Celebrating Black History Month

This week in Black History

February 21 – February 29

February 21

On this day in 1965, the controversial and charismatic leader of Islam, Malcolm X, was assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York.
On this day in 1933, singer Eunice Waymon, also known as Nina Simone, was born in North Carolina.
On this day in 1936, Barbara Jordan, the first black woman elected to the House of Representatives, was born.
On this day in 1940, John Lewis, the founder and chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was born.
In 1961, black inventor Otis Boykin patens the Electrical Resistor. He is responsible for inventing the electrical device used in all guided missiles and IBM computers, in addition to 26 other electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart simulator (pacemaker).
In 1987 in Tampa, Florida, blacks rebel against authority after a black man was killed while in police custody.
On this date in 1992, Eva Jessye, the choral director for the first Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, died in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

February 22

On this day in 1888, painter Horace Pippin was born. Pippin was considered one of the major American painters of his day.
On this day in 1898, a black postmaster in Lake City, South Carolina was lynched and his wife and three daughters were shot.
On this day in 1911, the Bronze Muse died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote more than a dozen books and was the most famous female poet of her day. Harper was also an activist and social reformer and she founded the National Convention of Colored Women in 1864.
On this day in 1950, basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Irving was born in New York.
In 1989, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince win the first rap Grammy for their hit single, “Parents Just Don’t Understand.”

February 23

On this day in 1868, William Edward Burghardt DuBois was born in Great Barrington, Mass. DuBois became an educator and Civil Rights advocate.
On this day in 1929, baseball catcher Elston Gene Howard was born in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1965, Howard signed a $70,000 contract with the New York Yankees becoming the highest paid player in the history of baseball at that time.
In 1979, Frank E. Peterson, Jr., was named the first black general in the Marine Corps.
In 1995, Bass singer Melvin Franklin, of The Temptations, died from complications of a brain seizure. He was 53.

February 24

On this day in 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an M.D. Crumpler graduated from the New England Female Medical College.
On this day in 1940, former world heavyweight boxing champ Jimmy Ellis was born in Louisville, Kentucky.

February 25

On this day in 1975, the leader of Islam, Elijah Muhammad, died at the age of 77 in Chicago. He was succeeded by his son, Wallace D. Muhammad.
On this day in 1978, retired Air Force General Daniel “Chappie” James, Jr., the first black man promoted to four-star rank in the Air Force Academy, died.
On this day in 1989, Mike Tyson won the Heavyweight Championship by defeating Frank Bruno of England.
The first black woman to die in combat in the Persian Gulf War, Adrienne Mitchell, was killed on this day in 1991, in Saudi Arabia.

February 26

On this day in 1928, singer Fats Domino was born.
On this day in 1933, actor and comedian Godfrey Cambridge was born in New York.
On this day in 1946, in Columbia, Tennessee, two people were killed and 10 wounded in a race riot.
On this day in 1964, the Kentucky-born boxer known as Cassius Clay, changed his name to Muhammad Ali after rejecting Christianity and embracing the Nation of Islam.
On this day in 1965, Civil Rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson died of his injuries reportedly inflicted by police officers in Marion, Alabama.
On this day in 1966, Andrew Brimmer became the first black governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
On this day in 1985, black artists dominated at the Grammy Awards winning in several major categories including Lionel Richie, Tina Turner and The Pointer Sisters.

February 27

On this day in 1872, Charlotte Ray graduates from Howard Law School. She becomes the first black lawyer in the United States.
In 1883, inventor Walter B. Purvis patents the hand stamp.
Black inventor Richard Spikes invented the automatic gear shift in 1932.
On this day in 1964, Anna Julia Cooper, a champion for the rights of black women died at the age of 105.
On this day in 1977, comedian Eddie Rochester Anderson died at the age of 71.
On this day in 1984, pop superstar Michael Jackson won eight Grammy Awards for his second solo album, Thriller. Thriller made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the best selling and top grossing album to date.
In 1988, figure skater Debi Thomas became the first black person to win a winter Olympic medal at the Winter Olympic Games. At the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games, Thomas was the first and only black athlete to win an Olympic medal.
On this day in 1990, singer Cornelius Gunter, of the Coasters, was shot to death in Las Vegas, Nevada. Gunter joined the Coasters in 1957 and they later recorded Poison Ivy and Charlie Brown.

February 29

On this day in 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first black actor in history to win an Oscar for her portrayal of “Mammy” in Gone With The Wind.
On this day in 1945, football player and actor Charles Aaron “Bubba” Smith was born in Orange, Texas. Smith began his professional football career with the Baltimore Colts. He later played with the Houston Oilers and the Oakland Raiders before retiring and beginning his career as an actor.
On this day in 1968, actress and singer Juanita Hall died in New York.

– Facts taken from BlackFacts.com and list compiled by Monica Land