147 Fun Facts About Black History Month

Who was the first African American to earn a Harvard PhD?

W.E.B. Du Bois earned the first Harvard PhD awarded to an African American in 1895, with a dissertation on the suppression of the African slave trade to the United States.

In what year did "Negro History Week," the precursor to Black History Month, officially begin?

Historian Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History initiated "Negro History Week" in February 1926.

Members of the Black German community began observing the month in 1990 in which city?

Berlin's Black German community began observing Black History Month in 1990, with programmes covering Black Europeans, US civil rights history and apartheid-era South Africa.

In the United Kingdom, Black History Month is celebrated in which month?

While the United States and Canada observe Black History Month in February, the United Kingdom celebrates it in October.

February was chosen for Black History Month partly to coincide with which two figures' birthdays?

February holds Abraham Lincoln's birthday (the 12th) and the one Frederick Douglass chose for himself (the 14th); in 1897 Mary Church Terrell had Washington, D.C. schools observe a 'Douglass Day'.

In what year did President Gerald Ford recognize Black History Month?

By 1976 the month was already celebrated across the country; Ford's recognition came during the United States Bicentennial.

In what year did Carter G. Woodson co-found the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History?

Woodson co-founded the Association on September 9, 1915, during the Lincoln Jubilee exposition marking fifty years since emancipation; Negro History Week followed in 1926.

Students and educators at which university held the first celebration of Black History Month in February 1970?

Black United Students and Black educators at Kent State University proposed Black History Month in February 1969; the first celebration was held on the Kent campus in 1970.

Who co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History with Carter G. Woodson?

Moorland was a Congregational minister whose private library later seeded Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

In Jamaica, the February observance overlaps which celebration timed to Bob Marley's birthday?

Reggae Month, declared by Jamaica's government in 2008, fills February because Bob Marley was born on 6 February 1945; Dennis Brown, the 'Crown Prince of Reggae', was born on 1 February.

Whose motion led Canada's House of Commons to recognize February as Black History Month?

Augustine, the first Black woman elected to Canada's Parliament, represented Etobicoke—Lakeshore.

In what year was Black History Month first celebrated in the United Kingdom?

The British observance arrived six decades after the American one and, unlike it, is not held in February.

Carter G. Woodson earned his bachelor's degree from which college in 1903?

Woodson took his Bachelor of Literature from Berea College in Kentucky in 1903, a year before the state's Day Law barred the college from teaching Black and white students together.

Which week of February did the ASNLH originally designate for Negro History Week?

Woodson chose the second week of February so it bracketed Lincoln's birthday on the 12th and Douglass's on the 14th; only three state education departments cooperated in the first year.

Early in its history, Negro History Week gained crucial support from which kind of publication?

African-American newspapers lent crucial support early on, and churches helped distribute the literature, though the first week drew only a lukewarm response from state education departments.

In what year did Canada's House of Commons officially recognize February as Black History Month?

The House of Commons passed Jean Augustine's motion in December 1995; the Senate added its own unanimous recognition of February as Black History Month in March 2008.

Which Ghanaian analyst at the GLC led the creation of the UK's Black History Month?

Akyaaba Addai-Sebo, a Ghanaian-born special projects coordinator at the Greater London Council, organised Britain's first Black History Month in October 1987 and invited Kwanzaa founder Maulana Karenga to the launch.

Which US president issued the 1986 proclamation designating February as 'National Black (Afro-American) History Month'?

Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5443 in February 1986 after Congress passed Public Law 99-244, which designated February 1986 'National Black (Afro-American) History Month' and asked the president to proclaim it.

Which city issued the first Black History Month proclamation in its country, in 1979?

Toronto's proclamation in 1979 followed a petition from the Ontario Black History Society; it was Canada's first municipal proclamation of the month.

In what year did Carter G. Woodson establish the Negro History Bulletin?

In 1937, at the urging of Mary McLeod Bethune, Woodson established the Negro History Bulletin, which focused on the annual theme.

Black communities in which state, where Woodson often spoke, marked a full Negro History Month as early as the 1940s?

Black West Virginians, in a state where Woodson had taught and often spoke, celebrated February as Negro History Month by the 1940s; Chicago activist Fredrick H. Hammaurabi followed in the mid-1960s.

