WYBC celebrates Black History EVERYDAY!
Facts from www.blackfacts.com
September 1
1867 – Robert T Freeman becomes the first Black person to graduate from Harvard Dental School.
1975 – Gen. Daniel (“Chappie”) James Jr. promoted to rank of four-star general and named commander-in-chief of the North American Air Defense Command
September 2
1945 –Japanese surrendered on V-J Day, ending World War II
1975 –Joseph W. Hatchett sworn in as first Black supreme court justice in the South in the twentieth century
September 3
1838 – Frederick Douglass escapes from slavery disguised as a sailor.
1891 –John Stephens Durham, assistant editor of the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, named minister to Haiti
1895 –NAACP leader, Charles Hamilton Houston was born on this day
September 4
1848 – Inventor and engineer, Louis Latimer was born
1981 – Birthday of singer, Beyonce Knowles, of Destiny’s Child
September 5
1846 –Secretary of the American Negro Academy, John W Cromwell was born
1895 – Republican George Washington Murray was elected to Congress by South Carolina
September 6
1930 –Leander Jay Shaw, Jr., justice of the Florida State Supreme Court (1983), first African American chief justice (1990) in Florida, the second African American chief justice in any state supreme court
1967 –President Lyndon B. Johnson named Walter E. Washington commissioner and “unofficial” mayor of Washington, D.C
September 7
1930 –Sonny Rollins, a powerful force in jazz, is born
1954 – The start of Integration in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, MD public schools.
September 8
1875 – Mississippi governor requested federal troops to protect Black voters. Attorney General Edward Pierrepont refused the request and said “the whole public are tired of these annual autumnal outbreaks in the South
1901 – Roy Wilkins, second Executive Director of the NAACP, dies on this day
September 9
1908 – Richard Wright, noted author of Native Son and Black Boy, born on this day.
1915 – Association for the study of Negro Life and History founded by Carter G. Woodson
1957 –The first civil rights bill to pass Congress since reconstruction was passed by President Eisenhower
September 10
1884 – Congressman John R Lynch presided over the Republican National Convention
1913 –George W. Buckner, a physician from Indiana, named minister to Liberia
1973 –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
September 11
1959 – “Duke” Ellington won the Springarn Medal for his musical achievements
1977 – Quincy Jones wins an Emmy for musical composition for the miniseries Roots. It is one of nine Emmys for the series, an unprecedented number
September 12
1947 – First Black baseball player in the major leagues, Jackie Robinson, named National League Rookie of the Year
1992 –Dr. Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space when she launched from the Kennedy Center to join Spacelab J, a joint U.S.-Japanese mission
September 13
1881 – Lewis Latimer invented and patented an electric lamp with a carbon filament
1886 – Alain L Lovke, philosopher, born on this day.
1969 –Tyler Perry is an American actor, producer and director. He was born on this day as Emmitt Perry Jr
1953 –Tavis Smiley is a well-known talk show host and media personality was born
September 14
1940 –President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Selective Service Act, allowing Blacks to enter all branches of the US Military Service
1973 –American rapper Nas was born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones in Queens, New York
September 15
1830 – The first National Negro Convention began in Philadelphia
1852 –Inventor Jan E. Matzeliger was born in Dutch Guyana and immigrated to the US in 1878. He patented a shoe lasting machine in 1880.
1964 –Rev. K.L. Buford and Dr. Stanley Smith were elected to Tuskegee City Council and became first Black elected officials in Alabama in twentieth century
September 16
1848 –The French abolish Slavery in all their territories
1889 –Birthday in Sanford, Florida of Claude A. Barnett founder of the Associated Negro Press, the first and only Black news wire services in the US. Barnet, who died in 1967, was a 1906 graduate of Tuskegee Institute
September 17
1861 – First day of school for freed men founded at Fortress Monroe, Va., with a Black teacher, Mary Peake
1861 – Hampton Institute founded
September 18
1850 – Congress passed Fugitive Slave Law as part of the Compromise of 1850
1948 – Ralph J. Bunche confirmed by United Nations Security Council as acting UN mediator in Palestine
1971– Jada Pinkett Smith, actress, born
September 19
1865 – Atlanta University founded
1956 – First international conference of Black writers and artists met at the Sorbonne in Paris
1989 –First issue of Emerge magazine goes on sale
September 20
1830 – First Negro Convention of Free Men agreed to boycott slave-produced goods
1885 – Birthday of pianist Ferdinand “Jelly Roll” Morton in New Orleans, Louisiana
1984 –The Cosby Show premieres on NBC
September 21
1872 –John Henry Conyers of South Carolina became the first Black student at Annapolis Naval Academy.
1891 – Inventor, FW Leslie, patents the envelope seal
1905 – Atlanta Life Insurance co-founded
September 22
1863 – First Black person to serve on the DC board of education, Mary Church Terrell was born
1915 – Xavier University, first Black Catholic College in US, opened in New Orleans, LA
1952 –Daniel W. Yohannes, a businessman, philanthropist, and diplomat, was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
September 23
1863 – Mary Church Terrell, civil rights activist, born on this day
1926 –Innovative and famed jazz musician, John Coltrane was born
1954 – Playwright George C. Wolfe, born
September 24
1957 –Desegregation of Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas.
1977 –John T. Walker installed as the first Black bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington
September 25
1861 – Secretary of Navy authorized enlistment of slaves as Union sailors
1962 –Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson in the first round to become the world heavyweight boxing champion
1974–Barbara W Hancock becomes the first Black woman named a White House fellow
September 26
1867 –Business and civic leader, Maggie L Walker was born on this day
1968 –The Studio Museum of Harlem opens in NYC
September 27
1950 – Charles H. Houston awarded the Spingarn Medal posthumously for his pioneering work in developing the NAACP legal campaign
1954– School integration began in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Md., public schools
September 28
1986- Shirley Ajayi became the first African American given a part on a television show as a psychic. Her show lasted six months in Chicago as a seasonal show.
1991- Jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis died from complications following a stroke in California, at the age of 65.
September 29
1912 – WC Handy published “Memphis Blues,” the first Blues Song
1940 – Booker T. Washington, the first U.S. merchant ship commanded by a Black captain (Hugh Mulzac), launched at Wilmington, Delaware
1962 – President John F. Kennedy authorized use of federal troops in integration of University of Mississippi
1975 –First Black-owned television station in the United States, WGPR-TV in Detroit, begins broadcasting
September 30
1935 –John “Johnny” Royce Mathis, singer, was born in Gilmer, Texas
1975- Boxing legend Muhammad Ali won the “Thrilla in Manilla” fight against Joe Frazier.
1991- Mike Powell broke the world long jump record when he jumped 8.95 meters at a meet in Tokyo, Japan.
Facts from www.blackfacts.com