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
Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obama bec
Columbia University graduate and Harvard University law student Barack Obama became the first African American named president of the Harvard Law Review.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by New York University
Feb
5
1990
The Chip Woman's Fortune by Willis Richardson
The Chip Womans Fortune by Willis Richardson, the first dramatic work by an African American playwright to be mounted on Broadway, opens at the Frazee Theatre on Broadway
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
May
15
1923
Bertram M. Lee and Peter C.B. Bynoe sign an agreement to purchase the National B
Bertram M. Lee and Peter C.B. Bynoe sign an agreement to purchase the National Basketball Associations Denver Nuggets for $54 million. They become the first African American owners of a professional basketball team.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
21
1989
Jump Start premieres in 40 newspapers in the U.S. It is created by 26 year old R
Jump Start premieres in 40 newspapers in the U.S. It is created by 26 year old Robb Armstrong, the youngest African American to have a syndicated comic strip. He follows in the footsteps of Morrie Turner, the creator of Wee Pals, the first African American syndicated comic strip.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Oct
2
1989
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
William T. Coleman is named Secretary of Transpor
William T. Coleman is named Secretary of Transportation by President Gerald R. Ford. He is the second African American to hold a Cabinet level position
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
14
1975
The Fifth Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" is named Record of the Yea
The Fifth Dimensions Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In is named Record of the Year at the Grammys.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
11
1970
First African American
Harry S. McAlphin - First African American to accredited to attend White House press conference.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
8
1944
Zora Neale Hurston, writer/anthropologist born
Zora Neale Hurston
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jan
7
1891
Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist
Jewel Plummer Cobb, cancer research biologist, President of California State University, Fullerton, the first African American to hold such as position in the CSU system, born.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Association of Latino Professionals For America (ALPFA) Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
17
1924
Walter F. Craig
1986 Max Robinson
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1986
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420
Time, Inc. agrees to sell NYT Cable for $420 million, to a group led by J. Bruce Llewellyn, the largest cable TV acquisition by an African American
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
9
1989
'This Far By Faith'
On this date in 1999, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America released This Far By Faith: An African American Resource for Worship, which compiles hymns of liturgies of Lutheran African Americans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
8
1999
War of Independence
Militia Integrated in the War of Independence: The first integrated army in American history was the colonial militia that fought the early battles of the War of Independence. African American minutemen fought on the front lines in the first battles against British authority: African Americans
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
19
1775
Army Brig. Gen. Sherian Grace CAdoria born.
Birthday of Army Brig. Gen. Sherian Grace Cadoria, in Marksville, Louisiana. A graduate of Southern University, Gen. Cadoria was the highest ranking African American woman officer in the US Armed Forces at the end of 1990.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
26
1940
James Gladden 1st certified orthopedic surgeon
January 22, 1949 - James Robert Gladden becomes first African American certified in orthopedic surgery.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
22
1949
Dorothy Dandridge, actress born
Dorothy Dandrige
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
9
1922
The Cotton Bag Fort
A African American Designs The Cotton Bag Fort: When Andrew Jackson assembled his force at New Orleans, his soldiers, many of whom were African American slaves, were outnumbered by the British forces ten to one. Faced with this disadvantage, Jackson consulted with men as to what was the best
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Oct
2
2002
Dr. Ralph Bunche receives the Nobel Peace Prize
Dr. Ralph Bunche receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in the Palestine crisis. He is the first African American to be so honored.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
20
1950
Z. Alexander Looby
Z. Alexander Looby the first African American to serve on the Nashville City Council dies
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Mar
24
1972
Walter F.White, NAACP Pres.
Walter F. White named NAACP executive secretary. The NAACP has had many leaders since its beginning in 1910, but none was more determined and devoted than Walter F. White. This fair-skinned, blue-eyed man who wouldnt pass worked a lifetime to defeat the nations barriers to integration
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
9
1931
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
The first African American to enter the US Naval Academy, John H Conyers, 1872
The first African American to enter the US Naval Academy, John H Conyers, 1872
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
21
1872
Gladys Ross dies
Gladys Merritt Ross, co-founder of Phi Delta Kappa sorority for African American teachers, dies in Stockton, California.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
May
6
1985
War of 1812
War of 1812: Although the U.S. Army did not enlist African Americans after the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Navy continued to use African Americans as seamen because of the perennial shortage of white sailors. The African American presence in the navy placed them at the center of the naval incident
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
16
2002
Basketball star Walt Frazier born
Basketball legend Walt Frazier was born in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
29
1945
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith
African American Shakespearean actor Morgan Smith dies in Sheffield, England. Smith had emigrated to England in 1866.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
22
1882
Singer Roberta Flack born
b. 10 February 1937, Asheville, North Carolina, USA. Born into a musical family, Flack graduated from Howard University with a BA in music. She was discovered singing and playing jazz in a Washington nightclub by pianist Les McCann, who recommended her talents to Atlantic Records. Two classy
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Feb
10
1940
Fifty-fifth Congress (1897-99) Convened
Fifty-fifth Congress (1897-99) convened. One Black congressman: George H. White, North Carolina.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
15
1911

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