Black History Month Ireland, launched in 2010, began in which city?

Black History Month Ireland was launched in Cork in October 2010; like the UK, Ireland holds the observance in the autumn rather than February.

In the 1930s Negro History Week countered the 'lost cause' myth, which recast the Civil War as a war of what?

Lost Cause writers recast the Civil War as a 'war of Northern aggression' over states' rights rather than slavery; Woodson answered that controlling a man's thinking removes any worry about his actions.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2024?

ASALH's 2024 theme, African Americans and the Arts, honoured Black contributions to visual art, music, literature, fashion and film, from the Harlem Renaissance to hip-hop.

Which actor and director said 'I don't want a Black history month. Black history is American history'?

Morgan Freeman and actress Stacey Dash both criticised setting aside a single month; founder Carter G. Woodson himself wanted the study of a whole race, not a few great men.

The very first Black History Month celebration, in 1970, opened on which date?

Kent State's first Black History Month opened on January 2, 1970, and ran to February 28, organised by the university's Black United Students.

In what year did Omega Psi Phi introduce "Negro History and Literature Week"?

Omega Psi Phi, Woodson's own fraternity, introduced Negro History and Literature Week in 1924 and renamed it Negro Achievement Week in 1925; Woodson's Association launched Negro History Week nationally in 1926.

Which Canadian senator's 2008 motion recognised February as Black History Month nationally?

Oliver was the first Black man appointed to Canada's Senate; his 2008 motion passed unanimously.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2023?

ASALH's 2023 theme, Black Resistance, examined how African Americans have resisted oppression from slavery through Jim Crow to police violence, and how they built institutions of their own.

Ford's 1975 message noted the week was sponsored by the Association for the Study of what?

In 1975 the sponsor was the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History, the name it adopted in 1972 and kept until switching to 'African American' in 2001.

The UK's first Black History Month coincided with the 150th anniversary of which event?

The October 1987 launch fell in the 'African Jubilee Year' marking 150 years since Caribbean emancipation, the 1838 end of 'apprenticeship' for formerly enslaved people in the British West Indies.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2022?

ASALH's 2022 theme, Black Health and Wellness, honoured Black medical scholars, doctors, nurses, midwives and birth workers, and examined health disparities in Black communities.

Carter G. Woodson was born in 1875 to formerly enslaved parents in which US state?

Woodson, who was born in 1875 in Virginia to formerly enslaved parents, wanted to honor the heritage and achievements of Black Americans.

Which Black intellectual persuaded a fellow ASNLH co-founder to donate his library to Howard University in 1914?

Kelly Miller, then Howard's dean of arts and sciences, persuaded Jesse Moorland to donate his library in 1914; it became the Moorland Foundation and later the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2021?

ASALH's 2021 theme, The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity, explored the Black family across history, from separations under slavery to the range of modern household forms.

Which Canadian province has called February 'African Heritage Month' since 1996?

The first Black History Month in Nova Scotia was observed in 1988 and later renamed African Heritage Month in 1996.

Carter G. Woodson earned his PhD in history from which institution?

He finished the doctorate in 1912, only the 2nd African American to do so there.

The UK's first Black History Month was billed as the 'African Jubilee' partly for the centenary of whose birth?

Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica on 17 August 1887, so 1987 was his centenary; the African Jubilee Year also marked 25 years of the Organisation of African Unity, founded in 1963.

In what year did the province of Ontario proclaim February as Black History Month?

The Ontario Black History Society, which had won Toronto's proclamation in 1979, persuaded the province of Ontario to proclaim February as Black History Month in 1993.

Carter G. Woodson also launched which scholarly publication in 1916?

Woodson launched The Journal of Negro History in January 1916, a year after founding the ASNLH; it was renamed The Journal of African American History in 2002.

Carter G. Woodson spent 1903 to 1907 teaching for the US government in which country?

Woodson taught in the Philippines from 1903 to 1907 under the US War Department, supervising schools and learning Spanish, before travelling through Asia and Europe on his way home.

Which late-1960s struggle helped push the week-long observance toward becoming a full month?

The civil rights movement's Freedom Schools put Black history on the curriculum in 1964, and by the decade's end campus activists were turning Negro History Week into a full month.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2020?

