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First African Slaves Arive in the New World
In the late summer of 1619, a Dutch ship brought 20 Africans ashore at the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia, slavery spread quickly through the American colonies. -
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Black History Milestones
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First school for African Americans
Rev. Samuel Thomas, a white cleric in Charleston, South Carolina, establishes the first school for African Americans in the British North American colonies. - f -
Lucy Terry
Lucy Terry, an enslaved person becomes the earliest known black American poet when she writes about the last American Indian attack on her village of Deerfield, Massachusetts. Her poem, Bar's Fight, is not published until 1855. -
First Black owned and operated insurance company
The African Insurance Company of Philadelphia is the first black-owned insurance company in the United States. -
Highest Ranking Black Officer
Six hundred African American troops are among the U.S. Army of 3,000 led by General Andrew Jackson which defeats British forces at the Battle of New Orleans. The black troops were led by Major Joseph Savary, the highest ranking black officer in the history of the U.S. Army. -
Lewis Latimer is born
Latimer is considered one of the 10 most important Black inventors of all time, not only for the sheer number of inventions created and patents secured but also for his valuable contributiont to electric lightbulb and the first telephone. -
Oliver Lewis wins the Kentucky Derby
The first Kentucky Derby was run with a Black man as the winning jockey. -
Education
Educator Mary McLeod Bethune founds a college in Daytona Beach, Florida that today is known as Bethune-Cookman University. -
Jesse Owens
Track star Jesse Owens wins four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics between August 3 and August 9. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The Sepreme Court unanimously ruled that "separate but equal" public schools for blacks and whites were unconstitutional. The Brown case served as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement, inspiring education reform everywhere and forming the legal means of challenging segregation in all areas of society. -
I have a Dream Speech
Martin Luther King, Jr. (Washington, D.C.) Approx. 250,000 people join the March on Washington. DC Congregating at the Lincoln Memorial. Participants listen as Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. -
Guion Bluford Jr
Guion Bluford Jr. was the first African-American in space. He took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on the space shuttle Challenger on August 30. -
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice becomes the first black female U.S. Secretary of State. -
First African-American President Elected the United States
Barack Obama Democrat from Chicago, becomes the first African-American president and the country's 44th president. -
Disney PrincessTiana
iPrincess Tiana of Maldonia s a fictional main character who appears in Walt Disney Pictures' 49th animated feature film The Princess and the Frog .This is the First Disney princess of African-American heritage. American singer and actress Anika Noni Rose provided voice over for the character
