On this day Bessie Smith makes her first recording, "Down Hearted Blues," which sells 800,000 copies for Columbia Records.

LeVar Burton is an American German Born Actor, Director, Producer and Author. Burton is most famous for his roles in “Star Trek, The Next Generation”, and “Roots”, in which he played the main character, “Kunta Kinte”. Burton was also famous as the main host for PBS’s main children’s series, “Reading Rainbow”.

Burton’s father was a photographer for the United States Army who was stationed at West Germany, Landstuhl, during the time of Burton’s birth (February 16, 1957). Burton’s mother raised him and his two sisters at Sacramento, California, after which Burton soon joined the St. Pius Seminary to become a Catholic Priest. However, after reading books by Lao Tzu and Kierkegaard, he grew skeptical of his religion and dropped out of the seminary to join the University of Southern California where he studied drama and theatre.

Burton’s first acting role was for ABC’s award winning television mini-series, “Roots”, which was based on a novel by Alex Haley titled “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”. Burton played a young “Kunta Kinte” in the series. The series itself was nominated for thirty seven Emmy Awards, out of which it won nine, while Burton was nominated for “Best Actor in a Drama Series”. Burton was asked to portray “Kunta Kinte” for the book’s 1988 film adaptation, “Roots: The Gift”.

Burton then went on to star in ‘Fantasy Island’, ‘Battle of the Network Stars’, and ‘Word Up!’, after which he went on to host PBS’s premiere children’s series, “Reading Rainbows”. The series, for whom Burton was also an executive producer, was one of the most successful PBS series of all time. Not only did it run for twenty three consecutive seasons, it also picked up over two hundred broadcast awards during its run, including over twenty six Emmy’s, with Burton himself winning a little over ten.

Burton started acting for “Star Trek, The Next Generation” in 1986. He played Lieutenant Junior Grade Geordi La Forge, a blind engineer who is visually aided by an ingenious prosthetic device called “VISOR”. At the time, Burton was

Frederick Douglass elected President of Freedman

Bank and Trust.

New York City Council passed bill prohibiting racial discrimination in city-assisted housing developments.

Tracy Marrow, better known as Ice T is mostly celebrated for his rap songs concerning street life & violence. He has been an influential figure for the gangster rap genre. Highly controversial songs such as Cop Killer brought much fame to Ice T. He also pursued a career in acting, his most noteworthy character being that of a police officer on the show, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Tracy Marrow was born on February 16, 1958 in Newark, New Jersey. He spent his early years in Summit, New Jersey living with his parents. His father was a quiet blue collar working man. Although Ice remembers his mother to be a strong & supportive woman in his autobiography, he does not have many memories of her because she passed away following a heart attack when Ice was in third grade. Four years later his father too died of a heart attack leaving Ice alone. He was an only child who lost both his parents very early on in life. Following the death of his father, Ice had to move in with his aunt in South Central Los Angeles. By this time, he was in sixth grade. It was in LA that Ice got his first taste of inner city life. These everyday experiences would later lead to his career as a rapper and give him the integrity and authority to speak up against gang violence. None of his friends took interest in studies, but Ice was different, he secretly ditched his friends to attend school and graduated from high school with good grades.

Before becoming a rapping icon, Ice T was enrolled in the United States Army for four years. However, he later returned to Los Angeles where he lived as a self styled hustler. Crime kept his pockets warm for a while but then he got fed up and when a friend suggested he give rap a chance, Ice abandoned hustling completely. Tracy Marrow became Ice T with the help of Robert Maupin Beck III. Robert’s pen name Iceberg Slim became the inspiration for Marrow’s own name. In 1987, Ice signed with Sire Records and released his debut album, Rhyme Pays a year later. The album went gold. Ice gained more popularity

James Baskett, the first male African American to win an Academy Award, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on February 16, 1904.

Actor Levar Burton was born in Landsthul, Germany. Burton won fame for his acting in the television movie "roots," which was based on the novel by Alex Haley. He became known once more in the 1980s and 1990s for his recurring role in the "Star Trek: Next Generation" series and movies.

Joe Frazier knocked out Jimmy Ellis in the second round of their New York fight and became the world heavyweight boxing champion.