ASALH's 2020 theme, African Americans and the Vote, traced Black voting struggles from Reconstruction through the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to modern fights over voter suppression.

In what year was the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) established?

The Ontario Black History Society was founded in Toronto in 1978 by Daniel G. Hill, Donna Hill and a small group of friends; its petition won Toronto's proclamation the next year.

Which US president issued the proclamation declaring February 1996 'National African American History Month'?

Bill Clinton proclaimed February 1996 'National African American History Month', the wording his successors kept; Reagan's 1986 proclamation had used 'National Black (Afro-American) History Month'.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2018?

ASALH's 2018 theme, African Americans in Times of War, marked the centenary of the end of the First World War and Black service from the Revolution to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Which state's education department cooperated with the first Negro History Week in 1926?

North Carolina's education department, with Delaware's and West Virginia's, was among the few state bodies that cooperated with the first Negro History Week in 1926; Baltimore and Washington, D.C. schools also took part.

What annual theme did ASALH set for the February observance in 2017?

ASALH's 2017 theme, The Crisis in Black Education, traced Black schooling from the outlawing of literacy under slavery through segregation to modern gaps in funding and discipline.

Who was the first Black player to win a Grand Slam tennis singles title?

Althea Gibson won the 1956 French Championships, then took both Wimbledon and the US Nationals in 1957 and 1958.

In what year did Alvin Ailey found his American Dance Theater?

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gave its first performance on March 30, 1958, at New York's 92nd Street Y; its signature work Revelations premiered in 1960.

Which magazine twice named Aretha Franklin the greatest singer of all time?

Rolling Stone put Aretha Franklin at number one on its 100 Greatest Singers list in 2008 and again on its 200 Greatest Singers list in 2023.

August Wilson's ten-play cycle chronicling Black life is named after which city?

Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle sets nine of its ten plays in the city's Hill District, where he grew up; each play covers a decade of the 20th century.

Which state did Barack Obama represent in the US Senate?

Barack Obama served as US senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008, resigning after winning the presidency.

Who was the principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington?

Bayard Rustin organised the 1963 March on Washington in under two months as its deputy director; he was also a pacifist, socialist and openly gay activist.

Which self-taught Black scientist published almanacs and worked as a surveyor?

Benjamin Banneker, born free in Baltimore County in 1731, published almanacs from 1792 to 1797 and helped survey the boundaries of the District of Columbia in 1791.

Which Jackie Wilson hit did Berry Gordy co-write before founding Motown?

Berry Gordy co-wrote 'Lonely Teardrops', Jackie Wilson's 1958 number-one R&B hit, with Roquel 'Billy' Davis and Gwen Gordy before founding Motown in 1959; he later wrote 'Money (That's What I Want)'.

Which body issued Bessie Coleman her pilot's license on June 15, 1921?

Bessie Coleman earned her licence from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale at a French flying school after American schools refused to train her; she was the first African-American woman to hold a pilot's licence.

Which musician gave Billie Holiday the nickname 'Lady Day'?

Saxophonist Lester Young, her close friend in the Count Basie orchestra, named Billie Holiday 'Lady Day'; she in turn dubbed him 'Prez', the President of the tenor saxophone.

Who co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey P. Newton in 1966?

Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton founded the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in Oakland in October 1966; Seale served as its chairman.

In which Virginia community was Booker T. Washington born into slavery in 1856?

Booker T. Washington was born on 5 April 1856 at the Burroughs farm in Hale's Ford, Franklin County, Virginia; the family was freed in 1865 and moved to Malden, West Virginia.

Where was the 10th Cavalry Regiment of Buffalo Soldiers formed on September 21, 1866?

The 10th Cavalry was organized at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on September 21, 1866, under Colonel Benjamin Grierson; Plains tribes are said to have given its troopers the 'Buffalo Soldiers' name.

Charles R. Drew's research improved techniques for storing what?

His large-scale blood banks saved thousands of Allied lives in World War II.

Which 1955 song was among Chuck Berry's first rock and roll hits?

'Maybellene', recorded for Chess in May 1955, was Chuck Berry's first hit, reaching number one on the R&B chart and number five on the pop chart.

On what date was the landmark law banning discrimination by race, sex and religion enacted?

President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on July 2, 1964; it outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin in employment and public accommodations.

Colin Powell served as which numbered US secretary of state?

