1704 - A school for African Americans is opened in New York City by Elias Neau, a Frenchman.
1708 - A slave revolt occurs in Newton, Long Island in New York State. Seven whites are killed. Two African American male slaves and an Indian slave are hanged, and an African American woman is burned alive.
1776 - George Washington, in his letter of acknowledgment to Phyllis
Wheatley for a poem she wrote for his birthday, says, "I thank you most sincerely for...the elegant line you enclosed...the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetic talents."
1778 - Rhode Island General Assembly in precedent-breaking act authorizes the enlistment of slaves.
1784 - Phyllis Wheatley, poet, passed away.
1854 - Some 50 slavery opponents meet in Ripon, Wisconsin, to call for the creation of a new political group, which will become the Republican Party.
1859 - Arkansas legislature requires free African Americans to choose between exile and enslavement.
1871 - Second Enforcement Act gave federal officers and courts control of registration and voting in congressional elections.
1895- Bluefield State College was founded. One of over 100 historically black colleges and universities in America, it was established as a Black teachers college by an act of the West Virginia Legislature. In February of that year, Senator William M. Mahood sponsored the bill.
1942 - Riots against African Americans occur in Detroit, Michigan at the Sojourner Truth Homes.
1943 - "Porgy and Bess" opens on Broadway with Anne Brown and Todd Duncan in starring roles.
1945 - Charles "Bubba" Smith was born in Beaumont, Texas. He became a professional football player with the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and the Houston Oilers. After a successful football career, he moved on to become an actor in the "Police Academy" series. He also became the president and CEO of Vital Aircraft Company, which solicits the Department of Defense for government contracts. He also endowed an engineering scholarship at his alma mater, Michigan State University.
1946-The Indianapolis Clowns baseball organization was founded. They were one of the many teams that played in the Negro leagues of America.
1956 - Adrian Dantley was born. He became a professional basketball player and star with the Utah Jazz. He will be their top scorer in 1981 and 1984.
1962 - Rae Dawn Chong was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She was an actress in movies like "Quest for Fire."
1967 - Wilt Chamberlain sets a NBA record with his 35th consecutive field goal.
1968 - Frankie Lymon, a Rock and Roll singer who became a star with his teenage group, "The Teenagers," passed away at the age of 25 after a drug overdose. Check out footage of Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers performing their hit "Why do fools fall in love":
There is also a biopic about Frankie Lymon called "Why do fools fall in love."
1977 - Eddie "Rochester" Anderson joins the ancestors at the age of 71. Born in Oakland, California, to a theatrical family, Anderson's guest appearance in a 1937 Jack Benny Easter show grew to be a 30-year career on the popular radio, and later television, program.
1984 - Singer Michael Jackson won eight Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, breaking the previous record of six awards won by a single artist in 1965. Jackson's awards stemmed from his album "Thriller," which became the biggest selling record of all time with 35 million copies sold since its release in 1982.
1991 - "The Content of our Character," the controversial book on affirmative action and race relations by Shelby Steele, wins the National Book Critics Circle Award.
1998 - Todd Duncan joins the ancestors at his home in Washington, DC, at the age 95.
2003- Klansman Ernest Avants was found guilty of slaying Ernest White, a black sharecropper, more than thirty years ago. The trial and verdict took place in Jackson, Mississippi for a crime prosecutors say was staged to lure Martin Luther King Jr. to the southern part of the state to be assassinated.
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