(Photo By Flickr User Eduardo Merille)
1839-Seminoles and their Black allies shipped from Tampa Bay, FL, to the West.
1870-Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi, sworn in as first Black U.S. senator and first Black representative in Congress.
1928-“One-Man Show of Art by Negro, First of Kind Here, Opens Today,” read the headline of a front-page article in ‘The New York Times’ on this day. The article announced the opening of Archibald J. Motley, Jr’s show at the New Gallery on Madison Avenue. This was the first time in History that an artist had made the front page of ‘The New York Times’ and it was the second one-person show by an African-American artist (the first being Henry O. Tanner). African scenes, voodoo dances, and African-Americans at leisure were themes presented by the artist.
1948-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ordained as a Baptist minister on this day
1964-Nat King Cole, the singer with the “Golden Voice”, dies. Also, Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) defeated Sonny Liston for world heavyweight boxing championship on this day
1971-President Nixon met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and appointed a White House panel to study a list of recommendations made by the group.
1975-Death of Elijah Muhammad (Elijah Poole), leader of the Nation of Islam, in Chicago, IL. He was succeeded by his son, Wallace D. Muhammad.
1978-Death of Daniel (“Chappie”) James Jr., retired Air Force general and the first Black promoted to four-star rank, at the Air Force Academy, Colorado.
1980-Robert E. Hayden, poet and poetry consultant to the Library of Congress, dies.
1987-Edward Daniel Nixon, former president of the Georgia NAACP, died at age 87.
1989-Boxer Mike Tyson, becomes the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World by defeating challenger Frank Bruno of England.
1991-Adrienne Mitchell, first African-American woman to die in combat in the Persian Gulf War, is killed in her military barracks in Dharan, Saudi Arabia.
1998-R. Kelly’s hit single “I Believe I Can Fly” win Best Male R&B Vocal, Best Song Written for TV or a Movie and Best R&B Song Grammy Awards.
1999-White supremacist John King, one of three white men accused of chaining James Byrd to a pickup and dragging him along a Texas road until he was decapitated, was sentenced to death by lethal injection. If his death penalty is carried out, he will be the first white Texan executed for killing a black since slavery ended.
Black History Scope For February 26th:
1869-Fifteenth Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote sent to the states for ratification.
1870-Wyatt Outlaw, Black leader of the Union League in Alamance County, N.C., Lynched.
1877-At a conference in the Wormley Hotel in Washington, representatives of Rutherford B. Hayes and representatives of the South negotiated agreement which paved the way for the election of Hayes as president and the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.
1884-Birthday of Congressman James E. O’Hara of North Carolina. First elected March 4, 1833, O’Hara served two terms, the second ending March 3, 1887.
1920-Carter Godwin Woodson (1875-1950) founded “Associated Publishers.” In February 1926, he announced the institution of Negro History Week, which coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In 1976, the observance was expanded to “National Afro-American History Month,” in honor of the nation’s bicentennial. Beginning in 1975, U.S. Presidents have paid tribute to the mission of the association and urged all Americans to celebrate Afro-American History Month.
1928: Singer Antoine Dominique “Fats” Domino, Jr. is born in New Orleans, LA on this day.
1933: Godfrey Cambridge (1933-1976), actor and comedian born in New York City, NY on this day.
1946: A Race riot happened in Columbia, TN on this day. Two people were killed and ten were wounded.
1965: Jimmie Lee Jackson, civil rights activist, died of injuries reportedly inflicted by officers in Marion, AL on this day.
1966: Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African-American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he is appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on this day.
1985: On this day at the Grammy Awards ceremony, African-American musicians won awards in several categories. Lionel Richie’s “Can’t Slow Down” won best album of 1984, Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” took the best record slot and earned her the title Best Female Pop Vocalist, and The Pointer Sisters won best Pop Group for their song “Jump (For My Love).”
For more African-American History artifacts, log online to www.blackfacts.com right now!!
Thanks for trekking with us; until next time, Stay Blessed!!
