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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
Selma March completed
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with other notable civil rights leaders and thousands of supporters reach Montgomery Alabama after marching 4 days from Selma.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
25
1965
Racial Confrontation
One policeman killed and six wounded in racial confrontation between police and Black Panther activists in Philadelphia (8/29-8/31).
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
29
1970
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
Jan Earnest Matzeliger
Jan Earnest Matzeliger was born on September 15, 1852 in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
15
1852
The First Novel by a Black American
William Wells Brown published Clotel, the first novel by a Black American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
6
1853
Willie D. Burton
Willie D. Burton becomes the first African American to win the Oscar for sound, for the movie Bird.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Apr
11
1988
White mob prevented enrollment of students
White mob prevented enrollment of students at Mansfield High School, Mansfield, Texas.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Aug
30
1956
Bill Russell named head coach of the Boston Celtic
Bill Russell named head coach of the Boston Celtics, becoming the first African American to coach an NBA team.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Mar
28
1966
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
Rafer Johnson won the Olympic Decathlon
On Sept. 6, 1960 Rafer Johnson won the Olympic Decathlon--the first for an African American
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
6
1960
Harry Belafonte wins an Emmy
Harry Belafonte wins an Emmy for his variety special Tonight with Harry Belafonte. It is the first Emmy awarded to an African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
20
1960
Selma March begins
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads thousands of people on a 54 mile march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama to call for voting rights for African Americans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
21
1965
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
Mary McLeod Bethune Born
Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and civil rights leader, born in Mayesville, South Carolina.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
10
1875
Republican Benjamin Harrison elected president
Republican Benjamin Harrison elected president.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
6
1888
Leander Jay Shaw, Jr., justice of the Florida State Supreme Court (1983), first
Leander Jay Shaw, Jr., justice of the Florida State Supreme Court (1983), first African American chief justice (1990) in Florida, the second African American chief justice in any state supreme court, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
6
1930
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
Danville, VA coup and massacre
A political coup and a race riot. On November 3, white conservatives in Danville, Virginia, seized control of the local government, racially integrated and popularly elected, killing four African-Americans in the process.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
3
1883
Bernard Harris, astronaut
Bernard Harris, African-American astronaut, takes space walk.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
9
1995
Marchers led by Martin Luther King
Thousands of marchers, led by Martin Luther King Jr. completed first leg of five-day Selma-to-Montgomery march. Marchers were protected by federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and U.S. Army troops. Selma-to-Montgomery march ended with rally of some fifty thousands at Alabama capitol. One of the
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
7
1965
Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, is consecrated at the first African American auxiliary bi
Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, is consecrated at the first African American auxiliary bishop in the U.S. He is assigned to Washington, D.C.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
12
1974
Daniel Alexander Payne
On this date in 1893, Daniel A. Payne died. The sixth bishop of the American Methodist Episcopal Church, Payne was the first African American ordained by the Lutheran Church in 1837. In 1856, he founded Wilberforce University, where he became the first Black president of a college in America. Payne
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Feb
24
1811
Richard Theodore Greener
Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
30
1844
1000 people from twenty five states gather in Philadelphia and form the National
1000 people from twenty five states gather in Philadelphia and form the National Black Independent Party, 1980
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
23
1980
Patricia Louise Holte is born
Patricia Louise Holte is born in Philadelphia, Pa. She will be better known as Patti LaBelle, organizer and lead singer of Patti LaBelle and the Bluebells in 1960. In the 1970s she will reconfigure the group and later reteam with Nona Hendryx and Sara Dash as LaBelle. In 1976, LaBelle will pursue
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
24
1944
Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his
Moneta Sleet becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for his photograph of Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr. and her daughter at her husbands funeral
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
5
1969
Declared State of Emergency
Governor James A. Rhodes declared state of emergency in Cleveland and dispatched National Guard troops to riot-torn Hough district.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
19
1966
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Cae
The South Carolina Gazette reports that Caesar, a South Carolina slave has been granted his freedom and a life time annuity in exchange for his cures for poison and rattlesnake bite. Caesar and the famous James Derham of New Orleans are two of the earliest know African American medical
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
May
9
1750
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first congressman from the North and the first Black in Congress since the departure of George H. White in 1901.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
6
1928
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