February 01

First Greensboro, NC Sit-In Took Place 

Black college students staged a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, in 1960 leading the Woolworth's Department Store Chain to reverse their policy of segregation.

Jefferson Franklin Long 

becomes first Black person to speak in the House of Representatives as a Congressman in 1871.

February 03

First Negro Baseball League 

The Southern League of Colored Base Ballists is founded in 1886. This was the first attempt to organize Negro professional baseball.

 

Jack  "Galveston Giant" Johnson

On February 3, 1903, Johnson won his first title as World Colored Heavyweight Champion. World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a title awarded to black boxers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was the only recognized heavyweight championship available to blacks prior to Jack Johnson winning the world heavyweight title in 1908.

February 04

Rosa Parks

The initiator of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Warren Moon

Becomes first Black quarterback to be inducted into the NFL (National Football League) Hall of Fame in 2006. During his 17 year NFL career, he played for the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, and Kansas City Chiefs. He is currently a member of the Seattle Seahawks’ official broadcast team.

February 05

Hank Aaron

The baseball home run king, known as, Hammerin Hank, was born 1934 in Mobile, Alabama.

Minnie Cox

Was born in Lexington, Mississippi in 1869. She was an educator and became the first Black postmistress in the U.S.

Willis Johnson

Willis Johnson of Cincinnati, Ohio, patented an improved mechanical egg beater (U.S. pat# 292,821) on this day in 1884. In fact, what Willis Johnson had really invented was an early mixing machine and not just an egg beater.

February 06

 Anne Spencer 

The poet was born in Henry County, Virginia in 1882.

Bob Marley

The Reggae singer-songwriter and musician was born in 1945 in Nine Mile, Jamaica. Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music.

Peabody Fund

The Peabody Fund is established by George Peabody in 1967 to promote Black education in the South. The rules of the Peabody Education Fund were strict, allowing for the distribution of about $80,000 per year over a period of thirty years.

February 07

Grenada

Gains independence from the United Kingdom in 1974 and Eric Matthew Gairy was named Prime Minister.

Irwin C Mollison

Appointed judge of the U.S. Customs Court by President Truman in 1945.

February 09

Alice Walker

Author of The Color Purple was born in 1944 in Eatonton, Georgia.

Barbara Lewis

Singer and songwriter is born in South Lyon, Michigan in 1943. She wrote all of the songs on her debut album, including the hit "Hello Stranger" which reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, Her smooth musical style is credited for influencing R & B.

Bernard Harris

Becomes the first Black astronaut to take a spacewalk in 1995, dedicating it to the achievements of all African Americans.

Leroy "Satchel" Paige

The pitching legend, known for his fast ball was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

February 10

Andrew Brimmer

Appointed the first Black person to serve on the Federal Reserve Board in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson.s

Joseph Charles Price

The educator and founder/first President of Livingston College, was born free in Elizabeth City, North Carolina in 1854.

Roberta Flack

The renowned singer was born in 1937 in Black Mountain, North Carolina.

February 11

Clifford Alexander Jr

Becomes the first Black Secretary of the Army in 1977 being appointed by President Jimmy Carter.

Nelson Mandela

South African president and political activist was released from prison in 1990 after 27 years for following his arrest and conviction of sabotage and other charges.

February 13

1857 - Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass elected President of Freedman Bank and Trust

February 14

Frederick Douglass

American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman was born in a slave cabin 1818 on the Eastern shore of Maryland.

Gregory Hines

Actor and dancer was born

in New York City, 1946.

Morehouse College

The all-male college was founded in 1867 as Augusta Theological Institute.

February 15

Henry Lewis

Becomes the first African American to lead a symphony in the U.S., leading the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in 1972.

Protest of Patrice Lumumba's Slaying

US and African nationalists protesting the slaying of Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba disrupt UN sessions in 1961.

February 16

February 17

Huey Newton

Founder of the Black Panther Party was born in 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan

Basketball legend was born in

Brooklyn, New York in 1963.

February 18

February 19

Vonetta Flowers

Vonetta Flowers became the first black gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. She and partner Jull Brakken won the inagural women's two-person bobsled event.

John Singleton

The film director becomes the first Black director to be nominated for two Academy Awards in 1991 for the film Boyz n the Hood, including Best Screenplay and Best Director.

WEB Dubois

Activist organizes the first Pan-African Congress in 1919 with 57 delegates representing 15 countries in attendance.

William "Smokey" Robinson

Singer and recording artist was born in

Detroit, Michigan in 1940

February 20

Frederick Augusta Douglass

Abolitionist and orator dies in

Washington, D.C. in 1895.

Sidney Poitier

The Academy Award winning actor was born in Miami, FL in 1927.

February 21

February 21, 1961 - Otis Boykin patents the Electrical Resistor

Otis Boykin, Inventor, patented the Electrical Resistor. U.S. 2,972,726 He is responsible for inventing the electrical device used in all guided missiles and IBM computers, plus 26 other electronic devices including a control unit for an artificial heart stimulator (pacemaker)

February 22

February 22, 1911

On this day, the "Bronze Muse" died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Frances Ellen Watkins Harper wrote more than a dozen books, including 'Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects'(1854); 'Moses, a Story of the Nile'(1869);and 'Sketches of Southern Life'(1872). Harper was the most famous female poet of her day and the most famous African-American poet of the 19th century.

February 23

February 23, 1868 - W.E.B. DuBois Born

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W.E.B. Du Bois) was born on this day.
 

February 24

Lauryn Hill

R&B and hip hop singer wins five Grammy Awards in 1999 including album of the year for The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. This represented the most Grammys a woman had ever received.

Rebecca Lee Crumpler

Becomes the first Black woman to earn a medical degree by graduating from the New England Female Medical College in 1864.

February 25

Albany State University
This historically black college was founded in 1903 by Joseph Winthrop Holley as the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute in Albany Georgia. The college, which played a significant role in the 1960 civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr

The activist and civil rights leader was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1947.

Muhammad Ali

Then known as Cassius Clay, Ali defeats Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing championship in 1964.

February 26

Antoine "Fats" Domino

The singer was born in New Orleans in 1928.

Theodore "Georgia Deacon" Flowers

Becomes first Black middle-weight boxing champion in 1926 at Madison Square Garden.

February 28

Bluefield State College

Originally Bluefield Colored Institute, the historically black college is founded in Bluefield, West Virginia in 1895 to serve the racially segregated public schools in the coal camps

Michael Jackson  wins eight Grammy awards in 1984 for the album Thriller.