101 Little Known Black History Facts
101.
In 1770, Crispus Attucks, whose father was African and mother was a Nantucket Indian,
became the first casualty of the American Revolution when he was shot and killed in
what became known as the Boston Massacre.
100.
The largest woman’s organization happens to be the National Council of Negro Women.
99.
Alexander Lucius Twilight was the first African American to receive a college degree. He
earned a bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College in 1823
98.
Elbert Frank Cox became the first Black to hold a doctorate degree in mathematics
which he received from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 1925.
97.
William Sanders Scarborough (1852-1926) was the first black member of the venerable
Modern Language Association. Scarborough, who was president of Wilberforce
University in Wilberforce, Ohio, was born into slavery and secretly taught himself to read
and write. When he mastered those skills, he went on to learn Greek and Latin.
96.
W.E.B. Du Bois became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. He is
perhaps best known for his work in founding the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People in 1909 and helping it to become the country's single
most influential organization for African Americans.
95.
Ernest Everett Just prepared for college at Kimball Hall Academy, New Hampshire,
where he completed the four-year course of study in only three years. In the graduating
Dartmouth College class of 1907, Ernest Just was the only person to be graduated
magna cum laude.
94.
In1634, French Catholics provided education for all laborers regardless of race in
Louisiana, despite the belief and laws that Blacks should not be educated.
93.
Louis Latimer was the only African American engineer/scientist member of the elite
Edison Pioneers research and development organization. Until Latimer's process for
making carbon filament, Edison's light bulbs would burn only for a few minutes. Latimer's
filament burned for hours.
92. Not only did George Washington Carver research 300 products made from peanuts
and 118 products from the sweet potato, but 75 from the pecan as well.
91.
An inventor as well as physicist, Dr. George Carruthers was instrumental in the design of
lunar surface ultraviolet cameras. He was also Head of the Ultraviolet Measurements
Branch of the Naval Research Laboratory.
90.
A tailor in New York City, Thomas L. Jennings is credited with being the first African
American to hold a U.S. patent. The patent, which was issued in 1821, was for a dry-
cleaning process
89.
Xavier University, a historically black college in Louisiana, has one of the highest
success rates in the country getting their graduates into medical school.
88.
Spelman College in Atlanta is NOT the only historically black college for women, Bennett
College in Greensboro, North Carolina is the other one.
87.
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was born in Pennsylvania and attended medical school in
Chicago, where he received his M.D. in 1883. He founded the Provident Hospital in
Chicago in 1891, the oldest free-standing Black-owned hospital in the United States. Dr.
Williams was also the only African-American in a group of 100 charter members of the
American College of Surgeons in 1913.
86.
Dr. Charles Drew was a leading researcher in the field of blood plasma preservation,
and led a massive blood donation drive to provide the British with much-needed blood
supplies during World War II.
85.
Benjamin Bradley, a slave, was employed at a printing office and later at the Annapolis
Naval Academy. In the 1840s he developed a steam engine for a war ship. Unable to
patent his work, he sold it and used the proceeds to purchase his freedom.
84.
Garrett Augustus Morgan invented a smoke hood in 1916 that he used to rescue several
men trapped by an explosion in tunnels under Lake Erie. This invention was later refined
by the U.S. Army into the gas mask, which was used to protect soldiers from chlorine
fumes during World War I. He also invented an early version of a traffic signal that
featured automated STOP and GO signs.
83.
Born in Nashville, TN, David Crosthwait, Jr. was an expert in on heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning; he designed the hearing system for Radio City Music Hall in New York.
During his lifetime he received some 40 U.S. patents relating to HVAC systems.
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