Begin Black History Month, noting a few significant dates throughout the month of February!
Feb. 1 – In 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson introduced Negro History and launched Negro History week to bring national attention to contributions of Black people throughout history. This effort became a month-long celebration in 1976 as designated by US President Gerald Ford.
Feb. 2 – Alfred L. Cralle observed the difficulty in serving ice cream while working in Pittsburgh. Cralle invented the device now known as the ice cream scoop and was granted U.S. Patent #576395 on February 2, 1897.
Feb. 4 – Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks was born 2/4/1913, and Tony Dungy became the first African American NFL Coach to win a Super Bowl on 2/4/2007.
Feb. 5 – Baseball Hall of Famer renowned for surpassing the homerun record of Babe Ruth, Henry “Hank” Aaron was born in 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. In 1994, Ku Klux Klan member Byron De La Beckwith was finally convicted of the 1963 murder in Mississippi of Medgar Evers, civil rights leader.
Feb. 6 – Grammy Award Winner Natalie Cole was born to jazz singer and pianist Nat King Cole in 1950.
Feb. 9 – In 1995, Bernard Harris became the first African American to walk in space.
Feb. 11 – After spending 27 years as a political prisoner of the South African government, Nelson Mandela was released in 1990. Four years later, Mandela would become the country’s first black President.
Feb. 12 – Henry Highland Garnet, an orator and abolitionist, became the first Black permitted to speak in the US Capitol as he preached before the US House of Representatives in 1865, on the 56th birthday of US President Abraham Lincoln.
In 1990, the lyrics for “Lift Every Voice and Sing” were written by James Weldon Johnson.
Feb. 14 – Renowned orator, abolitionist, editor, author, and statesman, Frederick Douglass was born in 1818 in Cordova, Maryland. Enslaved until September 3, 1838, Douglass escaped to become a licensed preacher in 1839.
Feb. 17 – One of the NBA’s greatest players, Michael Jordan, was born in 1963 in Brookly, New York.
Feb. 18 – Morehouse College was founded in Augusta, Georgia in 1867 before moving to Atlanta in 1879.
Feb. 20 – In 1927, Sidney Portier was born and later became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award in a leading role. NBA great and sports analyst Charles Barkley was born in 1963.
Feb. 21 – In 1965, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, or Malcom X, was assassinated in Harlem.
Feb. 24 – In 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first Black to earn an M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) by the New England Female Medical College.
Feb. 25 – In 1870, Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi was the first Black sworn in the serve in the US Senate becoming the first Black to serve in the United States Congress.
Feb. 27 – In 1872, Charlotte Ray graduated from Howard Law School and became the first African American female lawyer.
Feb. 28 – Michael Jackson won 8 Grammy Awards for the still record-setting album, Thriller.