Black Heritage/Black History Month Matters

As Black Heritage/Black History month comes to a close, let’s end it by looking at some facts about famous African Americans. Booker T. Washington said and I quote, “Success is to be measured not so much by the position one reached in life as by the obstacles which were overcome while trying to succeed.” I encourage and challenge you while honoring the legacy of all those individuals who have fought against injustice, to look deeply into yourself and to make the choice - always stand up for what is right. Only through the actions of brave people can we continue to make changes for a positive future so I urge you to celebrate Black History Month all YEAR long.

101 Fast Facts

Links within this page lead to biography.com articles. Taken from http://www.oxfordsd.org/page/280

Inventions & Discoveries

Fact #1
Elijah McCoy (1843 - 1929) invented an automatic lubricator for oiling steam engines in 1872. The term "the real McCoy" is believed to be a reference about the reliability of Elijah McCoy's invention. Read Elijah McCoy's Biography

Fact #2
Garrett Augustus Morgan (1877 - 1963) invented, among many other things, a 3-way automatic stop sign, which he sold to General Electric. It was used in the U.S. until the 3-        light traffic sign was developed. Read Garrett Augustus Morgan's Biography

Fact #3
Otis Boykin (1920 -1982) invented electronic control devices for guided missiles, IBM computers, and the control unit for a pacemaker.

Fact #4
George Carruthers (1939 - ) invented the far ultraviolet electrographic camera, used in the 1972 Apollo 16 mission. This invention revealed new features of Earth's far-outer atmosphere and deep-space objects from the perspective of the lunar surface. Carruthers was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in 2003.

Fact #5
James West's (1931 - ) research in sound technology led to the development of foil-electret transducers used in 90% of all microphones built today and in most new telephones being manufactured. West holds 47 U.S. and more than 200 foreign patents on microphones and techniques for making polymer foil-electrets. He was inducted into the National Inventor's Hall of Fame in 1999.

Fact #6
Mark Dean (1957 - ) along with his co-inventor Dennis Moelle created a microcomputer system with bus control means for peripheral processing devices. This invention allows the use of computer plug-ins like disk drives, speakers, scanners, etc...

Fact #7
George T. Sampson invented a clothes dryer that used heat from a stove in 1892.

Fact #8
Frederick Jones (1892 - 1961) held over 60 patents with most of them pertaining to refrigeration. His portable air conditioner was used in World War II to preserve medicine and blood serum.

Fact #9
Granville Woods (1856 - 1910) invented numerous devices relating to the railroad including a system of overhead electric conducting lines, air brakes and a telegraph system that allowed communication between moving trains. Read Granville Woods' Biography

Fact #10
Lewis Temple (1800 - 1854) revolutionized the whaling industry with his invention of     the toggle harpoon in 1848.

Fact #11
Dr. Charles Drew (1904 - 1950) discovered techniques to store blood and developed      blood banks. Read Dr. Charles Drew's Biography

Fact #12
Thomas J. Martin patented a fire extinguisher in 1872.

Fact #13
Jan Ernst Matzeliger (1852 - 1889) invented the Shoe Lasting machine, which connected the upper part of the shoe to the sole, a painstaking process that was usually done by hand.     This invention revolutionized the shoe making industry. Read Jan Ernst Matzeliger's            Biography

Fact #14
Lewis Howard Latimer invented the carbon filament for light bulbs in 1881. Read Lewis Howard Latimer's Biography

Fact #15
Joseph Winters invented a fire escape ladder in 1878.

Fact #16
Lonnie G. Johnson (1949 - ), an engineer who performed spacecraft system design for NASA, invented the Super Soaker water gun - the number one selling toy in America in 1991.

Fact #17
Alexander Miles of Duluth, Minnesota patented an electric elevator in 1887 with automatic doors that would close off the shaft way, thus making elevators safer.

Fact #18
Andrew Jackson Beard (1849 - 1921) invented the "Jenny Coupler" which allowed train cars to hook themselves together when they are bumped into one another. The device is still used today.

Fact #19
John Love invented the pencil sharpener in 1897.

Fact #20
Sarah E. Goode (1850 - ? ) invented a bed that folded up into a cabinet in 1885. Contrary to popular belief, she was not the first African-American woman to receive a patent, but the second.

Fact #21
C.B. Brooks invented the street sweeper in 1896. It was a truck equipped with brooms.

Fact #22
L.P. Ray invented the dustpan in 1897.

Fact #23
Henry Brown created what is now known as a "strongbox", a metal container to store money and important papers that could be locked with a key in 1886.

