On this Day in Black History

1599 - Oliver Cromwell born
1821 - The African Company performed Shakespeare's Richard III in New York City.
1831 - The New York and Harlem Railway was incorporated in New York City.
1872 - Minnie Lee Crosthwaite born
1874 - Guglielmo Marconi born
1917 - Esther Swirk Brown born
1918 - Ella Fitzgerald born
1923 - Albert Nelson (Albert King) born
1928 - Vassar Clements born
1932 - Gator Jackson born
1932 - Meadowlark Lemon born
1933 - Jerry Leiber born
1940 - Al Pacino born
1942 - Rubye Smith born
1944 - George Herriman (Krazy Kat) died
1944 - UNCF was incorporated
1944 - Dr. Frederick D. Patterson, President of (then) Tuskegee Institute, launched UNCF’s first national campaign to raise funds for twenty-seven small private, historically black colleges and universities.
1947 - Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first Black in the major leagues in modern times.
1950 - Charles "Chuck" Cooper became the first Black ever drafted by an NBA team (Boston Celtics)
1953 - "Nature" published an article by biologists Francis Crick and James Watson, describing the "double helix" of DNA.
1959 - Mack Parker is taken from jail by vigilantes in Poplarville, MS and lynched.
1960 - Consent judgment in Memphis federal court ended restrictions barring voters in Fayette County, TN. This was the first voting rights case under the Civil Rights Act.
1963 - Freedom Riders begin to test Southern compliance with court decisions.
1972 - Major General Frederic E. Davison was assigned command of the 8th Infantry in Europe; becoming the first African-American to lead a U.S. Army division
1974 - Gregg Allman's Solo Tour ended with a 90-minute encore featuring the Allman Brothers Band.
1990 - Dexter Gordon died
1999 - Roger Troutman died
2001 - Rev. Leon Sullivan, author of the Sullivan Principles, died
2002 - Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes (TLC) was killed in a car crash.
2003 - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela was sentenced to four years in prison for her conviction on fraud and theft charges.

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