Colin Powell was the 65th secretary of state, serving under George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005, and the first Black American to hold the office.

Which Stanford think tank did Condoleezza Rice become director of in 2020?

Condoleezza Rice became director of Stanford's Hoover Institution in September 2020, having earlier been the first woman to serve as national security advisor (2001-05) and then secretary of state.

Which activist led the National Council of Negro Women from 1957 to 1997?

Dorothy Height presided over the National Council of Negro Women for forty years, from 1957 to 1997, and stood on the platform at the 1963 March on Washington.

What was the vote in the 1857 'Dred Scott' decision?

Dred Scott v. Sandford was decided 7-2 in March 1857, with Chief Justice Taney writing the majority and Justices McLean and Curtis dissenting; Charles Evans Hughes later called it a 'self-inflicted wound'.

In what year did Duke Ellington's orchestra begin its residency at Harlem's Cotton Club?

Duke Ellington's orchestra opened at Harlem's Cotton Club on 4 December 1927; radio broadcasts from the club made the band nationally famous over the next four years.

Ella Baker was the primary advisor and strategist of which 1960s organization?

She mentored Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael and Bob Moses.

Ella Fitzgerald found early stability with which bandleader's orchestra?

Chick Webb hired the teenage Ella Fitzgerald for his orchestra in 1935 after she won an Apollo Theater amateur night; she took over the band when Webb died in 1939.

How old was Emmett Till when he was lynched in 1955?

Emmett Till was 14, a Chicago boy visiting relatives in Mississippi, when he was murdered on 28 August 1955; his killers' acquittal by an all-white jury drew worldwide attention.

Fannie Lou Hamer was vice-chair of which party that challenged Mississippi's delegation in 1964?

Fannie Lou Hamer was vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, whose challenge to the state's all-white delegation at the 1964 Democratic convention she carried in televised testimony.

When was the Fifteenth Amendment, protecting the right to vote, ratified?

The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870, barring denial of the vote 'on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude'; it was the last of the three Reconstruction Amendments.

What was Douglass's surname at birth?

Frederick Douglass was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey in Talbot County, Maryland, around February 1818; he adopted 'Douglass' after escaping slavery in 1838.

Garrett Morgan used his 'smoke hood' invention in a 1916 rescue where?

Garrett Morgan wore his safety hood to rescue workers trapped by a gas explosion in the tunnel construction disaster under Lake Erie at Cleveland's waterworks on 25 July 1916; he patented a three-position traffic signal in 1923.

George Washington Carver promoted alternatives to which crop to prevent soil depletion?

George Washington Carver urged Southern farmers to rotate cotton, which exhausts soil nitrogen, with peanuts and sweet potatoes; he taught at Tuskegee Institute from 1896.

About how many Black Americans left the rural South during the Great Migration?

About six million Black Americans left the rural South for Northern, Midwestern and Western cities between 1910 and 1970, in what became known as the Great Migration.

Which store chain was the main target of the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins?

The F. W. Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, where four North Carolina A&T students sat down on 1 February 1960, became the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in 2010.

Who was the first African American to go to space?

Guion 'Guy' Bluford flew on shuttle Challenger's STS-8 mission in August 1983; a USAF fighter pilot who rose to colonel, he made four shuttle flights.

For which book did Gwendolyn Brooks become the first African American to win a Pulitzer?

Annie Allen, Brooks's 1949 verse sequence about a Black girl growing up in Chicago, won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, the first Pulitzer awarded to an African American.

Which state pageant did Halle Berry win in 1986?

Halle Berry, raised in Cleveland, won Miss Ohio USA in 1986 and went on to be first runner-up at Miss USA that year.

Besides the Braves, which team did Hank Aaron play his final two seasons for?

Hank Aaron returned to Milwaukee, where the Braves had begun his career, to play for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1975 and 1976, closing a 23-season career with 755 home runs.

Who edited the 1925 anthology 'The New Negro'?

Alain Locke, the first Black Rhodes Scholar and a Howard philosophy professor, edited The New Negro in 1925, earning the title 'dean' of the Harlem Renaissance.

Roughly how many missions did Harriet Tubman make to rescue enslaved people?

