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Robert N.C. Nix, first African American rep
Robert N.C. Nix, first African American representative from Pennsylvania and 11 term congressman, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
9
1905
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
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
Mound Bayou
Mound Bayou, an all African American town in Mississippi is founded by Isaiah Montgomery
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
12
1887
Etta Moten sings for President
Etta Moten sings for President and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt at a White House Dinner. It is the first time an African American actress performs at the White House.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies
Jan
31
1934
Colin L. Powell
Colin L. Powell was the first African American to hold the highest U.S. Military post. In August 1989 he was named chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
0
1989
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
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, dies, 1880
Composer and violinist, Clarence C White, born
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
10
1880
Richard Allen
Richard Allen organized Philadelphias Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
17
1794
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
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
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
Rev. George Leile
Rev. George Leile was the first African American to be ordained a Baptist minister in America. He was an early pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Silver Bluf, South Carolina. Curiously, he supported the British during the American Revolutionary war because of the Britishs promise to free
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1770
Quakers organize the Society for the Free Instruction ofOrderly Blacks and Peo
Quakers organize the Society for the Free Instruction of Orderly Blacks and People of Color, Philadelphia PA.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
0
1789
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
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucom
Percy Julian, developer of drugs to combat glaucoma and methods to mass produce cortisone and George Washington Carver are the first African American Inventors admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the halls 17-year history.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
8
1990
Laurence Fishburne, Jr. Born
Actor Laurence Fishburne, Jr. was born on this day in Augusta, GA. Fishburne , nicknamed Fish will start his theatrical career at the young age of 10. He will become the son of the first African American family featured on a daytime drama at the age of 11. He will continue his rise to fame starring
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Illinois Math and Science Academy
Jul
31
1961
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Su
Judge Clarence Thomas is confirmed as the 106th associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, its second African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Greater Boston Veterans Collaborative
Oct
15
1991
University of South Carolina opened to all races
University of South Carolina opened to all races.Two Blacks B.A. Boseman and Francis L. Cardozo were elected to seven-man board of trustees.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Mar
3
1869
Howard Beach Incident
White teens in Howard Beach chased Michael Griffith, an African-American youth, onto a freeway where he was hit by a motorist. Griffith died from his injuries setting off a wave of protests and racial tensions in New York.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
7
1986
The First U.S. Merchant Ship
Booker T. Washington, the first U.S. merchant ship commanded by a Black captain (Hugh Mulzac), launched at Wilmington, Delaware.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Sep
29
1940
Saint Augustine
St. Augustine, (Aurelius Augustinus, A.B. 354-430 bishop of Hippo,(now Souk-Ahras in modern Algeria),wrote the City of God, setting forth the Christian view of the world and humanity, in A.D. 410.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Diversity In Action
Jan
0
410
Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm became the first African American Presidential nominee, with 151 votes from the delegates polled.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jul
13
1972
Absalom Jones and his followers dedicated African
Absalom Jones and his followers dedicated African Church of St. Thomas in Philadelphia. On August 12, 1794, the St. Thomas parishioners affiliated with the Protestant Episcopal Church.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
12
1794
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space missi
Col Frederick D Gregory becomes the first African American to lead a space mission.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
22
1989
Adam Wade hosts the Nationally televised game show Musical Chairs. He is the fi
Adam Wade hosts the Nationally televised game show Musical Chairs. He is the first African American game show host.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
16
1975
Congressman William Gray
Congressman William Gray is elected Democratic Whip of the House of Representatives, the highest ranking leadership position ever held by an African American in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
14
1989
Sigma Gamma Rho, Sorority Inc. founded
Seven black women in Indianopolis, Indiana founded Sigma Gamma Rho sorority based on a desire to raise the standards of teachers in normal and other schools. These individuals included Mary Lou Allison Little, Dorothy Hanley Whiteside, Vivian White Marbury, Nannie Mae Gahn Johnson, Hattie Mae
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
12
1922
More than one hundred delegates from six states
More than one hundred delegates from six states held a Black convention in Philadelphia. John Mercer Langston, one of the first Blacks to win public office, elected clerk of Brownhelm Township, Lorain County, Ohio. In 1856 he was elected clerk of the township of Russia, near Oberlin. In 1857 he was
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
16
1855
Henry Ossian Flipper, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Military A
Henry Ossian Flipper, the first African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, was born in Thomasville, Georgia. Enduring heavy racism during his schooling, Flipper went on to establish a military career. This was ended however after he was falsely accused of embezzling
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Prospanica Boston Professional Chapter
Mar
31
1856
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