On This Month In Black History
February
| February | 1 | Black History Month begins |
| Jefferson Franklin Long becomes first Black person to speak in the House of Representatives as a congressman, 1871 | ||
| Langston Hughes, poet and author, born, 1902 | ||
| Carter G Woodson, the Father of Black History, initiates "Negro History Week", 1926 | ||
| Black college students stage a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, beginning the first of the historic sit-ins of the 1960s, 1960 | ||
| Ida B Wells, reformer who first gathered statistical records on lynchings in the US, commemorated on a postage stamp, 1990 | ||
| February | 2 | Ernest E Just, biologist, receives the Spingarn Medal for pioneering research on fertilization and cell division, 1914 |
| February | 3 | The 15th Amendment, providing for Black suffrage, ratified, 1870 |
| Jack Johnson, first Black heavyweight champion, wins the "Negro Heavyweight Title", 1903 | ||
| Autherine Lucy becomes the first Black student at University of Alabama, 1956 | ||
| Geraldine McCullough wins Widener Gold Medal for Sculpture, 1965 | ||
| February | 4 | The 24th Amendment, abolishing the poll tax, ratified, 1864 |
| Rosa Parks, initiator of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, born, 1913 | ||
| February | 5 | Henry "Hank" Aaron, the home run king of major league baseball, born, 1934 |
| Avowed White supremacist Byron de le Beckwith is convicted of Medger Evers' murder, more than thirty years after he was shot in the back from ambush, 1994 | ||
| February | 6 | First organized emigration of U.S. Blacks back to Africa, from New York to Sierra leone, takes place, 1820 |
| The Peabody Fund is established to promote Black education in the South, 1867 | ||
| Bob Marley, reggae god, born, 1945 | ||
| Arthur Ashe, first Black male to win Wimbledon, dies, 1993 | ||
| February | 7 | Grenada Independence Day |
| Eubie Blake, pianist, born in Baltimore, 1883 | ||
| Irwin C Mollison appointed judge of the US Customs Court by President Truman, 1945 | ||
| February | 8 | Three South Carolina State students are killed during segregation protests in Orangeburg, 1968 |
| February | 9 | Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, born, 1944 |
| Martin Luther King, civil rights activist, meets with President Lyndon Johnson to discuss Black voting rights, 1965 | ||
| Leroy "Satchel" Paige elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, 1971 | ||
| Bernard Harris becomes the first Black astronaut to take a spacewalk, dedicating it to the achievements of all African Americans, 1995 | ||
| February | 10 | Joseph Charles Rice, educator, born, 1854 |
| Leontyne Price, world renowed opera singer, born, 1927 | ||
| Roberta Flack, singer, born, 1940 | ||
| Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) founded, 1965 | ||
| Andrew Brimmer is appointed the first Black person to serve on the Federal Reserve Board, 1966 | ||
| Alex Haley, author of Roots, dies, 1992 | ||
| February | 11 | Clifford Alexander Jr becomes the first Black Secretary of the Army, 1977 |
| Nelson Mandela, South African president and politcal activist, released from prison after 27 years, 1990 | ||
| February | 12 | Issac Burns Murphy, jockey, dies, 1869 |
| NAACP founded after riot in Springfield, Il, 1909 | ||
| February | 13 | Andrew "Rube" Foster organizes The Negro Baseball League, the first Black baseball league, 1920 |
| The Renaissance, the first Black pro basketball team, organized, 1923 | ||
| Joseph L Searles becomes the first Black member of the New York Stock Exchange, 1970 | ||
| February | 14 | Frederick Douglass born, 1817 |
| Morehouse College founded as Augusta Institute, 1867 | ||
| Gregory Hines, actor and dancer, born, 1946 | ||
| February | 15 | US and African nationalists protesting the slaying of Congo Premier Patrice Lumumba disrupt UN sessions, 1961 |
| Nat King Cole, singer and pianist, dies, 1964 | ||
| February | 16 | Frederick Douglass, orator and activist, elected President of Freedman Bank and Trust, 1857 |
| Joe Fraizer knocks out Jimmy Ellis to become world heavyweight champion, 1970 | ||
| February | 17 | Huey Newton, founder of the Black Panther Party, born, 1942 |
| Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist, dies, 1982 | ||
| February | 18 | Gambia Independence Day |
| February | 19 | WEB Dubois, activist, organizes the first Pan-African Congress, 1919 |
| February | 20 | JF Pickering patents his airship invention, 1900 |
| Sydney Poitier, actor, born, 1927 | ||
| February | 21 | Lemuel Haynes, first Black minister to serve for a White congregation, becomes the first Black person to receivean honorary degree (an MA) from a White college (Middlebury College), 1804 |
| Malcolm X, activist and Black nationalist, assassinated, 1965 | ||
| February | 22 | St. Lucia Independence Day |
| Adam Clayton Powell, Jr, activist and chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, denied his congressional seat, 1967 | ||
| February | 23 | WEB Dubois, activist, born, 1868 |
| February | 24 | Bishop Daniel A Payne, reformer and educator of AME Church, born, 1811 |
| February | 25 | Martin Luther King Jr, activist and civil rights leader, is ordained as a Baptist minister, 1948 |
| Muhammad Ali defeats Sonny Liston for the heavyweight boxing championship, 1964 | ||
| February | 26 | Theodore "Georgia Deacon" Flowers becomes first Black middle-weight boxing champion, 1926 |
| Antoine "Fats" Domino, singer, born, 1928 | ||
| February | 27 | Dominican Republic Independence Day |
| Charlotte Ray, first Black female lawyer, born, 1850 | ||
| Marian Anderson, opera singer, born, 1902 | ||
| Debi Thomas, figure skater, becomes first Black American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics, 1988 | ||
| February | 28 | Michael Jackson, musician, wins eight grammy awards, 1984 |
Courtesy of seditionists.org