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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
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
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance
North Carolina Mutual and Provident Insurance Company founded by John Merrick and associates in Durham, North Carolina as the first African American owned insurance company.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
20
1898
Ex-football star O.J. Simpson is cleared today of murdering his ex-wife Nicole B
Ex-football star O.J. Simpson is cleared today of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Oct
3
1995
William Levi Dawson
William Levi Dawson is born, first African American representative to chair a committee in Congress.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Christo Rey New York High School
Apr
26
1883
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
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American
The 99th Pursuit Squadron, an all African American unit is formed and the Tuskegee Training Program is established, the 99th will fly more than 500 missions and more than 3,700 sorties during one year of combat before being combined with the 332nd Fighter Group.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jan
16
1941
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
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 first African American magazine, Mirror of Freedom, begins publication in Ne
The first African American magazine, Mirror of Freedom, begins publication in New York City.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
30
1838
Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a U.S. Senator.
Blanche Kelso Bruce was a US Senator from Mississippi; the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. While serving in the senate, he was an advocate for civil rights for blacks, native Americans, Chinese immigrants and
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
21
1881
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte was shown with actress Janet Leigh and film star Tony Curtis on the cover of Ebony magazine. It was the first time a black person and two Caucasians were seen together on a U.S. magazine cover.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Concerned Black Men of Massachusetts
Jul
3
1953
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
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
Rebellion Collapsed/People Killed in the Struggles
White Democrats seized statehouse in Louisiana coup detat. President Grant ordered the revolutionaries to disperse, and the rebellion collapsed. Twenty-seven persons (sixteen whites and eleven Blacks) were killed in battles between Democrats and Republicans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
14
1874
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
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
John B. McLendon
John B. McLendon becomes the first African American coach in the ABA when he signs a two year contract with the Denver Nuggets.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association (MBLA)
May
14
1969
Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen (1932-).
On June 6, 1950, Frank Petersen enlisted in the Navy. At the age of 20, he was the first Afro-American to be named a naval aviator in the Marine Corp. He was also the first African American to command a fighter squadon, a fighter air group, an air wing, and a major
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jun
6
1950
The first Kentucky Derby
The first Kentucky Derby is won by African American jockey Oliver Lewis riding the horse Aristides. 14 of the 15 jockeys in the race are African Americans.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
May
17
1875
The American Nicodemus Town Company is founded
The American Nicodemus Town Company is founded by six African American settlers in northwestern Kansas. The town will be settled later in the year.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by APEX Museum
Apr
18
1877
The People's Savings Bank is incorporated in Philadelphia by former African Amer
The Peoples Savings Bank is incorporated in Philadelphia by former African American congressman George H. White of North Carolina. The bank will help hundreds of African Americans buy homes and start businesses until the illness of its founder forces its closure in 1918.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sep
26
1907
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress
Oscar DePriest elected to Seventy-first Congress from Illinois First Congressional District (Chicago). He was the first congressman from the North and the first Black in Congress since the departure of George H. White in 1901.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Nov
6
1928
African American Jordan Freeman dies after killing Major William Montgomery in t
African American Jordan Freeman dies after killing Major William Montgomery in the Battle of Groton Heights
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Pride Academy
Sep
6
1781
The first African American nursing school
The first African American nursing school opens at Spelman College in Atlanta, Ga.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
13
1881
Beatrice Foods is acquired by Reginald Lewis.
Beatrice Foods is acquired by Reginald Lewis. It is the largest business acquisition ever by an African American.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Aug
9
1987
Baseball Great Jackie Robinson born
In Cairo, Georgia on this date baseball great Jackie Robinson was born. The fifth African American to play major league baseball with a white team, Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, ending five decades of segregated baseball. At the time of his retirement in October 1972, Robinson is
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Sponsored by Eastern Bank
Jan
31
1919
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
Juanita Hall becomes the first African American
Juanita Hall becomes the first African American to win a Tony award for her role as Bloody Mary in the musical South Pacific.
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Apr
9
1950
Violette Neatley Anderson
Violette Neatley Anderson is the first African American woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
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Source: Blackfacts.com
Jan
29
1926
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