Harriet Tubman made about 13 trips back to Maryland's Eastern Shore between 1850 and 1860, guiding roughly 70 enslaved people, including her parents, to freedom.

Hattie McDaniel won her Oscar for playing which character?

Hattie McDaniel won Best Supporting Actress for playing Mammy in Gone with the Wind at the February 1940 ceremony, the first Oscar won by a Black performer; she appeared on a US stamp in 2006.

Which federal law, as amended, defines an HBCU as an institution founded before 1964?

The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended in 1986, defines an HBCU as an accredited institution established before 1964 whose principal mission was the education of Black Americans; most were founded after the Civil War.

Which HBCU became the first to receive an R1 research designation, in 2025?

Howard University, federally chartered in 1867 and based in Washington, D.C., became the first HBCU classified R1 ('very high research activity') in the February 2025 Carnegie update.

Ida B. Wells was among the founders of which organization?

Ida B. Wells, the anti-lynching journalist, was among the signers of the call that founded the NAACP, though she was left off its first executive committee.

Which position did Jackie Robinson play in his April 15, 1947 debut?

Jackie Robinson played first base in his Brooklyn Dodgers debut on April 15, 1947, moving to second base the next season; he was the first Black player in the majors since the 1880s.

Which 1953 James Baldwin novel did Time rank among the top 100 English-language novels?

Go Tell It on the Mountain, Baldwin's semi-autobiographical 1953 debut about a Harlem teenager and his preacher stepfather, made Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels since 1923.

How many gold medals did Jesse Owens win at the 1936 Olympics?

Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics: the 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump and 4x100 metres relay.

With which band was Hendrix inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992?

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992; the Hall's citation called him 'arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music'.

John Lewis represented which state in the US House from 1987 to 2020?

John Lewis represented Georgia's 5th congressional district, covering much of Atlanta, from 1987 until his death in July 2020.

Which general ordered final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865?

Major General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 at Galveston on June 19, 1865, announcing that all enslaved people in Texas were free; the date became Juneteenth.

Kamala Harris served as which numbered US vice president?

Kamala Harris was the 49th vice president, serving under Joe Biden from 2021 to 2025, and the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American in the office.

Which astronaut's orbital flight relied on Katherine Johnson's calculations?

John Glenn asked for Katherine Johnson to re-check the electronic computer's orbital calculations by hand before his February 1962 Friendship 7 flight; she had earlier computed Alan Shepard's 1961 trajectory.

Ketanji Brown Jackson is the first Supreme Court justice with what prior job?

Ketanji Brown Jackson worked as an assistant federal public defender in Washington from 2005 to 2007, making her the first former public defender on the Court; she is also its first Black woman and sixth woman.

Langston Hughes was born in which Missouri town?

Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, on February 1, 1901, and spent much of his childhood with his grandmother in Lawrence, Kansas; he was an early innovator of jazz poetry.

Lewis Latimer improved manufacturing of which light-bulb component?

Lewis Latimer patented a cheaper process for making carbon filaments in 1882, which lengthened bulb life, before joining the Edison Electric Light Company in 1884.

Which Arkansas governor tried to block the Little Rock Nine in 1957?

Orval Faubus sent the Arkansas National Guard to keep nine Black students out of Little Rock Central High in September 1957; Eisenhower's Executive Order 10730 federalized the Guard and sent in the 101st Airborne.

For which song did Louis Armstrong win a 1965 Grammy for Best Male Vocal?

'Hello, Dolly!' topped the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1964, displacing the Beatles, and won Armstrong the 1965 Grammy for Best Vocal Performance, Male.

Which 1967 Supreme Court case struck down bans on interracial marriage?

Loving v. Virginia (1967) unanimously struck down Virginia's ban on interracial marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection and Due Process clauses, voiding such laws in 16 states.

Guinness records Madam C. J. Walker as America's first woman to become what?

Guinness World Records lists Madam C. J. Walker as America's first female self-made millionaire; her fortune came from hair-care products for Black women sold by a network of 'Walker agents'.

Aboard which shuttle did Mae Jemison fly in 1992?

Mae Jemison flew aboard Endeavour on STS-47, a joint mission with Japan that orbited Earth for nearly eight days in September 1992, becoming the first Black woman in space.

Malcolm X served as Nation of Islam spokesperson from 1952 until what year?

