1917 6c3i22
- In the same year that the United States enters World War I, anti-black riots are held in St. Louis, Illinois and more than 100 black citizens are either killed or injured. More than 10,000 black New Yorkers hold the Silent Parade to protest the violence.
December 8, 1936 1i1ab
- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAA) sues the government to make them pay black and white teachers equal salaries.
June 3, 1946 4a3y6x
- US Supreme Court bans segregation of black and white people on public transit.
Civil Rights - December 1, 1955 15q40
- Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, AL. Martin Luther King Jr. leads a boycott of Montgomery buses that lasts over a year.
September 24, 1957 221440
- Nine black students integrate with white students at Central High School in Little Rock, AR. President Dwight Eisenhower sends the paratroopers in to ward off any violence.
August 28, 1963 2v5s57
- More than 250,000 civil rights demonstrators march on Washington, DC, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have A Dream" speech.
1964 3v6615
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
April 4, 1968 2r1u6r
- Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, TN, where had gone to give a speech to striking garbage workers.
1978 5g6o4y
- Unita Blackwell, founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, becomes the first black woman mayor in the history of Mississippi in the city of Mayersville. She had once been denied the right to vote there.
1983 252s2i
- Vanessa Williams is crowned the first black Miss America.
January 15, 1986 485c73
- Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time.
1999 3u5b2u
- NAA launches a campaign against TV networks to increase number of minorities in shows.
2000 6o315y
- Colin Powell becomes the first black US Secretary of State.
March 24, 2002 1u2c5s
- Halle Berry becomes first African American woman to win an Oscar for best actress.
- Click here to hear about other strides in black history.
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