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Curtis Mayfield, singer born
Curtis Mayfield was born on the 3rd of june 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, where he quickly
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
3
1942
(1875) Congressman James T. Rapier, “Half Free, Half Slave”
On February 4, 1875, Congressman James T. Rapier of Alabama, rose on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the Civil Right bill then before Congress which when enacted later that year became the Civil Rights Act of 1875.   His speech appears
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Source: Black Past
Feb
4
1875
Harry Belafonte born
Singer/Actor Harry Belafonte is born in New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
1
1927
McFerrin, Robert Keith, Sr. (1921–2006)
In 1953 baritone Robert McFerrin Sr. made history as the first African American to win the Metropolitan Opera House’s Auditions of the Air radio contest.  On January 27, 1955, in the role of Ethiopian King Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida, McFerrin made history again by becoming the first African American
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Source: Black Past
Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He was born on July 30, 1961 in Augusta, Georgia to Hattie Bell and Laurence John Fishburne, Jr. His parents divorced when he was very young and he moved to Brooklyn, New York with his mother while visiting his father once
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Source: Black History Resources
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jul
30
1961
On this day Andrew J. Beard, and African American inventor was awarded Patent #
On this day Andrew J. Beard, and African American inventor was awarded Patent # 594,059. Despite having no formal education in engineering or metalwork, Beard had invented an automtic railroad car coupling device called the Jenny Coupler. Prior to the Jenny Coupler train cars were joined together
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
23
1897
Lane, William Henry/Master Juba (1825-c. 1852)
William Henry Lane is credited as one of the most influential figures in the creation of American tap dance. Lane developed a unique style of using his body as a musical instrument, blending African-derived syncopated rhythms with movements of the Irish jig and reel. Lane’s melding of these
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Source: Black Past
Belizean Kriols
By the 1500s, black slaves had been distributed through much of the Caribbean. Slavery, however, began much later in Central America. By 1724 the British were transporting slaves from Jamaica to Belize to cut logwood, particularly Mahogany. These slaves became known as
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Source: Black Past
Dinkins, David N. (1927- )
In 1989, David N. Dinkins defeated his challenger, former federal prosecutor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani, to become the first African American mayor of New York
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Source: Black Past
First Scat Singing Ever Recorded
Don Redman performed the first recorded scat vocals while a member of Fletcher Hendersons Orchestra. Scat singing is an improvised vocal instrumentation composed of nonsense syllables. Don Redman scatted a few bars of My Papa Doesnt Two-Time No Time, recorded in New York by Columbia. Although Louis
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Apr
16
1924
Ella Baker
Ella Baker is born in Norfolk, Virginia. A civil rights worker who will direct the New York branch of the NAACP, Baker will become executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the 1960s during student integration of lunch counters in the southern states. She also will play
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Dec
13
1903
Jones, Bill T. (1952- )
Bill T. Jones, Artistic Director/Co-Founder/Dancer/Choreographer of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company was born on February 15, 1952 in Bunnell, Florida. Jones’ prolific career as a choreographer has brought him international acclaim. Awards include: 2007 Tony Award for his choreography in
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Intellitech
Feb
15
1952
N.Y. against racial discrimination
New York became the first city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in housing market with adoption of Fair Housing Practices Law.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Intellitech
Dec
5
1957
Nkrumah, Kwame
Nkrumah, Kwame kwä´mā nkro͞o´mä [key], 1909–72, African political leader, prime minister (1957–60) and president (1960–66) of Ghana. The son of a goldsmith, he was educated at mission schools in the Gold Coast (now Ghana) and became a teacher. A brilliant student, he studied (1935–45) in the
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Lynch, Loretta Elizabeth (1959- )
Attorney and public prosecutor Loretta Elizabeth Lynch was born on May 21, 1959 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Her father was a Baptist minister and her mother was an English teacher and school librarian. Lynch received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
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Source: Black Past
Jupiter Hammon, 1st Black poet
Jupiter Hammon, New York slave who was probably the first Black poet, published An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, with Penitential Cries.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Dec
25
1760
NAACP Executive Director
Death of Roy Wilkins (80), longtime executive director of the NAACP, in New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
8
1981
Basie, Count (William Allen “Count” Basie) (1904-1984)
A jazz pianist and bandleader, Count Basie was one of the leading musicians of the Big Band “Swing” era. His Count Basie Orchestra was formed in 1936, and featured singers such as Billie Holliday, and notable musicians including Lester Young, Jo Jones, and Walter Page. The band lasted
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Source: Black Past
Robert L. Johnson
Best Known
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Dorothy Height - Visionary
Dorothy Height was born on this
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
12
1912
Classical Conductor Dean Dixon born.
Classical Conductor Dean Dixon is born in 1915 in Harlem, NY. Fluent in Swedish, French and German, Dixon became one of Europes best known conductors after leaving the US in 1949. He conducted the Goteborg (Sweden) Symphony for 10 years before being named conductor for the Hessian Radio Symphony in
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
10
1915
LeMelle, Wilbert J., Sr. (1931-2003)
Wilbert J. LeMelle, Sr., was a scholar, development specialist, and ambassador to Kenya and the Republic of Seychelles between 1977 and 1980.  In both his academic and diplomatic work, LeMelle urged the United States to become more engaged in Africa, focusing on economic development and human
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Malcolm X born in Omaha, Nebraska
Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louis Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the familys eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey. Earls civil
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
19
1925
(1899) Lucy Craft Laney, “The Burden of the Educated Colored Woman”
Lucy Craft Laney was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1854, into a family of ten children. Taught to read and write by her mother, a domestic worker, she graduated from Macons Lewis High School and entered Atlanta University at the age of fifteen and graduated in 1873. Laney taught in the Georgia public
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Source: Black Past
African American History: Bibliography
Home
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Source: Black Past
Togo
Togo, twice the size of Maryland, is on the south coast of West Africa bordering on Ghana to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Benin to the east. The Gulf of Guinea coastline, only 32 mi long (51 km), is low and sandy. The only port is at Lomé. The Togo hills traverse the central
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Actor Billy Dee Williams born
Actor Billy Dee Williams, known in such works as Mahogany and two Star Wars sequels, was born in New York city.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
6
1937
Brown, Wesley (1927-2012)
Wesley Brown earned distinction in 1949 as the first African American to graduate from the United States Naval Academy.  Wesley Brown grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Dunbar High School.  A “voracious reader,” Brown joined the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History
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Source: Black Past
Davy, Gloria (1931-2012)
Gloria Davy, a rich-voiced (lirico-spinto) soprano who “sang for the sheer joy of singing” had a four decade career as a concert singer. Early in her career she replaced Leontyne Price as Bess in the 1954 international tour of Porgy and Bess. In 1958 she broke color barriers when she
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Source: Black Past
Sponsored by NSBE Boston
Jamaica
The Labour Party defeated Manley in 1980 and its capitalist-oriented leader, Edward P. G. Seaga, was elected prime minister. He encouraged private investment and began an austerity program. Like other Caribbean countries, Jamaica was hard-hit by the 1981–1982 recession. Devaluation of the Jamaican
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Source: Fact Monster - Black History
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