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THIS MONTH IN BLACK HISTORY: IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH THAT YOU NEVER LEARNED

THIS MONTH IN BLACK HISTORY: IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN MARCH THAT YOU NEVER LEARNED

Happy Women’s History Month!

 

We’re back with another roundup of pertinent Black history you should know. While February is over, Black History Year is still in full effect and we’re cha-cha sliding into March better than ever. We have birthdays, death dates, notable events, and little known facts that you can share with your community. We’re here to keep you in the know and make sure history is hidden no more. Here are some important things that happened in March that you never learned, courtesy of BlackFacts.org:

 

March 5, 1770 - Crispus Attucks killed in Boston

 

March 17, 1806 - Chemical engineer and Egyptologist Norbert Rillieux is born

 

March 13, 1821 - Thomas L. Jennings credited as the first Black person to patent an invention

 

March 8, 1825 - Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta, first Black med school faculty member, is born

 

March 17, 1825 - Former Alabama U.S. House Rep. Benjamin Sterling Turner is born

 

March 20, 1852 - Martin R. Delany, father of Black Nationalism, publishes The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States

 

March 3, 1865 - Congress established The Freedmen’s Bureau

 

March 4, 1867 - Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, first Black woman dentist, is born

 

March 9, 1871 - Civil rights activist Oscar De Priest is born

 

March 26, 1872 - Inventor Thomas J. Martin receives patent for fire extinguisher

 

March 27, 1876 - Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, youngest jockey to win Kentucky Derby, is born

 

March 31, 1876 - Singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, also known as “The Black Swan,” passes away

 

March 4, 1877 - Inventor Garrett A. Morgan is born

 

March 31, 1878 - Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson is born

 

March 24, 1884 - Art dealer Zoë Dusanne is born

 

March 1, 1892 - Ms. Anna M. Mangin invents the pastry fork

 

March 3, 1894- Comedian “Moms” Mabley is born

  

March 21, 1894 - Former Alabama U.S. House Rep. Benjamin Sterling Turner passes away

 

March 9, 1895 - Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, first Black woman physician, passes away

 

March 18, 1895 - 200 free Blacks leave Savannah, Georgia for Liberia 

 

March 17, 1896 - Inventor Charles Brooks receives patent for street sweeper

 

March 17, 1912 - Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin is born

 

March 24, 1912 - Civil rights activist Dorothy Height is born

 

March 10, 1913 - Abolitionist Harriet Tubman passes away

 

March 1, 1914 - Writer Ralph Ellison is born

 

March 20, 1915 - Rock ‘N’ Roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe is born

 

March 24, 1916 - Marcus Garvey arrives in the United States

 

March 17, 1917 - Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, youngest jockey to win Kentucky Derby, is born

 

March 3, 1919 - South African author Peter Abrahams is born

 

March 17, 1919 - Entertainer Nat King Cole is born

 

March 27, 1924 - Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan is born

 

March 11, 1926 - Civil rights activist Ralph David Abernathy is born

 

March 1, 1927 - Entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte is born

 

March 25, 1931 - Journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett passes away

 

March 4, 1932 - South African singer Miriam Makeba is born

 

March 12, 1932 - Activist Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is born

 

March 14, 1933 - Music mogul Quincy Jones is born

 

March 15, 1933 - Civil rights leader and missionary Max Yergan receives NAACP Spingarn Medal

 

March 17, 1933 - Activist Myrlie Evers-Williams is born

 

March 12, 1934 - Children’s writer Virginia Hamilton is born

 

March 18, 1934 - Country singer Charley Pride is born

 

March 27, 1934 - Arthur Mitchell, first Black principal dancer with NYC Ballet Company, is born

 

March 5, 1938 - Former NFL player and actor Fred Williamson is born

 

March 16, 1938 - Foreign Service Officer Irvin Hicks Jr. is born

 

March 21, 1938 - Lois Jean White, first Black President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is born

 

March 19, 1939 - Langston Hughes founds The New Negro Theater in Los Angeles, California

