JANUARY 1
first black college football bowl game (1929) Prairie View Bowl
first black mayor of Gary, Indiana (1967) Richard G. Hatcher
first black to score a Rose Bowl touchdown (1947) Buddy Young
first blacks to play in the Cotton Bowl (1948) Wally Triplett, Dennie Hoggard (Penn State)
first meeting of the Catholic Afro-American Lay Congress (1889) in WDC
Lincoln University was incorporated (1854) in PA

JANUARY 6
first black Catholic bishop to serve in the United States in this century (1953) Joseph Oliver Bowers
first black member of the Tennessee state house of representatives (1873) Samson W. Keeble
first black Pennsylvania state supreme court justice (1984) Robert N.C. Nix Jr.

JANUARY 8
first woman ordained a priest in the Protestant Episcopal Church (1982) Sandra Antoinette Wilson

JANUARY 11
first black Supreme Court judge (Mississippi) 1981, Reuben Anderson

JANUARY 13
first black elected governor (Virginia) Doug Wilder (1986)

JANUARY 16
first black sheriff in the South since Reconstruction (1967) Lucius D. Amerson

JANUARY 18
first black professional hockey player (1958) William E. Rhee Boston Bruins first black to head a congressional standing committee in recent times (1949) William Dawson - GA

JANUARY 20
first black radio network (1972) KPOO-FM San Francisco "Poor People's Radio" Lorenzo Milam
first black astronaut killed during a space mission Ron McNair (1986)
first black U.S. senator (1870) Hiram Rhodes Revels (Mississippi)

JANUARY 23
first black Baptist missionary to Africa (1821) Lott Carey (Liberia)

JANUARY 25
first female priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the NYC Archdiocese (1982) Sandra Wilson

JANUARY 26
first black Protestant Episcopal bishop in the West (1991) Chester Lobelle

JANUARY 29
first black woman lawyer admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court (1920) Violette Anderson

JANUARY 31
first meeting of black Masonic lodge recognized by white Masonry (1871) Alpha Lodge of NJ

FEBRUARY 1
first black to speak in the House of Representatives as a congressman (1871) Jefferson Franklin Long

FEBRUARY 2
first black lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court (1880) Samuel Lowery

FEBRUARY 3
first black student admitted to the University of Alabama (1956) Autherine Juanita Lucy Foster

FEBRUARY 4
first black judge in Florida since Reconstruction (1964) Austin T. Walden

FEBRUARY 8
first black reporter to attend White House press conference (1944) Harry S. McAlpin

FEBRUARY 11
first black secretary of the army (1977) Clifford Alexander Jr.

FEBRUARY 12
first black man to preach in the rotunda of the Capitol to Representatives (1843) Henry Highland Garnett
first female Anglican bishop in the world (1989) Barbara Harris

FEBRUARY 13
first successful black professional baseball league organized (1920) Andrew "Rube" Foster

FEBRUARY 21
first black to receive an honorary degree from a white college (1804) Lemuel Haynes Middlebury College, VT

FEBRUARY 26
first black middleweight champion of the world (1926) Tiger "Theodore" Flowers

FEBRUARY 27
first black to speak on the floor of the House (1868) John Willis Menard

MARCH 1
first black minister appointed to Liberia (1871) James Milton Turner

MARCH 3
first black to receive a patent (1821) Thomas L. Jennings - dry cleaning process
first university open to all races (1868) University of SC

MARCH 4
first black assistant secretary of labor (1954) James Ernest Wilkins Sr.
first black congressman elected from the state of Florida (1871) Josiah Thomas Walls

MARCH 8
first black boxers to draw a multimillion dollar gate (1971) Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali
first act passed forbidding the importation of black slaves (1774) Rhodes Island

MARCH 12
New York established a Fair Employment Practices Commission (1945)

MARCH 13
first black daily newspaper in modern times (1932) The Atlanta Daily World

MARCH 20
patenting of the first successful shoe lasting machine (1883) Jan Matzeigler

MARCH 21
first black woman to complete the requirements for a Ph.D. (1921) Eva Beatrice Dykes

MARCH 28
first black team on record to win a professional world's basketball championship (1939) Harlem Rens

MARCH 29
railroad brake patent (1904) Granville T. Woods

MARCH 31
first black cardinal in the Catholic church (1960) Laurian Rugambwa
first black man to hold an American title in any sport (1890) George Dixon World Boxing Champion
first black votes as a result of the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) Thomas Mundy Peterson