Fact #24
Joseph Lee (1849 - 1905) invented a bread-making machine that mixed the ingredients and kneaded the dough in 1895.

Fact #25
Henry Blair (1807 - 1860), the second African-American to receive a patent, invented a corn seed planter in 1834 and a cotton planter in 1836. Blair could not read or write and signed his patent with an X.

Fact #26
David Crosthwait Jr. (1898 - 1979) an expert on heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, holds 39 U.S. patents and 80 international patents pertaining to heating, refrigeration and temperature regulating systems. Crosthwait created the heating system for New York City's Radio City Music Hall. Read David Crosthwait Jr.'s Biography

Record Breaking

Fact #27
Track and Field star, Jesse Owens (1913 - 1980) broke many records at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin, including becoming the first athlete to win four gold medals in one Olympiad.

Fact #28
Music composer and producer, Quincy Jones is the most Grammy-nominated artist in the history of the awards with 76 nominations and 26 awards.

Fact #29
Golfer, Tiger Woods (1975 - ) is the youngest person and the first African-American to win the Masters Tournament in 1997 and by a record breaking lead of 12 strokes. He was also the highest paid athlete in 2005, earning an estimated $87 million dollars.

Fact #30
Wilt Chamberlain (1936 - 1999) was the first basketball player to score 100 points in a single game during the 1961 season and the first player in the NBA to score 30,000 points.

Fact #31
Michael Jackson (1958 - ) singer, songwriter, and entertainer extraordinaire, was nominated for 12 Grammy awards and won a record breaking eight in 1984. He has received 13 Grammy awards in his career, and is a double inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as part of the Jackson 5 and as a solo artist). He holds the title of Most Top 10 Singles from an album for Thriller (1982) and the Most #1 Singles from an album for Bad (1987).

Fact #32
Henry "Hank" Aaron (1934 - ) broke Babe Ruth's home run record when he hit his 715th home run in 1974. He set a Major League record with 755 home runs in his career.

Fact #33
Michael Johnson (1967 - ) a sprinter often billed as "the fastest man in the world" has won five Olympic gold medals, broken numerous world records including his own, and was the first man to win both the 200m and 400m races within the same Olympic game (1996).

Fact #34
Wilma Rudolph (1940 -1994) a record breaking track star was born the 20th of 22 children, and stricken with polio as a child. She not only overcame polio but broke world records in three Olympic track events and was the first American woman to win three gold medals at the Olympics (1960).

Fact #35
Florence Griffith-Joyner "Flo Jo" (1959 -1998) a runner known for her stylish flair on the track, set the world record for the 100 and 200 meter dash at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea.

Fact #36
In 2006 Whitney Houston (1963 - ) a celebrated singer, songwriter and actress was named the most awarded female artist of all time, by the Guinness World Records. Her debut album "Whitney Houston" in 1985 was the best-selling debut album by a female artist for 13 years, and her second album "Whitney" in 1987 made her the first female to debut on the charts at number one in the U.S. and the U.K. Houston has had seven consecutive number one singles, a record breaking feat.

Fact #37
Beyoncé Knowles (1981 - ) an award-winning singer, songwriter and actress is the first African-American woman to win the "Songwriter of the Year" award at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards in 2001 and also holds the record for the longest run on the Billboard Hot 100's number one spot in 2003 with the songs "Crazy in Love" (8 weeks) and "Baby Boy" (9 weeks). Beyoncé is ranked as the second best-selling female artist of the 21st century with record sales of over 37 million dollars.

Little Known Facts

Fact #38
Black History Month originated in 1926 by Carter Godwin Woodson as Negro History Week. The month of February was chosen in honor of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, who were both born in that month.

Fact #39
Muhammad Ali (1942 – ) the self–proclaimed “greatest [boxer] of all time” was originally named after his father, who was named after the 19th century abolitionist and politician Cassius Marcellus Clay.

Fact #40
Jesse Ernest Wilkins Jr. (1923 – ), a physicist, mathematician and an engineer, earned a PhD. in mathematics at age 19 from the University of Chicago in 1942.

Fact #41
Lewis Howard Latimer (1848 – 1928) drafted patent drawings for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone, while working at a patent law firm. He also patented an improved way to produce carbon filaments for light bulbs.

Fact #42
The banjo originated in Africa and up until the 1800s was considered an instrument only played by blacks.