 

March 18, 1941 - Singer Wilson Pickett is born

 

March 23, 1942 - Political activist Walter Rodney is born

 

March 25, 1942 - The “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin, is born

 

March 22, 1943 - Jazz guitarist George Benson is born

 

March 26, 1944 - Icon Diana Ross is born

 

March 8, 1945 - Phyllis Mae Dailey becomes first Black person to swear in as Navy nurse

 

March 6, 1947 - Retired U.S. Diplomat Howard Franklin Jeter is born

 

March 11, 1948 - Dr. Reginald Weir becomes first Black player to compete in the U.S. Indoor Lawn Tennis Association Championship

 

March 1, 1949 - Joe Louis retires from boxing

 

March 7, 1950 - NFL Player Franco Harris is born

 

March 26, 1950 - Singer Teddy Pendergrass is born

 

March 9, 1955 - African American explorer Matthew Henson passes away

 

March 12, 1955 - Jazz pioneer Charlie Parker passes away

 

March 21, 1955 - Walter F. White, former NAACP president, passes away

 

March 23, 1955 - NBA player Moses Malone is born

 

March 20, 1957 - Filmmaker Spike Lee is born

 

March 15, 1959 - Saxophonist Lester Willis Young passes away

 

March 18, 1959 - Actress and singer Irene Cara is born

 

March 14, 1960 - Hall of Fame baseball player Kirby Puckett is born

 

March 2, 1962 - Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single basketball game

 

March 3, 1962 - Olympic track athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee is born

 

March 18, 1963 - Entertainer Vanessa Williams is born

  

March 7, 1964 - Comedian Wanda Sykes is born

 

March 30, 1964 - Grammy Award Winning artist Tracy Chapman is born

 

March 7, 1965 - Selma to Montgomery marches begin

 

March 21, 1965 - Selma to Montgomery marches end

 

March 1, 1966 - Journalist Don Lemon is born

 

March 6, 1966 - Maurice Ashley, first Black chess grandmaster, is born

 

March 27, 1969 - The Black Academy of Arts and Lettters is founded

 

March 27, 1969 - Entertainer Mariah Carey is born

 

March 17, 1970 - Artist Jacob Lawrence awarded Spingarn Medal

 

March 18, 1970 - Icon Queen Latifah is born

 

March 25, 1971 - WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes is born

 

March 2, 1972 - Dr. Jerome H. Holland becomes first Black person to serve on the board of the NY Stock Exchange

 

March 6, 1972 - Art dealer Zoë Dusanne passes away

 

March 6, 1972 - NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal is born

 

March 10, 1972 - Producer Timbaland is born

 

March 13, 1972 - Hip Hop artist Common is born

 

March 18, 1972 - USS Jesse L. Brown, ship named after first Black naval aviator, launched

 

March 14, 1977 - Activist Fannie Lou Hamer passes away

 

March 31, 1980 - 4x Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens passes away

 

March 5, 1985 - U.S. Postal Service issues Mary McLeod Bethune commemorative stamp

 

March 23, 1985 - Former HUD Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris passes away

 

March 9, 1987 - Rapper Lil Bow Wow is born

 

March 14, 1988 - NBA Superstar Stephen Curry is born

 

March 2, 1990 - Carole Gist makes history as the first Black Miss USA

 

March 4, 1990 - NBA player Draymond Green is born

 

March 23, 1992 - NBA star Kyrie Irving is born

 

March 9, 1997 - Rapper Notorious B.I.G. is killed in Los Angeles

  

March 24, 2002 - Halle Berry makes history as first Black woman to win Best Actress Oscar

 

March 29, 2005 - Attorney Johnnie Cochran passes away

 

March 6, 2006 - Hall of Fame baseball player Kirby Puckett passes away

 

March 25, 2009 - Historian John Hope Franklin passes away

 

March 21, 2013 - Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe passes away

This month in Black history: Important things that happened in March that you never learned. Activist Myrlie Evers-Williams. Photo Courtesy of James Van Evers/AARP