie Davis was a star running back at Syracuse University; first black player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961; drafted by the Washington Redskins and traded to Cleveland but died the following year of leukemia before playing a pro game.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
14
1939
Frank Ocean
Name at birth: Christopher Breaux
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Josephine Baker born
Josephine Baker
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
Jun
3
1906
Windhoek, Namibia (1840- )
Windhoek, also known by its more traditional names—|Ai||Gams (in the Khoekhoe language) and Otjiomuise or Otjoherero, all of which mean “place by streams”—is the capital and largest city of Namibia, as well as its cultural and economic center.  Though likely named for the mountain
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Source: Black Past
Smalls, Robert (1839-1915)
Robert Smalls was born in Beaufort, South Carolina, on April 5, 1839 and worked as a house slave until the age of 12. At that point his owner, John K. McKee, sent him to Charleston to work as a waiter, ship rigger, and sailor, with all earnings going to McKee. This arrangement continued until
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Source: Black Past
May
13
1862
Black Slaves Welcomed Into Amer. Army
Lemuel Haynes, Revolutionary War veteran, licensed to preaching to the Congregational Church. After the winter of Valley Forge, Black slaves and free men were welcomed into the American Army. There were Black soldiers in the Revolutionary army from all of the original thirteen colonies. Most of the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
29
1780
North Carolina Central University (1910- )
North Carolina Central University (NCCU) is a public, four-year coeducational historically black liberal arts university located in Durham, North Carolina. The small urban campus is located 23 miles from Raleigh, North
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) Boston Metropolitan Chapter
Child, Julia
Child, Julia, 1912–2004, American cooking teacher, author, and television personality, b. Pasadena, Calif., as Julia Carolyn McWilliams. In the early 1940s both she and her husband-to-be, Paul Child, served in the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Howell, Abner Leonard (1877-1966)
Abner Leonard Howell was a star athlete in Utah whose accomplishments went largely ignored during the peak of his football career because of his
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Source: Black Past
Aug
9
1877
Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks
Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks founded in Cincinnati.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
10
1899
(1895) John H. Smyth, “The African in Africa and the African in America”
Virginia-born John Henry Smyth, late 19th Century lawyer and diplomat, had spent nearly five years as the U.S. Minister to Liberia, representing both President Rutherford B. Hayes and Chester A. Arthur.  He was given an L.L. D. degree by Liberia College and appointed Knight Commander of the Liberia
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
21
1883
Eric Dickerson
Born in a small town of Sealy, Texas, in 1960, Eric Dickerson was raised by his uncle and aunt after his mother decided not to marry his father at the young age of 17. Even though he did not grow up with his father, Dickerson inherited athletic abilities from the former running back of Prairie View
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Source: Black History Resources
(1964), Dr. Martin Luther King, “Receiving the Nobel Peace Prize”
On December 10, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King became only the second African American (after Ralph Bunche) to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.  His acceptance speech appears
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
10
1964
(1875) Congressman John R. Lynch, “Speech on the Civil Rights Bill”
Home
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Janet Jackson Born
Janet Jackson, of the famous Jackson family was born on this day in Gary, Indiana. Ms. Jackson will star in television shows such as Good Times, Different Strokes, and Fame. She will also become a celebrated songstress recording such albums as Rhythm Nation:1814, Janet, and the widely criticized
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
May
16
1966
(1865) Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address”
On Saturday March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated and began his second term as President.  His address to the audience of thousands of spectators was brief, one of the shortest inaugural addresses on record.  The Civil War was drawing to a close as Union Armies were bearing down
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Source: Black Past
93rd Infantry
93rd Infantry activated and assigned to combat in the South Pacific; the first African American division formed during World War II
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
May
15
1942
Levi Jackson
Levi Jackson became the first black football captain at Yale University.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
2000
Black Leaders Protested Discrimination
Black leaders protested discrimination in the armed forces and war industries at a White House meeting with President Roosevelt.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Sep
27
1940
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