APRIL 3
first black to patent an improved window ventilator for railroad cars (1883) Humpfrey H. Reynolds

APRIL 7
first black American depicted on U.S. postage stamp (1940) Booker Taliaferro Washington
first major slave revolt in New York City (1712)

APRIL 9
first black AME bishop (1816) Richard Allen
first black missionary associated with the AME church (1819) Daniel Coker
Civil Rights Bill (1866) passed giving blacks the same rights enjoyed by white citizens
African Orthodox Church was organized (1990) by George Augustus Stallings

APRIL 10
first black to play in the Masters Tournament (1975) Lee Elder

APRIL 11
first institution of higher education established to educate black women (1881) Spellman College, GA

APRIL 12
Free Africa Society organized in Philadelphia (1787)

APRIL 14
first influential revival to emphasize the centrality of speaking in tongues (1906)

APRIL 15
first black in major league baseball (1946) Jackie Robinson

APRIL 18
first black coach in the National Basketball Association (1966) Bill Russell
first black to coach a major, predominantly white professional basketball team (1966) Bill Russell

APRIL 22
first black bishop consecrated in the United States (1966) Harold Robert Perry

APRIL 23
first black woman admitted to practice before the D.C. Supreme Court (1872) Charlotte E. Ray

APRIL 24
United Negro College Fund established (1944)

APRIL 25
patent on a paper bag manufacturing device (1882) W.B. Purvis

APRIL 26
first white church to give money in response to James Fornian's demand for reparations (1969)

APRIL 28
first black nominated director of the Office of National Drug Policy (1993) Lee P. Brown

MAY 2
first black student at Vanderbilt University (1953) Joseph A. Johnson
first black bishop in the state of Tennessee (1993) J. Terry Steib

MAY 12
first American-born black to win a world boxing crown (1902) Joe Gains
first black professional baseball player to pitch a no-hitter (1955) Samuel "Toothpick Sam" Jones

MAY 13
African-American Catholic Church established (1990)
first black mayor of Fayette, Mississippi (1971) James Charles Evers

MAY 17
first black blues musician on a postage stamp (1969) W.C. Handy
first black moderator of the Presbyterian Church (1975) Lawrence Wendell Bottoms

MAY 18
first law passed regulating black servitude (General Court of Election, Rhode Island) (1652)
Supreme Court decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson affirmed the doctrine of "separate but equal" (1896)

MAY 21
first black moderator of the United Presbyterian Church (1976) Thelma Davidson Adair
first black to be ordained by an American bishop (1836) George Paddington

MAY 24
first black to address a joint session of the (AL) legislature in this century (1960) Blanche Preston McSmith

MAY 26
first black to win a major tennis title (1956) Althea Gibson

MAY 30
first black student to graduate from the University of Alabama (1965) Vivian Malone Jones
Vesey slave revolt in Charleston (1739)

JUNE 10
first American black to be ordained in the Catholic church (1854) James Augstine Healy

JUNE 14
first black woman to receive a Ph.D. (1921) Eva Beatrice Dykes

JUNE 15
first black American to receive a Ph.D. in economics (1921) Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
first black woman jockey (1971) Cheryl White

JUNE 17
first black elected bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1758) John Wesley
patenting of the first cost-efficient method for producing carbon filaments (1882) Louis H. Latimer

JUNE 22
first black national sports hero in heavyweight rank boxing to score a one-round knock out (1938) Joe Louis

JUNE 27
first black world champion in boxing (1908) Jack Johnson
first black superintendent of schools in Atlanta, Georgia (1969) John W. Porter
patenting of lubricator for steam engines (1872) Elijah McCoy
first state to abolish slavery in its constitution (Vermont) (1777) Vermont
first permanent order of black Catholic nuns (1829) Oblate Sisters of Providence, MD

JULY 3
first black Protestant Episcopal church in New York City (1819) St. Phillips African Church

JULY 5
first black player in the American League Baseball (major league) (1947) Larry Doby

JULY 6
first black to win a Wimbledon championship (1957) Althea Gibson
first state legislative body with a black majority (1868) South Carolina

JULY 7
first widely known black priest to celebrate mass (1886) Augustus Tolton

JULY 8
first black in Olympic history to win an individual gold medal (1924) William DeHart Hubbard

