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Aldridge, Ira (1807-1867)
Ira Frederick Aldridge was the first African American actor to achieve success on the international stage. He also pushed social boundaries by playing opposite white actresses in England and becoming known as the preeminent Shakespearean actor and tragedian of the 19th
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Source: Black Past
Aug
7
1867
Davis, Shani (1982- )
Shani Davis became the first African American to win a gold medal an individual event in the Winter Olympics and the first African American male to win a gold when he competed in the men’s 1,000-meter speedskating championship in the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Frank Thomas
Frank Thomas was one of the biggest baseball stars of the 1990s. He was born on May 27, 1968 in Columbus, Georgia and attended Columbus High School. He was the fifth of six children born to Frank and Charlie Mae Thomas. He was very close to his family, and being one of the youngest siblings, he was
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
May
27
1968
Ike Turner
Ike Turner was a popular twentieth century African-American musician, bandleader and lyricist. He was also a record producer and is given credit for introducing rock and roll in 1950s. Turner came to stardom in 1960s and 1970s with his former wife Tina Turner and their record
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Boston Professional Chapter
Dec
12
2007
(2004) Bill Cosby, “The Pound Cake Speech”
On May 17, 2004, the NAACP staged a gala celebration at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Comedian, actor, and philanthropist Bill Cosby was asked to deliver the main address. Cosby
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Source: Black Past
May
17
2004
Jackie Robinson signs a professional baseball contract and becomes
Jackie Robinson signs a professional baseball contract and becomes the first black player in the major leagues.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Apr
11
1948
Larry Doby
Larry Doby is born. He will become the first African American in baseballs American League, playing for the Cleveland Indians. He will be the 1954 RBI leader.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
13
1924
Brown, Jesse (1944-2002)
Jesse Brown, wounded veteran and government official, was born on March 27, 1944 to Lucille Brown in Detroit, Michigan.  His single-parent mother raised him in Chicago.  Brown first attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and later graduated from Kennedy- King College in that same
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Museum of African American History in Massachusetts
Dec
18
1992
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington was an eminent twentieth century African American composer and pianist. He was also a bandleader of jazz orchestras which he led from 1932 till his demise. He served the American music industry for over 50
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Apr
29
1899
Jordan, Michael Jeffrey
Jordan, Michael Jeffrey, 1963–, American basketball player, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. As a freshman at the Univ. of North Carolina, he made the shot that won the 1982 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament final over Georgetown. Joining the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Larry Doby became manager of the Chicago White Sox
Larry Doby became manager of the Chicago White Sox baseball team. He was fired on October 19.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
30
1978
Archer, Dennis (1942- )
Although he has served as a public school teacher, attorney, and Michigan State Supreme Court Justice, Dennis Archer is best know as the Mayor of Detroit and the first African American to become president of the American Bar
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Source: Black Past
Jan
1
1942
Cuba
The Cuban government freed U.S. aid contractor Alan Gross, who had been in captivity for five years, on Dec. 17, 2014. Gross had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2011 after his effort to create a way to communicate outside of the Cuban governments control. The government cited humanitarian
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Jul
1
2015
Caldwell, Elvin R., Sr. (1919-2004)
Politician Elvin R. Caldwell Sr. was born on April 11, 1919 in Denver, Colorado. Raised in Five Points, Denver’s predominantly black community, Caldwell was one of 12 children in his family. After graduating from Eastside High School in 1937, Caldwell earned a track scholarship to the University of
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Source: Black Past
First African Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (1807- )
First African Presbyterian Church, the nations oldest African American Presbyterian Church, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1807 by former Tennessee slave John Gloucester. This church is the fourth of the first five African American churches founded in the city of
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Reggae Sunsplash (1978-1996)
Reggae Sunsplash, founded in 1978 to promote a slow summer tourist season in Jamaica, was the first Caribbean music festival to introduce reggae to a global audience. The idea of the festival originated with a group of young entrepreneurs who called themselves Synergy. They were led by Tony
