Today in Black History

Garrett Morgan · 1923

Garrett Morgan invented the three-position traffic signal, adding the first 'warning' light to reduce collisions. He also invented an early gas mask and used it to rescue workers trapped in a tunnel explosion.

George Washington Carver · 1900s

George Washington Carver developed hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans, helping Southern farmers rotate crops and rebuild soil. He turned a single plant into paint, soap, ink, and more.

Madam C.J. Walker · 1905

Madam C.J. Walker built a hair-care empire for Black women and became the first American woman to become a self-made millionaire. She used her wealth to fund scholarships, the NAACP, and anti-lynching work.

Lewis Latimer · 1881

Lewis Latimer invented the carbon filament that made lightbulbs last long enough for everyday use. Without him, Edison's bulb would burn out in days. He also drafted the patent drawings for the telephone.

Dr. Patricia Bath · 1986

Dr. Patricia Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe, a painless laser method to remove cataracts. She became the first Black woman to receive a medical patent and restored sight to people once deemed permanently blind.

Mark Dean · 1981

Mark Dean holds three of IBM's original nine PC patents and led the team that built the first gigahertz chip. He holds over 20 patents and helped create the color PC monitor.

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams · 1893

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed one of the first successful open-heart surgeries in 1893, repairing a stab wound to the heart. He founded Provident Hospital, the first Black-owned interracial hospital.

Dr. Charles Drew · 1940

Dr. Charles Drew pioneered methods to store and ship blood plasma, saving countless lives in WWII. He resigned from the Red Cross when it bowed to segregationist rules about separating Black and white blood.

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright · 1949

Dr. Jane Cooke Wright pioneered chemotherapy, finding that drugs could shrink tumors. She became the first woman elected president of the New York Cancer Society.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. · 1963

On August 28, 1963, Dr. King delivered his 'I Have a Dream' speech to 250,000 people at the March on Washington, helping push Congress toward the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Rosa Parks · 1955

Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, sparking a 381-day boycott that ended segregation on city buses and launched Dr. King into national leadership.

Thurgood Marshall · 1954

Thurgood Marshall won Brown v. Board, the Supreme Court case that struck down 'separate but equal' school segregation. He later became the first Black Supreme Court Justice in 1967.

John Lewis · 1965

John Lewis led the Selma marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where he was beaten bloody. 'Bloody Sunday' pushed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Mansa Musa · 1300s

Mansa Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire, is often called the richest person in history. His 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca was so lavish that his gold gifts crashed the price of gold in Egypt for years.

Queen Nzinga · 1600s

Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (modern Angola) fought off Portuguese colonizers for 40 years through diplomacy, alliances, and guerrilla warfare, refusing to let her kingdom be enslaved.

The Kandakes · 300 BC

The Kingdom of Kush (ancient Nubia) was ruled by powerful warrior queens called Kandaces. One of them, Amanirenas, defeated a Roman invasion and negotiated peace on her own terms.

Queen Amina · 1500s

Queen Amina ruled the Hausa city-state of Zazzau (now Nigeria) and led 34 years of military campaigns, expanding her kingdom and building the famous earthen walls still standing today.

King Shaka · 1800s

King Shaka Zulu transformed the Zulu kingdom into a powerful empire with new military tactics and the short stabbing spear (iklwa), uniting many clans into one nation.

Cheyney University · 1837

Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, founded in 1837, is the oldest Historically Black College in America, educating Black students before the Civil War even ended.

Booker T. Washington · 1881

Booker T. Washington founded Tuskegee Institute in 1881, where George Washington Carver taught and the Tuskegee Airmen were later trained.

General Oliver O. Howard · 1867

Founded in 1867, Howard University became 'the Capstone of Negro Education,' training generations of Black doctors, lawyers, and leaders.

Maya Angelou · 1969

Maya Angelou's autobiography 'I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings' broke new ground. She read her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at a U.S. president's inauguration in 1993.

James Baldwin · 1960s

James Baldwin's essays and novels like 'The Fire Next Time' gave America a fearless mirror on race, love, and identity, influencing the civil rights movement.

Langston Hughes · 1920s

Langston Hughes led the Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of Black art, music, and literature in the 1920s that reshaped American culture.

Jackie Robinson · 1947

In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first Black player in modern Major League Baseball, enduring abuse with dignity to open the door for every athlete after him.

Wilma Rudolph · 1960

Wilma Rudolph, who wore a leg brace as a child from polio, won three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics, becoming the first American woman to do so in a single Games.

Muhammad Ali · 1964

Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight title in 1964, then refused the draft on principle, sacrificing his prime years for his beliefs. He became a global symbol of conviction.

Reginald F. Lewis · 1987

Reginald F. Lewis engineered the $985 million buyout of Beatrice Foods in 1987, the largest leveraged buyout by an American firm at the time, becoming the first Black billionaire businessman.

Berry Gordy · 1959

Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959, turning Detroit into a hit factory that launched Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye and integrated American pop music.

Hiram Revels · 1870

In 1870, Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first Black U.S. Senator, taking the seat once held by Jefferson Davis, who had led the Confederacy.

Thurgood Marshall · 1967

In 1967, Thurgood Marshall became the first Black Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served 24 years defending civil liberties.

Shirley Chisholm · 1968

Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman in Congress in 1968 and, in 1972, the first Black woman to run for U.S. president under a major party.

Barack Obama · 2008

On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected the first Black President of the United States, a moment generations had marched, prayed, and fought for.