Black History Month: Fact of the Day
February 28, 2023
In case you didn’t know, February 1st marks the first day of Black History Month! The month is dedicated to honoring the lives and accomplishments of prominent African American figures. Each day of this month, we will share one fact about a historical black person to carry on the message of BHM.
February 1st: Shirley Chisholm made history as the 1st black woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1968. She represented the state of New York. In 1972, she also became the first black woman to be a major candidate for president.
February 2nd: Jack Johnson was the first black man to hold the World Heavyweight Championship in boxing in 1908. He held the title for a dominant 7 years, ending his reign in 1915.
February 3rd: Hattie McDaniel became the first black performer to win an Academy Award (the film industry’s highest honor) in 1940. She won for her role as a loyal slave governess in Gone With The Wind.
February 4th: In 2001, Robert Johnson became the first black billionaire in history for selling his widely successful cable station, BET (Black Entertainment Network).
February 5th: Claudette Colvin was arrested 9 months prior to Rosa Parks for refusing to to give up her bus seat to white passengers. Credit is often given to Parks for sparking the Civil Rights Movement, but this was truly the spark.
February 6th: George Washington Carver was one of the most famous black scientists in history as he developed nearly 300 derivatives from peanuts. These include soap, coffee, milk, cheese.
February 7th: In 1854, John Mercer Langston became the first black lawyer when he passed his bar exam in Ohio. He also made history as the first African American to be elected to American public office in 1855.
February 8th: On the night of Feb. 7, 2023, NBA legend Lebron James made history by scoring 38 points to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. This record has not been broken since Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke it in 1984.
February 9th: Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first black person to ever be elected to the US Senate. He was the representative for Mississippi from February 1870 to March 1781.
February 10th: Thurgood Marshall was first African American to be appointed to the US Supreme Court. He served from 1967 to 1991, and he was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.
February 11th: Madam C.J. Walker became the first self-made black millionaire in history by selling her line of African American hair products. Though she was born on a cotton plantation, she was able to transform her life and create Madame C.J. Walker Laboratories.
February 12th: Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 5, 1947. He had historic stats that season, leading the league in stolen bases and becoming Rookie of the Year.
February 13th: Althea Gibson was the first African American to compete in a pro-world tennis tour. In 1956, she made history by becoming the first black woman to win a Grand Slam title.
February 14th: In 2008, Barack Hussein Obama became the first person of African American descent to become President of the United States.
February 15th: James McCune Smith was the first African American to receive a medical degree and the first African American to run his own pharmacy.
February 16th: In 1878, legendary singer Marie Selika Williams was the first black musician to sing at the White House. She had the privilege to perform for Rutherford B. Hayes, who was the president at the time.
February 17th: In 1939, Ethel Waters became the first black person to appear on tv when her show The Ethel Waters Show was aired on NBC.
February 18th: In 1987, Mae Jemison became the first black woman to be admitted into NASA’s prestigious astronaut training program. Just 5 years later, in 1992, she became the first black woman in space.
February 19th: George Poage was the first African American to win an Olympic medal when he won a bronze medal in the 220-yard and 440-yard hurdles in track and field in 1904.
February 20th: In 1859, Harriet Wilson became the first African American author to publish a novel after her autobiographical novel Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black was published.
February 21st: Gladys West was hired as a mathematician by the U.S. Naval Proving Ground in 1956. While there, she invented a precise model of the earth, a model that was used as a foundation for the well-known Global Positioning System (GPS).
February 22nd: Alice Ball was a successful scientist who invented the first treatment of leprosy in 1916. She also was the first African American and first woman to graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii.
February 23rd: In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first black person to win a Pulitzer Prize for her book Annie Allen. This trailblazing book covers the maturation of a young black girl from childhood into her womanhood.
February 24th: Willie O’Ree was the first black player to play in the National Hockey League. He only played 45 games during his career, but his impact as the first black player still resonates today.
February 25th: Anne Lowe is known as the first renowned black fashion designer. She is most famous for designing the dress that Jackie Kennedy wore in her wedding to JFK. Her various creations are exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
February 26th: Gordan Parks is remembered as the first African American professional photographer. He was hired by Life magazine in 1948 (he was their first black photographer ever).
February 27th: Jackie Robinson was a prominent figure in Major League Baseball, debuting in the year 1947. In his historic career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he helped end racial segregation in professional baseball as well as other sports.
February 28th: George Washington Johnson was discovered as a street performer in 1890. Though he was born a slave, he went on to become the first African American to make a commercial record.
*All facts were found on:
