Black - African American History Facts

Lewis Temple, invented the "Temple-Toggle" on this date in 1848. This invention revolutionized the whaling industry by giving the hook a harpoon that held whales securely.

John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing Co. and publisher of Ebony, Jet, and other magazines, was born on this date in 1918.

After a Supreme Court ruling, Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher applied for admission to the University of Oklahoma Law School on this date in 1948. Fisher had previously been barred from the racially segregated school.

Clifford Alexander, Jr. was named as the first black Secretary of the U.S. Army on this date in 1977.