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brown v. board education
In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court rules unanimously against school segregation, overturning its 1896 decision in Plessy v. Ferguson. -
rosa parks
Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white person, triggering a successful, year-long African American boycott of the bus system. -
chuck berry
Musician Chuck Berry begins recording; his music will help shape rock-and-roll. -
supreme court
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the segregation of Montgomery, Ala., buses is unconstitutional. -
martin luther king jr.
The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., helps found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to work for full equality for African Americans. -
since reconstruction
For the first time since Reconstruction, the federal government uses the military to uphold African Americans' civil rights, as soldiers escort nine African American students to desegregate a school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Daisy Bates, an NAACP leader, advised and assisted the students and eventually had a state holiday dedicated to her. -
althea gibson
Althea Gibson becomes the first African American tennis player to win a major title by winning both the women's singles and doubles championships at Wimbledon. -
ballet dancer
African American ballet dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey founds the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, now world-renowned. -
lorraine hansberrys
Lorraine Hansberry's "Raisin in the Sun" is the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. -
great jazz
Great jazz trumpeter Miles Davis records "Kind of Blue," often considered his masteriece. The saxophonist on the album is another jazz giant, John Coltrane. -
motown
Motown Records is founded in Detroit, Mich. Motown will go on to feature such legendary artists as Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Lionel Ritchie and Queen Latifah. -
college sit in
Four African American college students hold a sit-in to integrate a Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., launching a wave of similar protests across the South. -
congress of racial
The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) begins to organize Freedom Rides throughout the South to try to de-segregate interstate public bus travel. -
100 points
Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single NBA game, setting a record that still stands. -
i have a dream
More than 200,000 people march on Washington, D.C., in the largest civil rights demonstration ever; Martin Luther King, Jr., gives his "I Have a Dream" speech.
