Black History Corner

You are studious, intellectual, cautious, and discreet and have a keen and alert mind. You are considerate of others, shrewd and honest, love travel and out-of-door sports. Your home was dear to you and your love was strong and ardent.
1819 George Thomas Downing, entrepreneur, restaurant, hotel business and Civil Rights Activist, was born in New York, NY.
1842 Josiah Thomas Walls, US Congressman from Florida, was born in Winchester, VA.
1897 Inez Beverly Prosser, first African American female to receive a Ph.D in psychology, was born in Yoakum, TX.
1890 (Charles Cyrill) Charlie Creath, jazz trumpeter, accordionist and bandleader, was born in Ironton, MO.
1890 W.A. Martin was awarded patent 443,945 for a lock.
1897 Wilson Connie Day, Negro League Baseball player, was born in Lima, OH.
1898 Zaidee Jakson, actor, dancer and singer, was born in Augusta, GA.
1901 Beauford Delaney, modernist painter, was born in Knoxville, TN.
1928 (Ellas Otha Bates) Bo Diddley, guitarist and songwriter, was born in McComb, MS.
1932 H. Leslie Adams, composer (Blake) was born in Cleveland, OH.
1933 (Hugh) Jesse Arnelle, lawyer, National Basketball Association player and first African American student body president at Penn State, was born in New Rochelle, NY.
1939 Kim Weston, singer (Take Me In Your Arms – Rock Me a Little While) was born in Detroit, MI.
1941 (Melvin Lacy) Mel Renfro, National Football League player, was born in Houston, TX.
1949 Tom Colbert, Chief Justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court, was born in Oklahoma City, OK.
1956 Sheryl Lee Ralph, actor (Moesha) was born in Waterbury, CT.
1951 Chris H. Jasper, keyboards and Moog synthesizer with the Isley Brothers, was born in Cincinnati, OH.
1952 Willie Lee Brown, blues guitar player and vocalist, dies in Tunica, MS.
1953 Gerald S. Adolph, management consultant, was born in New York, NY.
1954 Joseph F. Beam, gay rights activist and author (Philadelphia Gay News) was born in Philadelphia, PA.
1954 (Andre Antonio) Tony Samuels, National Football League player, was born in Tampa, FL.
1956 Larry Duplechan, novelist (Blackbird) was born in Los Angeles, CA.
1957 Harlan Huckleby, National Football League player, was born in Detroit, MI.
1959 Paul Milton Jackson, Jr., guitarist and session musician, was born in Los Angeles, CA.
1962 Roosevelt Graves, blues guitarist and singer (Crazy About My Baby) dies in Gulfport, MS.
1966 Akosua Gyamama Busia, actor (The Color Purple) was born in Ghana.
1970 (Charles L.) Sonny Liston, professional heavyweight boxer, dies in Las Vegas, NV.
1970 Mark ‘Traa’ Daniels, bass guitarist (P.O.D.) was born in Cleveland, OH.
1971 Daniel Sunjata (Condon) actor (Rescue Me) was born in Evanston, IL.
1975 Tory Kittles, actor (Get Rich or Die Tryin’) was born in Lawley, FL.
1975 (Eldrick Tont) Tiger Woods, professional golfer, was born in Cypress, CA.
1977 Kenyon Lee Martin, National Basketball Association player, was born in Saginaw, MI.
1977 (Herbert Donta) Herb Haygood, National Football League player, was born in Sarasota, FL.
1977 Aesha Ash, ballerina with the New York City Ballet, was born in Rochester, NY.
1977 Laila Amaria ìShe Bee Stinginî Ali, boxer (daughter of Muhammad Ali) was born in Miami Beach, FL.
1978 Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, athlete who specializes in the triple jump and silver medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics was born.
1978 Tyrese (Darnell Gibson) singer and actor (Fast and the Furious series) was born in Los Angeles, CA.
1979 (Abiodun Adesola) Abi Oyepitan, sprint athlete, was born in London, England.
1980 (Didier) D.J. Llunga-Mbenga, National Basketball Association player, was born in Kinshasa, Zaire.
1982 Monica Hargrove, track and field athlete specializing in the 200- and 400- meter dash, was born in New Haven, CT.
1983 Cedrick Leterris Holt, National Football League player, was born in Wadesboro, NC.
1983 Willis Franklin Ward, track and field athlete and University of Michigan first African American football player, was born in Alabama.
1984 (Cassandra Monique Batie) Andra Day, singer (Cheers to the Fall) was born in Spokane, WA.
1984 LaBron Raymone James, National Basketball Association player, was born in Akron, OH.
1986 Era Bell Thompson, editor of Ebony magazine, dies in Chicago, IL.
1990 (Brian Craig) C.J. Wilcox, National Basketball Association player, was born in Pleasant Grove, UT.
1992 Mozart Mz, rap artist (Jetlife) was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1992 John Orozco, Gymnast, was born in The Bronx, NY.
1993 (Thomas Edison) Tom Alston, Major League Baseball player, was born in Greensboro, NC.
1995 Demone Harris, National Football League player, was born in Buffalo, NY.
1995 (Oliver George Arthur) Ollie Watkins, professional footballer, was born in Newton Abbot, England.
1996 Johnny Oz, rap artist (Lauderdale) was born in Broward County, FL.
1996 Bandhunta Izzy, rap artist (BBB) was born Baltimore, MD.
2002 Akili McDowell, actor (The Astronaut Wives Club) was born in San Francisco, CA.
2003 Quaddy Goon, rap artist (Preach) was born in Philadelphia, PA.
2003 Samuel M. Nabrit, first African American appointed to the US Atomic Energy Commission, dies in Provident, RI.
2004 (Robert Eugene) Bob Ferguson, National Football League player was born in Troy, OH.
2006 Gerald Washington, mayor-elect of Westlake, Louisiana, was shot and killed.
2007 Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze, philosopher, dies in Lewisburg, PA.
2008 Bernie Hamilton, actor (One Potato, Two Potato) (brother of Chico Hamilton) dies in Los Angeles, CA.
2009 Bessie Virginia Blount Griffin, inventor, forensic scientist and the first African American woman to work at Scotland Yard dies.
2012 Arthur J. Bond, founding member of the National Society of Black Engineers dies.