Happy Women’s History Month!
We’re back with another roundup of pertinent Black history you should know. While February is over, Black History Year is still in full effect and we’re cha-cha sliding into March better than ever. We have birthdays, death dates, notable events, and little known facts that you can share with your community. We’re here to keep you in the know and make sure history is hidden no more. Here are some important things that happened in March that you never learned, courtesy of BlackFacts.org:
March 5, 1770 – Crispus Attucks killed in Boston
March 17, 1806 – Chemical engineer and Egyptologist Norbert Rillieux is born
March 13, 1821 – Thomas L. Jennings credited as the first Black person to patent an invention
March 8, 1825 – Dr. Alexander Thomas Augusta, first Black med school faculty member, is born
March 17, 1825 – Former Alabama U.S. House Rep. Benjamin Sterling Turner is born
March 20, 1852 – Martin R. Delany, father of Black Nationalism, publishes The Condition, Elevation, Emigration and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States
March 3, 1865 – Congress established The Freedmen’s Bureau
March 4, 1867 – Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, first Black woman dentist, is born
March 9, 1871 – Civil rights activist Oscar De Priest is born
March 26, 1872 – Inventor Thomas J. Martin receives patent for fire extinguisher
March 27, 1876 – Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, youngest jockey to win Kentucky Derby, is born
March 31, 1876 – Singer Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, also known as “The Black Swan,” passes away
March 4, 1877 – Inventor Garrett A. Morgan is born
March 31, 1878 – Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson is born
March 24, 1884 – Art dealer Zoë Dusanne is born
March 1, 1892 – Ms. Anna M. Mangin invents the pastry fork
March 3, 1894– Comedian “Moms” Mabley is born
March 21, 1894 – Former Alabama U.S. House Rep. Benjamin Sterling Turner passes away
March 9, 1895 – Dr. Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, first Black woman physician, passes away
March 18, 1895 – 200 free Blacks leave Savannah, Georgia for Liberia
March 17, 1896 – Inventor Charles Brooks receives patent for street sweeper
March 17, 1912 – Civil rights leader Bayard Rustin is born
March 24, 1912 – Civil rights activist Dorothy Height is born
March 10, 1913 – Abolitionist Harriet Tubman passes away
March 1, 1914 – Writer Ralph Ellison is born
March 20, 1915 – Rock ‘N’ Roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe is born
March 24, 1916 – Marcus Garvey arrives in the United States
March 17, 1917 – Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton, youngest jockey to win Kentucky Derby, is born
March 3, 1919 – South African author Peter Abrahams is born
March 17, 1919 – Entertainer Nat King Cole is born
March 27, 1924 – Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan is born
March 11, 1926 – Civil rights activist Ralph David Abernathy is born
March 1, 1927 – Entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte is born
March 25, 1931 – Journalist Ida B. Wells-Barnett passes away
March 4, 1932 – South African singer Miriam Makeba is born
March 12, 1932 – Activist Andrew Jackson Young Jr. is born
March 14, 1933 – Music mogul Quincy Jones is born
March 15, 1933 – Civil rights leader and missionary Max Yergan receives NAACP Spingarn Medal
March 17, 1933 – Activist Myrlie Evers-Williams is born
March 12, 1934 – Children’s writer Virginia Hamilton is born
March 18, 1934 – Country singer Charley Pride is born
March 27, 1934 – Arthur Mitchell, first Black principal dancer with NYC Ballet Company, is born
March 5, 1938 – Former NFL player and actor Fred Williamson is born
March 16, 1938 – Foreign Service Officer Irvin Hicks Jr. is born
March 21, 1938 – Lois Jean White, first Black President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is born
March 19, 1939 – Langston Hughes founds The New Negro Theater in Los Angeles, California
March 18, 1941 – Singer Wilson Pickett is born
March 23, 1942 – Political activist Walter Rodney is born
March 25, 1942 – The “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin, is born
March 22, 1943 – Jazz guitarist George Benson is born
March 26, 1944 – Icon Diana Ross is born
March 8, 1945 – Phyllis Mae Dailey becomes first Black person to swear in as Navy nurse
March 6, 1947 – Retired U.S. Diplomat Howard Franklin Jeter is born
March 11, 1948 – Dr. Reginald Weir becomes first Black player to compete in the U.S. Indoor Lawn Tennis Association Championship
March 1, 1949 – Joe Louis retires from boxing
March 7, 1950 – NFL Player Franco Harris is born
March 26, 1950 – Singer Teddy Pendergrass is born
March 9, 1955 – African American explorer Matthew Henson passes away
March 12, 1955 – Jazz pioneer Charlie Parker passes away
March 21, 1955 – Walter F. White, former NAACP president, passes away
March 23, 1955 – NBA player Moses Malone is born
March 20, 1957 – Filmmaker Spike Lee is born
March 15, 1959 – Saxophonist Lester Willis Young passes away
March 18, 1959 – Actress and singer Irene Cara is born
March 14, 1960 – Hall of Fame baseball player Kirby Puckett is born
March 2, 1962 – Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single basketball game
March 3, 1962 – Olympic track athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee is born
March 18, 1963 – Entertainer Vanessa Williams is born
March 7, 1964 – Comedian Wanda Sykes is born
March 30, 1964 – Grammy Award Winning artist Tracy Chapman is born
March 7, 1965 – Selma to Montgomery marches begin
March 21, 1965 – Selma to Montgomery marches end
March 1, 1966 – Journalist Don Lemon is born
March 6, 1966 – Maurice Ashley, first Black chess grandmaster, is born
March 27, 1969 – The Black Academy of Arts and Lettters is founded
March 27, 1969 – Entertainer Mariah Carey is born
March 17, 1970 – Artist Jacob Lawrence awarded Spingarn Medal
March 18, 1970 – Icon Queen Latifah is born
March 25, 1971 – WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes is born
March 2, 1972 – Dr. Jerome H. Holland becomes first Black person to serve on the board of the NY Stock Exchange
March 6, 1972 – Art dealer Zoë Dusanne passes away
March 6, 1972 – NBA Superstar Shaquille O’Neal is born
March 10, 1972 – Producer Timbaland is born
March 13, 1972 – Hip Hop artist Common is born
March 18, 1972 – USS Jesse L. Brown, ship named after first Black naval aviator, launched
March 14, 1977 – Activist Fannie Lou Hamer passes away
March 31, 1980 – 4x Olympic gold medalist Jesse Owens passes away
March 5, 1985 – U.S. Postal Service issues Mary McLeod Bethune commemorative stamp
March 23, 1985 – Former HUD Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris passes away
March 9, 1987 – Rapper Lil Bow Wow is born
March 14, 1988 – NBA Superstar Stephen Curry is born
March 2, 1990 – Carole Gist makes history as the first Black Miss USA
March 4, 1990 – NBA player Draymond Green is born
March 23, 1992 – NBA star Kyrie Irving is born
March 9, 1997 – Rapper Notorious B.I.G. is killed in Los Angeles
March 24, 2002 – Halle Berry makes history as first Black woman to win Best Actress Oscar
March 29, 2005 – Attorney Johnnie Cochran passes away
March 6, 2006 – Hall of Fame baseball player Kirby Puckett passes away
March 25, 2009 – Historian John Hope Franklin passes away
March 21, 2013 – Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe passes away
This month in Black history: Important things that happened in March that you never learned. Activist Myrlie Evers-Williams. Photo Courtesy of James Van Evers/AARP