Fact #43
Jesse Jackson (1941 - ) successfully negotiated the release of Lieutenant Robert O. Goodman, Jr., an African-American pilot who had been shot down over Syria and taken hostage in 1983.

Fact #44
Jack Johnson (1878 – 1946), the first African–American heavyweight champion, patented a wrench in 1922.

Fact #45
Lewis and Clark were accompanied by York, a black slave, when they made their 1804 expedition from Missouri to Oregon. York’s presence aided in their interactions with the Native Americans they encountered.

Fact #46
Isaac Murphy (1861 – 1896), a great thoroughbred jockey, was the first to win three Derbies and the only jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Clark Handicap within the same year.

Fact #47
Buffalo Soldiers is the name given to the all-black regiments of the U.S. Army started in 1866. More than 20 Buffalo Soldiers received the highest Medal of Honor for their service –the highest number of any U.S. military unit. The oldest living Buffalo Soldier, Mark Matthews, died at the age of 111 in 2005.

Fact #48
“Strange Fruit” the song about black lynching in the south made famous by blues singer Billie Holiday was originally a poem written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx.

Fact #49
Mayme Clayton (1923 – 2006), a Los Angeles librarian and historian, amassed an extensive and valuable collection of Black Americana, including a signed copy of the first book published by an African–American, a collection of poems by Phillis Wheatley. The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Cultural Center in Los Angeles houses the rare books, photographs, films and memorabilia.

Fact #50
Bill Pickett (1871 - 1932) a renowned cowboy and rodeo performer was named to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1971 and honored by the U.S. Postal service in a series of stamps as one of the twenty "Legends of the West"

Fact #51
According to the American Community Survey, in 2005 there were 2.4 million black military veterans in the United States -the highest of any minority group.

Fact #52
Chester Arthur Burnett "Howlin' Wolf" (1910 -1976) was one of the most important blues singer, songwriter and musician, influencing some of the most popular rock groups like The Beatles. Unlike many blues artists, Howlin’ Wolf maintained his financial success throughout his life and lived a modest married life, avoiding drugs and alcohol.

Fact #53
McKinley Morganfield “Muddy Waters” (1913 – 1983) is considered the “Father of Chicago Blues” with his infusion of the electric guitar into the Delta country blues. Muddy Waters was influential to some of the most popular rock bands, such as the Rolling Stones, who named themselves after his popular 1950 song &dlquo;Rollin’ Stone”.

Fact #54
Thomas Andrew Dorsey (1899 – 1993) was considered the “Father of Gospel Music” for combining sacred words with secular rhythms. His most famous composition, “Take My Hand Precious Lord” was recorded by the likes of Elvis Presley, Mahalia Jackson and many others.

Fact #55
Paul Cuffee (1759 – 1817) an African–American, philanthropist, ship captain, and devout Quaker transported 38 free African–Americans to Sierra Leone, Africa in 1815 in the hopes of establishing Western Africa. He also founded the first integrated school in Massachusetts in 1797.

Fact #56
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968) was stabbed by an African–American woman in 1958 while attending his book signing at Blumstein’s department store in Harlem. The next year Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King visited India to study Ghandi’s nonviolence philosophy.

Fact #57
Nat Love “Deadwood Dick” (1854 – 1921 ) a renowned and skilled cowboy, was the only African–American cowboy to write his autobiography, “The Life and Adventures of Nat Love, Better Known in the Cattle Country as Deadwood Dick”, published in 1907.

Fact #58
Jazz, an African–American musical form born out of the Blues, Ragtime, and marching bands originated in Louisiana during the turn of the 19th century. The word Jazz is a slang term that at one point referred to a sexual act.

Fact #59
The “306 Group” was a guild–like club that provided support and apprenticeship for African–American artists during the 1940s. It was founded by the artist Charles Alston at 306 West 141st street in Harlem and served as a studio and meeting place for some of the 20th century’s most prominent African–American artists such as the poet Langston Hughes, the sculptor Augusta Savage, the painter Jacob Lawrence, and the collage artist Romare Bearden.

Fact #60
In the mid 1800s Philadelphia was known as “The Black Capital of Anti–Slavery,” because of the strong abolitionist presence there and such groups as The Philadelphia Female Anti–Slavery Society, The Philadelphia Young Men’s Anti–Slavery Society and The Philadelphia Anti–Slavery Society.

Fact #61
Wally Amos “Famous Amos” (1936 – ) creator of the Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies, was a talent agent at the William Morris Agency where he worked with the likes of The Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, and various child stars. He founded his cookie company in 1975 with a recipe from his aunt.

