FEBRUARY 1, 1960:
Four black men planned a peaceful sit-in protest at Woolworth's in Downtown, Greensboro. Although the policy was only to serve white people, the four black men sat down at the
lunch table and refused to give up their seat. They later became known as
the Greensboro Four.
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FEBRUARY 2, 1897:
Alfred L. Cralle was awarded patent for the ice cream scooper. HIs invention was originally called the ice cream mold and disher.
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FEBRUARY 3, 1956:
Autherine J. Lucy, the first African-American woman to attend the University of Alabama, stepped on campus for the first time. By her third day, a white mob chased her while screaming and throwing things at her. She was taken home in a police car and later that day
she was suspended.
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FEBRUARY 4, 1986:
The Sojourner Truth stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
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FEBRUARY 5, 1990:
Barack Obama was named the first African-American president of the prestigious Harvard Law Review on or around this day.
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FEBRUARY 6, 1867:
The Peabody Fund was established by George Peabody. The fund provided money for states in the U.S. south in order to assist with educational efforts after the Civil War.
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FEBRUARY 7, 1926:
Carter G. Woodson launched "Negro History Week". Negro History Week later came to become Black History Month.
FEBRUARY 8, 1986:
Figure skater, Debi Thomas became the first African American to win the Women's Singles of the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship competition.
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FEBRUARY 9, 1995:
Bernard Harris became the first African American to walk in space.
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FEBRUARY 10, 1989:
Ron Brown was elected chairman of the Democratic national Committee, becoming the first African American to hold the top Democratic or Republican Party position.
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FEBRUARY 11, 1958:
Ruth Carol Taylor became the first African American to serve as a flight attendant. She was a flight attendant for Mohawk Airlines on a flight from Ithaca to New York.
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FEBRUARY 12, 1909:
The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was founded in New York City.
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FEBRUARY 13, 1970:
Joseph L. Searles III became the first black floor member and floor broker. in the New York Stock Exchange.
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FEBRUARY 14, 1867:
Morehouse College was founded in Augusta, GA as the Augusta Institute. It later moved to Atlanta, GA.
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FEBRUARY 15, 1968:
Henry Lewis became the first African American to lead a symphony orchestra in the United States.
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FEBRUARY 16, 2018:
Black Panther, Marvel's first predominately Black superhero movie, was released. Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman, lived in a fictional thriving country in Africa called Wakanda.
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FEBRUARY 17, 1973:
The Navy frigate USS. Jesse L. Brown was commissioned. The ship was named for Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the first African American to complete the U.S. Navy flight training.
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FEBRUARY 18, 2006:
Shani Davis became the first Black athlete to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Olympic Winter Games by winning the 1000m speed skating event.
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FEBRUARY 19, 2002:
Vonetta Flowers became the first Black gold medalist in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. She and her partner, Jill Brakken, won the inaugural women's two person bobsled event.
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FEBRUARY 20, 1929:
Wallace Thurman's first play "Harlem" opened at the Apollo Theatre and later featured on Broadway.
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FEBRUARY 21, 1968:
Otis Redding, and African American singer/songwriter, had his first entry on the UK singles chart when "(Sittin' On) The Dock of The Bay" entered the chart. The song became the first posthumous ingle to top the chart in the U.S.
FEBRUARY 22, 1989:
DJ jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince won the first rap Grammy for the hit single "Parents Just Don't Understand".
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FEBRUARY 23, 1965:
Constance Baker Motley was elected Manhattan Borough president, becoming the first African-American woman to hold that position.
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FEBRUARY 24, 1864:
Rebecca Davis Lee (Crumpler) became the first Black American woman to earn a degree in medicine., awarded by the New England Female Medical College.
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FEBRUARY 25, 1948:
Martin Luther King, Jr. was ordained, at the age of nineteen, as a minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
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FEBRUARY 26, 1966:
Andrew Brimmer became the first African American governor of the Federal Reserve Board when he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on or around this day.
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FEBRUARY 27, 1872:
Charlotte E. Ray graduated from Howard Law School, becoming the first female African-American lawyer in the United States.
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FEBRUARY 28, 1984:
Michael Jackson won eight Grammy Awards, breaking the record of most Grammy Awards won in one night.
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