African-American History timeline
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Nat Turner's Rebellion
It was Sunday, August 21, deep in the woods near the Travis house at a place called Cabin Pond. Around a crackling fire Turner’s confederates... Read more
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Chicago Race Riot of 1919
After World War I ended in November 1918, thousands of American servicemen, black and white, returned home from Europe and looked for jobs, as... Read more
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The Murder of Emmett Till
In August 1955, a fourteen-year-old black boy whistled at a white woman in a grocery store in Money, Mississippi. Emmett Till, a teen from Chicago,... Read more
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President Eisenhower Signs the Civil Rights Act of 1957
The Civil Rights Act of 1957, primarily a voting rights bill, was the first civil rights legislation enacted by Congress in the United States since... Read more
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on 11 June, 1963. George Wallace, the Governor of... Read more
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Fannie Lou Hamer Speaks at 1964 Democratic National Convention
All of this is on account we want to register [sic], to become first-class citizens, and if the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I... Read more
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Philadelphia Race Riot of 1964
Philadelphia has worked hard to eliminate friction between Negroes and police. It is one of the few cities with a civilian review board to handle... Read more
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Awarded Nobel Peace Prize
In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through... Read more
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Martin Luther King Jr. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he... Read more
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Malcolm X Assassinated in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom
On February 21, 1965, in Manhattan's Audubon Ballroom, Malcolm X began to speak to a meeting of the Organization of Afro-American Unity when a... Read more
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Leads Second March from Selma to Montgomery
Immediately after "Bloody Sunday", Martin Luther King Jr. began organizing a second march to be held on Tuesday, March 9, 1965, calling for people... Read more
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Leads Third March from Selma, Successfully Reaching Montgomery
The five-day, four-night march began on March 21, and covered a 54-mile (87 km) route along U.S. Route 80 (in Alabama known as the "Jefferson Davis... Read more
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The First Kwanzaa Is Celebrated
Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a... Read more
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Thurgood Marshall Confirmed as Supreme Court Justice
On June 13, 1967, President Johnson nominated Marshall to the Supreme Court following the retirement of Justice Tom C. Clark, saying that this was... Read more
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Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated at Lorraine Motel
In March 1968, Reverend King went to Memphis, Tennessee in support of striking African American sanitation workers. The workers had staged a... Read more
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Robert F. Kennedy Delivers Speech on the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
A speech on the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. was given by New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy on April 4, 1968. Kennedy was campaigning... Read more
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Riots Following Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination Spread to Baltimore
The Baltimore Riot of 1968 began two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. Rioting broke... Read more
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Coretta Scott King Publishes 'My Life With Martin Luther King Jr.
In the years immediately following her husband's death, King was involved in many things. For example, in June of 1969 Coretta Scott King published... Read more
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Supreme Court Rules In Favor of Swann in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1 (1971) was an important United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of... Read more
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Inmates at Attica Correctional Facility Rise Up to Seize Control of the Prison
The Attica Prison riot occurred at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, New York, United States in 1971. The riot was based in part upon... Read more
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The National Black Political Convention is Held in Gary, Indiana
Some eight thousand African Americans (three thousand of whom were official delegates) arrived in Gary, Indiana, to attend their first convention,... Read more
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The Washington Star Exposes the Tuskegee Experiment to a Scandalized Public
The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male (also known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, Public Health Service Syphilis Study, or the... Read more
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Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Bakke in University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on... Read more
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Vanessa Williams Becomes the First African-American Miss America
On September 17, 1983, Williams made history by becoming the first African-American woman in the pageant’s 63-year history to capture the Miss... Read more
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'Martin Luther King Jr. Day' Becomes a National Holiday
Coretta King’s most enduring contribution to American culture has been as chair of the Martin L. King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission. In the late... Read more