Malcolm X broke with the Nation of Islam in March 1964, twelve years after joining its ministry in 1952; he then embraced Sunni Islam and made the Hajj that spring.

Which two singers both performed at the 1963 March on Washington?

Marian Anderson sang 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands' and Mahalia Jackson 'How I Got Over' at the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963.

Marcus Garvey declared himself Provisional President of what?

At the UNIA's first international convention in New York in August 1920, Marcus Garvey was elected 'Provisional President of Africa', a title for a continent he never visited.

What was Martin Luther King Jr.'s first name at birth?

King was born Michael King Jr. on January 15, 1929; his father changed both their names to Martin Luther in 1934 after a trip to Germany, inspired by the Reformation leader.

Matthew Henson accompanied which explorer on Arctic voyages for nearly 23 years?

Matthew Henson joined Robert Peary in 1887 and accompanied him on seven Arctic expeditions; their 1908-09 expedition claimed the North Pole on April 6, 1909.

How many autobiographies did Maya Angelou publish?

Maya Angelou published seven autobiographies, from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969) to Mom & Me & Mom (2013); she also received more than 50 honorary degrees.

Medgar Evers was the NAACP's first field secretary in which state?

Medgar Evers became the NAACP's first field secretary in Mississippi in 1954; a World War II Army veteran, he was assassinated outside his Jackson home in June 1963.

How many NBA championships did MJ win with the Bulls?

Michael Jordan won six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, in 1991-93 and 1996-98, and was Finals MVP each time.

Besides music, in which art form was Miles Davis also active?

Miles Davis took up painting and sketching in the 1980s, exhibiting his work and using it on album covers such as Amandla (1989); in music he pioneered cool jazz, modal jazz and fusion.

Which federal ruling ended the Montgomery bus boycott on December 20, 1956?

In Browder v. Gayle the Supreme Court affirmed on November 13, 1956, that Montgomery's bus segregation was unconstitutional; the order reached the city on December 20, ending the 381-day boycott.

Under what name was Motown founded on January 12, 1959?

Berry Gordy founded Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, with an $800 family loan; the company was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in April 1960.

During which years was Muhammad Ali the undisputed heavyweight champion?

Ali regained the undisputed title by knocking out George Foreman in Kinshasa on October 30, 1974, and held it until Leon Spinks outpointed him in February 1978; his 1978 reign after beating Spinks was WBA-only.

In what year was the NAACP formed?

The NAACP was founded in New York on February 12, 1909, Lincoln's centenary, by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington and Ida B. Wells.

In which Virginia county did Nat Turner's 1831 rebellion take place?

Nat Turner's rebellion broke out in Southampton County, Virginia, on August 21, 1831, killing around 55 white people before it was suppressed; it was the deadliest slave revolt in US history.

Which title did Nina Simone's stage presence earn her?

Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in 1933, was billed the 'High Priestess of Soul', a title that stuck after her 1967 album of that name.

Which cable network did Oprah Winfrey launch in January 2011?

OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, launched on January 1, 2011, as a joint venture between Harpo and Discovery, replacing the Discovery Health Channel.

Percy Julian was the first to synthesize which natural product?

Percy Julian completed the first total synthesis of physostigmine, a glaucoma drug, in 1935 at DePauw; he later pioneered making progesterone and testosterone from soybean sterols.

In which city was Phillis Wheatley's 1773 poetry collection first published?

Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published in London in 1773 under the patronage of the Countess of Huntingdon after Boston printers declined it; it was the first book published by an African-American author.

Which doctrine did 'Plessy v. Ferguson' establish in 1896?

Brown v. Board partially overruled it in 1954.

Prince pioneered a musical style named after which city?

Minneapolis sound was Prince's creation, and Minneapolis was also where he was born and raised.

Who was the first Black Nobel laureate?

Ralph Bunche won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the 1949 armistice agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbours, the first Black laureate in any category.

Which Ralph Ellison novel won the National Book Award in 1953?

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel about an unnamed Black narrator's journey from the South to Harlem, won the National Book Award for Fiction in 1953, beating Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.

Which painter depicted Ruby Bridges in 'The Problem We All Live With'?

Norman Rockwell painted The Problem We All Live With for Look magazine in 1964, showing six-year-old Ruby Bridges escorted by US marshals into William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans in 1960.