Fact #62
George Monroe and William Robinson are thought to be the first black Pony Express riders. At one point Monroe was also a stagecoach driver for President Ulysses S. Grant and would navigate through the curving Wanona Trail in the Yosemite Valley. Monroe Meadows in Yosemite National Park is named for George Monroe.

Fact #63
Nancy Green (1834 – 1923) a former slave, was employed in 1893 to promote the Aunt Jemima brand by demonstrating the pancake mix at expositions and fairs. She was a popular attraction because of her friendly personality, great story-telling, and warmth. Green signed a lifetime contract with the pancake company and her image was used for packaging and billboards. In 1923 she was struck by a car in downtown Chicago.

Fact #64
Buffalo Soldiers is a name respectfully given to the African–American cavalries during the 1800s by the Native American Kiowa tribe. These soldiers received second class treatment and were often given the worst military assignments, but had the lowest desertion rate compared to their white counterparts. The Buffalo Soldiers served in the Spanish American war, various Indian wars and helped to settle the west by installing telegraph lines, and protecting wagon trains and new settlements. More than 20 Buffalo Soldiers have received the highest military award, the medal of Honor –the most any military unit has ever received.

Fact #65
Ray Charles Robinson (1930 – 2004) a musical genius and pioneer in blending gospel and the blues shortened his name to just Ray Charles to prevent confusion with the great boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. Ray Charles began going blind at an early age and was completely blind by the time he was 7 years old, but has never relied upon a cane, or a guide dog. He was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony in 1986.

Fact #66
Walker Smith Jr. (1921 – 1989) became known as Sugar Ray Robinson he borrowed his friend Ray Robinson’s Amateur Athletic Union card and became the Golden Glove Lightweight champion in 1940 under the borrowed name. Smith’s boxing style was described as “sweet as sugar” and the name Sugar Ray Robinson stuck. Considered the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson held the world welterweight title from 1946 to 1951 and was middleweight champion five times between 1951 and 1960 –the first boxer in history to win a divisional world championship five times.

Fact #67
Cathay Williams (1842 – ) was the first and only known female Buffalo Soldier. She was born into slavery and worked for the Union army during the Civil War. She posed as a man and enlisted as Williams Cathay in the 38th infantry in 1866. She was given a medical discharge in 1868.

Fact #68
Josiah Henson (1789 – 1883 ) fled slavery in Maryland in 1830 and founded a settlement in Ontario, Canada for fugitive slaves. His autobiography “The Life of Josiah Henson, Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself” (1849) is believed to have been Harriet Beecher Stowe’s inspiration for the main character in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Henson’s cabin in Maryland still stands today and is a national landmark. Josiah Henson’s grandson, Mathew Henson, was part of the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole in 1909.

Fact #69
Harriet Ann Jacobs (1813 – 1897) was a slave who published “Incidents in the Life of A Slave Girl” in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent. The book chronicles the hardships and sexual abuse she experienced as a female growing up in slavery. Jacobs fled slavery in 1835 by hiding in a crawlspace in her grandmother’s attic for nearly seven years before traveling to Philadelphia by boat, and eventually to New York. Jacobs was active in feminist anti-slavery movements.

Firsts

Fact #70
Thomas L. Jennings (1791 - 1859) was the first African-American to receive a patent in 1821. It was for a dry-cleaning process in 1821. He used the money earned from the patent to purchase relatives out of slavery and support abolitionist causes.

Fact #71
Judy W. Reed was the first African-American woman to receive a patent in 1884 for a hand-operated machine used to knead and roll dough.

Fact #72
The African Free School in New York City was the first free school for African-Americans. It was started by the abolitionist group the New York Manumission Society in 1787.

Fact #73
Bessie Coleman (1893-1926) was the first licensed African-American pilot in the world. She received aviation instruction in France.

Fact #74
Booker T. Washington (1856 - 1915) was the first African-American to be honored on a U.S. stamp, in 1940.

Fact #75
George Washington Carver (1864 - 1943) who made agricultural advancements and inventions pertaining to the use of peanuts and Percy Julian, who helped create drugs to combat glaucoma, were the first African-Americans admitted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1990.

Fact #76
Minnie Jocelyn Lee Elders ( 1933 - ) was the first African-American and the second woman to serve as the United States Surgeon General. Her term lasted for 15 months (1993 - 1994)

Fact #77
Maya Angelou's (1928 - ) autobiographical, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" is the first non-fiction work by an African-American woman to make the best-seller list.

