Black History Month

 

 Interesting Black History Month Facts:

 

• Black History Month is celebrated in February in Canada and the United States. It is celebrated in October in the United Kingdom.
• The first Negro History Week took place beginning February 7, 1926. Carter G. Woodson was its creator.
• Throughout history, many important events in Black History have occurred in February. It was chosen as the month to celebrate Black History Month because the Black abolitionist and writer Frederick Douglass was born this month, and so was Abraham Lincoln, who played an important role in shaping Black history.
• In 1619 the first enslaved Africans were brought to the U.S. on a Dutch ship.
• The demand for slaves in the U.S. increased in 1793 when Eli Whitney's cotton gin was introduced.
• In 1808 Congress banned the importation of slaves.
• In 1849 Harriet Tubman escaped from slavery.  She later helped 300 other slaves gain their freedom by escaping through the Underground Railroad.
• The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution was adopted by the 38th Congress on February 1st.  This amendment abolished slavery. It was approved in 1865.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed February 10, 1964. It made it illegal for state or local governments of public facilities to deny access to anyone because of ethnic origin or race. It also made segregation in schools illegal and subject to law suits. 
• On February 13, 1923, the first Black pro-basketball team was organized- "The Renaissance".
• On February 19, 2002 Vonetta Flowers won the first Black gold medal in Winter Olympic Games' history. Vonetta and her partner won the (women's) inaugural two-person bobsled.
• Robert Abbott became the first back millionaire after he founded the weekly newspaper, the Chicago Defender in 1905.  BET founder Robert L. Johnson became the first black billionaire in 2000.
• Recent counts put the black population of the U.S. at 45 million. New York has the highest number of black residents, with 3.7 million, while Washington, DC has the highest proportion of  African-Americans with 51 percent.