On May 13, 1862, Robert Smalls, a slave aboard the CSS Planter, stole the Confederate ship and turned it over to Union forces.
Black Heritage
First Game of Negro National League Baseball
On May 2, 1920, the first game of the Negro National Baseball League was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
First Observed Martin Luther King Jr. Day
On January 20, 1986, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed as a federal holiday after a decades-long battle.
Death of Sojourner Truth
Abolitionist and women’s rights activist Sojourner Truth died on November 26, 1883, in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Birth of Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker was born on November 9, 1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Opening of National Museum of African American History and Culture
On September 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in Washington, DC.
Buffalo Soldiers
On September 21, 1866, the 9th and 10th Cavalry units and the 38th, 39th, 40th, and 41st Infantry units (later consolidated as the 24th and 25th Infantry) were formed. The units were comprised entirely of black soldiers – the first to serve in a peacetime army. They would come to be known as Buffalo Soldiers.
Birth of Roy Wilkins
Civil Rights activist Roy Ottoway Wilkins was born on August 30, 1901, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Voting Rights Act of 1965
On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.