Fact #78
Matthew Henson (1867-1955) was a part of the first successful U.S. expedition to the North Pole in 1909.

Fact #79
Althea Gibson (1927 - 2003) was the first African-American tennis player to compete in the U.S. Championships in 1950 and at Wimbledon in 1951. In 1957 she won the women's singles and doubles at Wimbledon in 1957, which was celebrated by a ticker tape parade when she returned home to New York City.

Fact #80
Arthur Ashe (1943 - 1993) was the first African-American to not only be named to the U.S. Davis Cup team in 1963, but to also win the U.S. Open in 1968, to win the men's singles at Wimbledon in 1975, and the first to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.

Fact #81
Alexa Canady became the first female African-American neurosurgeon in the United States. She graduated from medical school in 1975.

Fact #82
Ben Carson (1951 - ) a skilled neurosurgeon, led the first successful operation to separate a pair of Siamese twin infants who were joined at the back of the head in 1987.

Fact #83
Lee Elder (1934 - ) was the first African-American golfer to play in the Masters Tournament in 1975. He has won 4 PGA tournaments and 8 Senior PGA tournaments in his career.

Fact #84
Madame C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) (1876 - 1919) invented specialized hair products for African-American hair and became the first American woman to become a millionaire.

Fact #85
Robert L. Johnson (1946 - ), founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET) is the first African-American billionaire.

Fact #86
Diahann Carroll (1935 - ) was the first African-American woman to have her own television series, "Julia" in 1968. It was a controversial, yet Nielsen top ten rated show about a single working mother raising her child .

Fact #87
Alain Locke (1886 - 1954), a writer, philosopher and intellectual, was the first African-American Rhodes Scholar. A strong supporter of African-American arts, he wrote about the Harlem Renaissance in The New Negro (1925).

Fact #88
Ralph J. Bunche (1904 - 1971), a politician and a U.N. diplomat, was the first African-American to win the Nobel Peace prize in 1950 for mediating the Arab-Israeli truce.

Fact #89
The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), founded by Richard Allen (1760 - 1831) became the first national black church in the United States in 1816.

Fact #90
Charles Henry Turner (1867 - 1923), a zoologist and educator, was the first person to discover that insects can hear.

Fact #91
Henry Ossian Flipper (1856 - 1940) was the first African-American to graduate from West Point academy in 1877 and became the first black commander when he was assigned to the 10th Cavalry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment.

Fact #92
Richard Theodore Greener (1844 - 1922), was the first African-American graduate from Harvard in 1870. He started out at Oberlin college, the first American college to admit African-Americans and went on to become a lawyer.

Fact #93
Debi Thomas (1967 - ), the talented figure-skater, is the first African American to win a medal (bronze) at the Winter Olympic games (1988). In 2002 Vonetta Flowers (1973 - ) became the first African-American to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympic games.

Fact #94
Marian Anderson (1898 - 1993), a gifted contralto singer, was the first African-American to perform with the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1955.

Fact #95
Nathaniel Adams Cole “Nat King Cole” (1919 - 1965), a singer, song writer and pianist, was the first African-American to host a national television program, The Nat King Cole Show, in 1956.

Fact #96
Edmonia Lewis (1844? - ?) was the first professional African-American sculptor, often sculpting courageous and inspirational people such as Cleopatra, Phillis Wheatley, President Ulysses S. Grant, etc…

Fact #97
The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African-American pilots in the U.S. armed forces. Beginning in 1941, select groups of extensively tested and rigorously trained African-Americans were trained at The Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen are depicted in the G.I. Joe action figure series.

Fact #98
Maurice Ashley ( 1966 - ) is the first and only African-American to be crowned International Grand Master of chess in 1999. He opened the Harlem Chess Center in 1999, where he coaches young chess players.

Fact #99
Charley Pride (1938 - ) is one of the most successful African-American country singers of all time, with a career spanning over 40 years and 36 number one hits. He is also the first African-American to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2000. Pride was a baseball player with the Negro League and the Memphis Red Sox before becoming a successful musician.

Fact #100
Deford Bailey (1899 - 1982) was a "wizard" at playing the harmonica and was most notable for mimicking the sound of locomotives. He was the first African-American to perform at the Grand Ole Opry and one of the first African-American stars of country music.

Fact #101
Black Swan Records, founded in 1921 by Harry Pace in Harlem, was the first U.S. record label owned and operated by African-Americans. It was originally the Pace Phonograph Corporation and was renamed Black Swan Records after the 19th century opera singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, who was known as the Black Swan.