Back and Blacker than ever!
Spring is here and the Blackness is still in full bloom. This month take a deep dive into important birth dates, notable events, historic firsts, and little-known facts. Share the knowledge with your family and friends and ensure the contributions of our heroes are never forgotten. We pay homage to all of those who have paved the way and fought for the freedoms we enjoy now. For this month in Black history, here are some important things that happened in April that you may have never learned, courtesy of BlackFacts.com.
April 5, 1856 – Scholar Booker T. Washington is born
April 23, 1856 – Inventor Granville T. Woods is born
April 1, 1868 – Hampton Institute (aka Hampton University) is founded
April 7, 1872 – Civil rights activist William Monroe Trotter is born
April 11, 1881 – Spelman College is founded
April 26, 1886 – Blues singer Ma Rainey is born
April 15, 1889 – Civil rights activist A. Philip Randolph is born
April 26, 1892 – Sarah Boone receives patent for ironing board, becoming first Black woman to receive a patent in Connecticut
April 15, 1894 – Blues singer Bessie Smith is born
April 9, 1898 – Entertainer Paul Robeson is born
April 11, 1899 – Chemist Percy Julian is born
April 29, 1899 – Jazz icon Duke Ellington is born
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April 18, 1903 – W.E.B. Du Bois publishes “The Souls of Black Folk”
April 6, 1909 – Explorer Matthew Henson becomes one of the first to reach the North Pole
April 4, 1913 – Blues musician Muddy Waters is born
April 7, 1915 – Singer Billie Holiday is born
April 15, 1915 – Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett is born
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April 1, 1917 – Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime, passes away
April 25, 1917 – Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald is born
April 15, 1922 – Harold Washington, first Black mayor of Chicago, is born
April 15, 1926 – Norma Merrick Sklarek, one of the first licensed Black woman architects in the U.S., is born
April 30, 1926 – Bessie Coleman, first Black woman pilot, passes away
April 27, 1927 – Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King is born
April 4, 1928 – Poet Maya Angelou is born
April 2, 1932 – Cowboy Bill Pickett passes away
April 7, 1934 – Civil rights activist William Monroe Trotter passes away
April 5, 1937 – Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is born
April 6, 1937 – Actor Billy Dee Williams is born
April 5, 1938 – Educator Walter E. Massey is born
April 2, 1939 – Marvin Gaye is born
April 7, 1940 – U.S. Postal Service issues first stamp honoring African American bearing likeness of Booker T. Washington
April 12, 1940 – Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock is born
April 25, 1944 – The United Negro College Fund is founded
April 27, 1945 – Playwright August Wilson is born
April 8, 1946 – BET founder Bob Johnson is born
April 13, 1946 – Singer Al Green is born
April 15, 1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes first Black major league baseball player
April 16, 1947 – NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is born
April 1, 1950 – Surgeon Charles R. Drew passes away
April 3, 1950 – Historian Carter G. Woodson passes away
April 9, 1950 – Juanita Hall makes history as first Black person to win a Tony award
April 25, 1950 – Charles “Chuck” Cooper makes history as the first African American drafted by an NBA team
April 15, 1951 – R&B Icon Luther Vandross is born
April 7, 1954 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett is born
April 3, 1961 – Comedian Eddie Murphy is born
April 30, 1961 – NBA player Isiah Thomas is born
April 13, 1964 – Sidney Poitier makes history as first Black person to win an Oscar for Best Actor
April 16, 1965 – Comedian Martin Lawrence is born
April 11, 1966 – Emmett Ashford makes history as first Black major league umpire
April 4, 1968 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
April 10, 1968 – Civil Rights Act of 1968 passed by Congress, making housing discrimination illegal
April 29, 1970 – Music mogul Master P is born
April 4, 1972 – Politician Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. passes away
April 5, 1973 – Artist Pharrell Williams is born
April 8, 1974 – Hank Aaron breaks Babe Ruth’s record
April 10, 1975 – Lee Elder makes history as first Black golfer to play in the Masters Tournament
April 12, 1975 – Entertainer Josephine Baker passes away
April 19, 1975 – Chemist Percy Julian passes away
April 12, 1981 – Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis passes away
April 18, 1983 – Alice Walker makes history as first Black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
April 30, 1983 – Blues musician Muddy Waters passes away
April 1, 1984 – Marvin Gaye passes away
April 2, 1984 – Coach John Thompson makes history as first Black coach to win NCAA tournament
April 26, 1984 – Jazz legend Count Basie passes away
April 12, 1989 – Boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson passes away
April 3, 1990 – Singer Sarah Vaughan passes away
April 17, 1990 – Civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy passes away
April 8, 1993 – Opera singer Marian Anderson passes away
April 5, 1994 – Filmmaker Marlon Riggs passes away
April 16, 1994 – Author Ralph Ellison passes away
April 3, 1996 – Former Cleveland Mayor Carl B. Stokes passes away
April 11, 2001 – Carolyn Payton, first Black director of the U.S. Peace Corps, passes away
April 21, 2003 – Singer Nina Simone passes away
April 2, 2012 – Sculptor Elizabeth Catlett passes away
April 21, 2016 – Iconic musician Prince passes away
Cover photo: This month in Black history: Important things that happened in April that you never learned/Photo Courtesy of Jim Britt/Getty Images