How long is the highway route of the Selma to Montgomery marches?

The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail follows 54 miles of US Route 80; the third march covered it in five days, March 21-25, 1965, after Bloody Sunday on March 7.

Which Brooklyn neighborhood centered Shirley Chisholm's congressional district?

Shirley Chisholm's 12th district was centred on Bedford-Stuyvesant, where she was raised; she won it in 1968 as the first Black woman elected to Congress.

Sidney Poitier, the first Black Best Actor Oscar winner, was also the first winner from which country?

Sidney Poitier, raised on Cat Island in the Bahamas, won Best Actor for Lilies of the Field at the April 1964 ceremony, the first Black winner and the first Bahamian.

How many Olympic medals had Simone Biles won by the end of the 2024 Paris Games?

By the close of Paris 2024 Simone Biles had 11 Olympic medals, seven gold, two silver and two bronze, across the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Games, on top of 30 World Championship medals.

Sojourner Truth escaped slavery in which state?

Sojourner Truth, born Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, New York, walked away from her enslaver in 1826, a year before New York's emancipation law took effect; in 1828 she won her son back in court.

On what date was the Thirteenth Amendment ratified?

The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865, when Georgia became the 27th of the then 36 states to approve it, abolishing slavery except as punishment for crime.

Which organization did Thurgood Marshall lead before joining the Supreme Court?

Thurgood Marshall founded and led the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1940 to 1961, arguing Brown v. Board of Education before the Court he joined in 1967 and served on until 1991.

What was Toni Morrison's first novel, published in 1970?

The Bluest Eye, published in 1970 while Morrison worked as an editor at Random House, follows Pecola Breedlove in 1940s Ohio; Morrison won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993.

Which Tulsa district was destroyed in the 1921 race massacre?

Tulsa's Greenwood district, known as 'Black Wall Street', was burned over May 31 and June 1, 1921, with more than 35 square blocks destroyed and as many as 300 people killed.

The Tuskegee Airmen formed which fighter group?

The Tuskegee Airmen flew as the 332nd Fighter Group, whose red-tailed Mustangs escorted bombers over Europe from 1944; the 99th, 100th, 301st and 302nd squadrons made up the group, and they also formed the 477th Bombardment Group.

Which Black inventor patented an automatic lubricator for steam engines in 1872?

Elijah McCoy, a Michigan railroad fireman, patented an automatic oil cup that lubricated steam engines while they ran in 1872; his name is one claimed origin of the phrase 'the real McCoy'.

Which president signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965?

Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, five months after the Selma marches; it banned literacy tests and sent federal examiners to register Black voters in the South.

In which Massachusetts town was W. E. B. Du Bois born?

W. E. B. Du Bois was born in Great Barrington, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, on February 23, 1868, and grew up in its small, relatively tolerant Black community.

Which childhood illness did Wilma Rudolph overcome before winning Olympic gold?

Wilma Rudolph contracted polio as a small child and wore a leg brace for years; she went on to win three golds at the 1960 Rome Games in the 100 m, 200 m and 4x100 m relay.

Which 1937 Zora Neale Hurston novel follows Janie Crawford through three marriages in Florida?

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), following Janie Crawford through three marriages in Florida, is Hurston's best-known novel; she also researched Hoodoo in New Orleans and Vodou in Haiti.

Which Lorraine Hansberry play took its title from Langston Hughes's poem 'Harlem'?

A Raisin in the Sun made Hansberry the first Black American woman to have a play performed on Broadway; she won the Drama Critics' Circle Award at 29.

Which inventor's 1883 shoe-lasting machine transformed footwear manufacturing?

Jan Matzeliger, a Surinamese immigrant working in Lynn, Massachusetts, patented his shoe-lasting machine on March 20, 1883; it attached soles to uppers in seconds, slashing the price of shoes.

Which Alice Walker novel made her the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer for Fiction?

The Color Purple, published in 1982, won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award; Walker grew up in Eatonton, Georgia, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1965.

In 1995 Octavia E. Butler became the first science-fiction writer to receive which honour?

Octavia E. Butler received a MacArthur Fellowship, the 'genius grant', in 1995, the first science-fiction writer so honoured; born in Pasadena, she also won Hugo, Locus and Nebula awards.