Black - African American History Facts

The First National Negro Convention was held in Philadelphia, PA, on this date in 1830. Participants met in the Bethel AME Church and elected Richard Allen their first president.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Baptist minister and civil rights activist, was stabbed in the chest while signing books in a Harlem department store on this date in 1958. The attacker, a mentally disturbed woman, was apprehended and placed under observation.

Leontine Turpeau Kelly was consecrated the first black female Bishop of the United Methodist Church on this date in 1984.

The first episode of The Cosby show aired on this date in 1984. This series ran for eight years and was frequently the most watched television show in America.

The Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously voted General Colin L. Powell the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on this date in 1989.