JULY 9
world's first successful heart operation (1893) Daniel Hale Williams

JULY 10
first black NBA team owners (1989) Betram Lee and Peter Bynoe (Denver Nuggets)

JULY 12
patenting of a practical refrigeration system for trucks and railroad cars (1940) Frederick M. Jones

JULY 13
Continental Congress prohibited slavery in the Northwest Territories (1787)

JULY 14
first patent of the first known black woman inventor (1885) Sarah E. Goode

JULY 17
first black Protestant Episcopal church founded (1874) James T. Holly

JULY 18
coupling device for railroad cars patent (1897) Andrew Beard

JULY 20
first woman bishop of the United Methodist Church (1984) Leontine T.C. Kelly

AUGUST 3
First issue of Atlanta Daily World newspaper first black daily in modern times (1932)

AUGUST 7
first black permanent member of the delegation to the United Nations (1954) Charles Mahoney

AUGUST 11
first African Methodist Episcopal Conference started (1822) James Varick

AUGUST 22
first black college founded in Tennessee, and still in existence (1867) Fisk University

AUGUST 25
first black candidate certified to run for a U.S. Senate seat (1972) John LeFlore
first meeting of the American National Baptist Convention (1895)

AUGUST 30
first black American astronaut to make a space flight (1983) Guy Bluford, Jr.

SEPTEMBER 8
first black to win a major United States national championship (1968) Arthur Ashe

SEPTEMBER 15
first black prizefight to gross more than five million dollars (1978) Muhammed Ali

SEPTEMBER 16
first black to rush for 250 yards in one NFL game (1973) O.J. Simpson

SEPTEMBER 24
first black bishop of the Episcopal Church in the diocese of Washington (1977) John T. Walker
first black fighter to draw a million-dollar gate (1938) Joe Louis

SEPTEMBER 25
first black to win a national boxing crown (1885) Peter "The Black Prince" Jackson

SEPTEMBER 27
first and only black Catholic college (1915) Xavier University

OCTOBER 10
first exclusively black parish in the United States (1863) St. Francis Xavier Church, MD

OCTOBER 16
first black director of physical culture at Harvard University (1859) Abraham M. Hewlitt

OCTOBER 21
first black to play in the NBA (1950) Earl Lloyd

OCTOBER 24
opening of first play by a black author to be a long-run Broadway hit (1935) Mulatto by Langston Hughes

NOVEMBER 1
first free secular school in New York City (1787) African Free School

NOVEMBER 3
first black elected to the General Assembly Tennessee in this century (1964) A.W. Willis Jr.

NOVEMBER 6
first black mayors of Detroit and Los Angeles elected (1973) Coleman Young and Thomas Bradley

NOVEMBER 7
first black mayor of New York City elected (1989) David Dinkins

NOVEMBER 8
first black to win a statewide election since Reconstruction (1960) Otis M. Smith, MI

NOVEMBER 10
first black presidential press secretary (1960) Andrew T. Hatcher
first black to win a major professional golf tournament (1957) Charlie Sifford Long Beach Open

NOVEMBER 11
first black to patent an image converter for detecting electromagnetic radiation (1969) George R. Carruthers

NOVEMBER 24
Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the United States of America formed (1880)

NOVEMBER 26
first black appointed to a sub-Cabinet post (1911) William Henry Louis

NOVEMBER 29
first two known black converts (one being a woman) to the Methodism movement baptized (1758)

DECEMBER 2
telephone transmitter patent (1884) Granville T. Woods

DECEMBER 3
first black Catholic association with preserved documentation (1843) Soc. Of Colored People of Baltimore

DECEMBER 5
first televised heavyweight boxing championship bout (1947) Joe Louis v Jersey Joe Walcott

DECEMBER 9
first black elected to the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame (1971) Bill Picket
first black state governor of Louisiana began his office (1872) Pinckney Benton Stuart Pinchback

DECEMBER 12
first black elected to Congress to represent South Carolina (1870) Joseph Hayne Rainey

DECEMBER 18
first black welterweight champion (1901) Joe Walcott

DECEMBER 26
first black heavyweight boxing champion (1908) Jack Johnson

Please pass this on to your constituents. Happy Black History Month !

Compiled by:
NYORG/Somers/IBM
nyorg@us.ibm.com
http://w3.ibm.com/chq/blacknet.nsf