Linda Martell was a former country and blues artist who made her mark in the industry by becoming the first African-American woman to star in the Grand Ole Opry. Martell enjoyed a brief period of success but elected to raise her family and preserve her health instead of chasing down fame as a musician. Born […]
Tony Dungy, one of the NFL’s class acts, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last weekend making him the first African-American coach to achieve the honor. Dungy has already etched his name in the history annals by becoming the first African-American head coach to win a Super Bowl in the NFL. Dungy, […]
Matthew Henson is believed to be the first African-American explorer and is credited alongside Robert Edwin Peary as one of the first two men to reach the North Pole. Henson’s contributions to Peary’s expeditions went largely unnoticed up until his death in 1955, but history reveals that he was an invaluable assistant and explorer. Henson […]
The Red Summer of 1919 refers to a series of race riots that took place in dozens of cities across the United States. On this day that year, Washington, D.C. endured an ugly race riot that left dozens dead and several more injured. As World War I was becoming a memory, many former military men, […]
The matches between American boxer Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis and German Max “Black Uhlan of the Rhine” Schmeling defined the era of early 20th Century boxing. On this day in 1938, Louis defeated Schmeling and became the first Black heavyweight boxer of his rank to score a first-round knockout. Louis and Schmeling previously met […]
Today marks Youth Day across South Africa, which is meant to observe the start of the Soweto Uprising. Hector Pieterson, a youth shot and killed during the protests in 1976, was the centerpiece of one of the uprising’s most iconic images and helped to rally the world against the country’s racist Apartheid rule. The uprising […]
Ho Chi Minh, the famed Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader was instrumental in leading North Vietnam to eventual independence from French colonizers. According to historians, Ho was influenced partly by the teachings of Marcus Garvey during a stay in America. Ho Chi Minh was born Nguyễn Sinh Cung on May 19, 1890. Much of Ho’s early […]
Samuel Sharpe was a Jamaican preacher who led a 10-day slave revolt on the island nation that moved the British Empire to end slavery in 1833. The so-called “Baptist War” because of the denomination of many involved, or the “Christmas Rebellion of 1831,” left over several hundred slaves dead. Sharpe was born around 1801, according […]
Moneeta Sleet Jr. spent over four decades shooting some of Black America’s most lasting images for EBONY magazine. He is the first African-American to be…
