Events in history help complete the understanding of African American history. This month-by-month outline of historic dates relevant to South Carolina African American history offers readers a perspective that compliments the biographical data on African American leaders. This timeline view helps complete the picture of the African American impact on South Carolina history.
| January | February |
| March | April |
| May | June |
| July | August |
| September | October |
| November | December |
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February |
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1 | Langston Hughes was born in 1902. |
17 | Michael Jordan, basketball player, born in 1963. |
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2 | Ernest E. Just, biologist, received the Spingarn Medal for pioneering research on fertilization and cell division, 1914. |
18 | Toni Morrison (born Chloe Anthony Wofford) was born in 1931. |
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3 |
Geraldine McCullough won the Widener Gold Medal for Sculpture in 1965. |
19 | William "Smoky" Robinson born in 1940. |
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4 | Rosa Parks was born in 1913. |
20 |
Frederick Douglass died in 1895. |
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5 | Henry "Hank" Aaron, the home run king of major league baseball was born in 1934. |
21 | Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965. |
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6 |
Jonathan Jasper Wright elected to South Carolina Supreme Court in 1870. |
22 |
George Washington born in 1732. Julius Winfield "Dr. J" Erving born in 1950. |
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7 | Eubie Blake, pianist, was born in 1883. |
23 | W.E.B. DuBois born in 1868. |
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8 |
Oprah Winfrey became the first African American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show in 1986. |
24 | In 1864 Rebecca Lee became the first African-American woman to receive an M.D. degree. |
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9 |
In 1995 Bernard Harris became the first African-American astronaut to take a spacewalk. |
25 | Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) won World Heavyweight crown in 1964. |
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10 |
Roberta Flack, singer, was born in 1940. |
26 | Singer "Fats" Domino born in 1928. |
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11 |
Clifford Alexander Jr, became the first African-American Secretary of the Army in 1977. |
27 | Marian Anderson, opera singer, was born in 1902. |
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12 | Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809. Congress enacted the first fugitive slave law in 1793. |
28 | Richard Wright's Native Son published in 1940. |
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13 | Joseph L. Searles became the first African-American member of the New York Stock Exchange, 1970. |
29 | Hattie McDaniel became the first black (male or female) to win an Oscar (for Best Supporting Actress) for her role as Mammy in "Gone With The Wind." |
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14 | Valentine's Day Frederick Douglass was born in 1817. |
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15 | Henry Lewis was named director of the New Jersey Symphony in 1968. Nat King Cole died in 1965. |
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16 | Joe Frazier became World Heavyweight Boxing Champion by a knockout in 1970. |
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