Founder of Pro-Line
Comer Cottrell, founder and president of Pro-Line Corporation (1970), the largest African American owned business in the Southwest and the first African American to be part owner of a major league baseball team (1989), the Texas Rangers, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
7
1931
Abolitionist Society Organized
First abolitionist society in United States organized in Philadelphia.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Apr
14
1775
Henry Lewis
On this day Henry Lewis becomes the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
15
1968
First African American Intercollegiate football
Livingstone and Biddle College (now Johnson C. Smith) play the first African American intercollegiate football game
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
27
1892
Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary Eliza Mahoney, the first African American to graduate from a nursing school, graduates from the nursing program at the New England Hospital for Women and Children
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Aug
1
1879
Ambassador
Clifton Wharton is sworn in as ambassador to Norway. Clifton Wharton was the 1st Black person to earn a PhD in economics from University of Chicago in as well as the first Black president of Michigan State, predominantly White university.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
9
1961
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becom
Doris A. Davis of Compton, California becomes the first African American woman to govern a metropolitan city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
5
1973
Boxer Larry Holmes born
Birthday of boxer Larry Holmes who began his career around age 13. He would win the heavyweight title in 1970 and defend it some 21 times.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Nov
3
1949
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
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
Black Rebellion in Tampa, Florida
African Americans in Tampa, Florida rebelled after an African American man was killed by a white police officer while in custody.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Feb
21
1987
Willie Lee McCovey born
Baseball great Willie Lee McCovey born in Mobile, Alabama. McCovey joined the San Francisco Geiants in 1953 and played with the team for 14 years before moving to the San Diego Padres in 1974. He was Rookie of the Year in 1959 and led the National League in home runs in 1963, 1968 and 1969. McCovey
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
10
1938
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
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
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
Network news anchor
Max Robinson is the first African American to anchor network news. The network is ABC.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
19
1978
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan is named 1991 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
17
1991
Spingarn Medal Given to Carl Murphy
Carl Murphy, publisher of the Baltimore Afro-American, awarded Spingarn Medal for his contributions as a publisher and civil rights leader.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Dec
5
1955
Urban League President
Vernon E. Jordan resigned as president of the National Urban League and announced plans to join a Washington law firm. He was succeeded by John E. Jacob, executive vice president of the league.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
9
1981
Jack Johnson becomes world heavyweight champion, defeating Tommy Burns
Jack Johnson becomes world heavyweight champion, defeating Tommy Burns
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Dec
26
1908
Zora Neale Hurston, writer/anthropologist born
Zora Neale Hurston
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Jan
7
1891
Anti-Lynching Bill proposed
Black Congressman George H. White, North Carolina, introduced a bill to make lynching of Americans a federal offense. The bill died in committee. One report contends that in 1900, 105 Africans were lynched in the United States.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
20
1773
Samuel L. Gravely is born
Samuel Gravely was appointed captain of the Navy Destroyer Escort, U.S.S. Falgout, the first African American to command a United States warship. He later received the rand of Rear Admiral, a first for an African American navyman.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
4
1922
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
Committee on the Participation of Negroes in the
Committee on the Participation of Negroes in the National Defense Program met with President Roosevelt. National Newspaper Publishers Association founded. Spingarn Medal presented to Dr. Louis T. Wright for his civil rights leadership and his contributions as a surgeon.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Oct
25
1940
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win
Debbye Turner is crowned Miss America. She is the third African American to win the crown since the inception of the pageant in 1921.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
16
1989
52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin
52 nurses lead by Martha M. Franklin form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, to improve the status of African American nurses
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
23
1908
White terrorists attacked Black Republicans
White terrorists attacked Black Republicans in Hamburg, S.C., killing five.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
8
1876
On this day in 1874, Congressman Robert Brown Elliot deliveredone of the most
On this day in 1874, Congressman Robert Brown Elliot delivered
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Jan
6
1874
Bill Pickett, dies
At the age of 72 black cowboy Bill Pickett died after being kicked while roping a bronco. a star of the 101 Ranch wild West Show, Mr. Pickett invented the rodeo event of bulldogging , an event in which the contestant must wrestle a longhorn steer to the ground with his bare hands.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
24
1944

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