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Source: Black Past
Jun
28
1978
Jackson, Michael Joseph
Jackson, Michael Joseph, 1958–2009, American performer, b. Gary, Ind. Jackson was an extremely successful pop singer, superb dancer, and talented composer who often conveyed an androgynous image and ambiguous sexuality. Offstage, he became known for various alleged eccentricities, for his sharp
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Henry L. (Hank) Aaron
Hank Aaron hit his first home run off pitcher Vic Raschi of the St. Loius Cardinals on April 23, 1954, his first year in the big leagues. It siganled the beginning of what has become Aarons duel with a legend. Aaron finished his 19th season with 673 home runs and stands just 41 short of the record
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
23
1954
Josh Gibson
Josh Gibson was an American Negro League professional baseball player. He was born in Buena Vista, Georgia on December 21, 1911. His father had a farm there but he moved the family to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Gibson was studying to be an electrician and only attended school till the 9th grade. He
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Source: Black History Resources
Jan
20
1947
Nelly
Nelly is an American rap musician and entrepreneur from Missouri who is known for chart topping singles such as Dilemma, Country Grammar and Hot In Here and for founding his own clothing line, non-profit charities and appearances in film and television roles. He was born as Cornell Haynes Jr. on
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Source: Black History Resources
Nov
2
1974
Brown, Ronald H. (1941-1996)
Described by President Bill Clinton as “one of the best advisors and the ablest people I ever knew,” Ron Brown was a leading American man of influence in the second half of the 20th Century who impressed Republicans and Democrats alike with his intellect and administrative
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Source: Black Past
Magic Johnson
Name at birth: Earvin
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
(1846) Lewis Richardson, “I am Free From American Slavery” 1846
By the 1840s a number of fugitive slaves, the most prominent being Frederick Douglass, took to the lecture circuit usually appearing before abolitionist societies where they told their personal stories of bondage. The speech of Lewis Richardson, however, attracted particular attention because he
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by New York University
Race, Gender, Jazz & Local 493: Black Women Musicians in Seattle: 1920-1955
During its brief and rocky tenure from 1918 to 1924, pianist Gertrude Harvey Wright was one of four women in Seattle’s first black musicians’ union, the American Federation of Musicians’ Local 458.  Wright,  Virginia Hughes, a “Mrs. Austin,” and (Edythe) “Turnham,” all
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Source: Black Past
Boston Busing Case
Morgan v. Hennigan, 379 F. Supp. 410 (D.C. Mass., June
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Jun
21
1974
(1964) Malcolm X’s Speech at the Founding Rally of the Organization of Afro-American Unity
Malcolm X’s life changed dramatically in the first six months of 1964.  On March 8, he left the Nation of Islam.  In May he toured West Africa and made a pilgrimage to Mecca, returning as El Hajj Malik El-Shabazz.  While in Ghana in May, he decided to form the Organization of Afro-American Unity
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAP) Boston Chapter
Walt Frazier
Walter Frazier is a retired professional NBA player who played for the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was born on March 29, 1945 in Atlanta, Georgia and was the eldest of nine children. An exceptional athlete since childhood, Frazier was the star of the football, baseball and
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Source: Black History Resources
Mar
29
1945
Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds belongs to a family with a history of playing baseball, it can be convincingly said that baseball runs in his family. He was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California. He was born to Pat and Bobby. Bobby was a high-school baseball star, he chose baseball over football. He played
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Source: Black History Resources
Berry, Halle (1968- )
Halle Berry, who was born Maria Halle Berry, is a multiracial model, actress, and former beauty queen who was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1968.  Her mother Judith Hawkins Berry, who is white, worked as a psychiatric nurse in a Cleveland hospital.  Berry’s African American father, Jerome Berry, was
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Source: Black Past
Brandy Norwood
Brandy Rayana Norwood (better known as Brandy) is a Grammy award winning singer, actress and model. She was born in McComb, Mississippi, in 1979 and was the eldest child of a church pastor named William Ray Norwood Sr. and his wife Sonja Norwood. Her younger brother Ray J is also a singer and
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Source: Famous African Americans
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