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Black History ‑ This Day In History

African Americans have played a central role in shaping U.S. history. From slavery and its abolition to the Great Migration, the civil rights movement and military, scientific, cultural and political achievements, explore key moments, milestones and figures in Black History.
1968

“Star Trek” airs the interracial kiss heard around the universe

Black History
1835

New York Committee of Vigilance founded

Black History
1893

Pioneering Black doctor performs successful open‑heart surgery

Black History
1852

Frederick Douglass delivers his “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?” speech

Black History
1941

FDR signs order banning discrimination in the defense industry

Black History
1868

Martha Jones becomes first Black woman to receive a U.S. patent

Black History
1963

Martin Luther King Jr. writes “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

Black History
2015

Misty Copeland becomes American Ballet Theater’s first Black principal dancer

Black History
1992

Mae Jemison becomes first Black woman in space

Black History
1935

Harlem riot of 1935

Black History
1864

Rebecca Lee Crumpler becomes first Black woman to earn a medical degree

Black History
1854

First HBCU, Lincoln University, chartered

Black History
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