* Today in Black History - May 18 *
1652 - Rhode Island enacts the first colonial law limiting slavery.
1848 - William Leidesdorff dies in San Francisco, California. The first man
to sail a steamboat into San Francisco Bay, Leidesdorff developed a
successful business empire, including a hotel, warehouse, and other
real-estate developments. Active politically, he served on San
Francisco's first town council and became city treasurer. A street
in the city will be named in his honor.
1880 - George Lewis wins the sixth running of the Kentucky Derby astride
Fonso.
1896 - In Plessy v. Ferguson, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Louisiana's
"separate but equal" segregation laws. The ruling is a major setback
for integration and marks the beginning of Jim Crow laws.
1911 - "Big" Joe Turner is born in Kansas City, Missouri. He will become one
of the best blues shouters and a critical link between Rhythm and
Blues and Rock & Roll. In 1951 Turner will sign a recording contract
with Atlantic Records and cut a string of Rhythm & Blues classics
that will lead the way straight into Rock & Roll. His most famous
hit, "Shake, Rattle and Roll" will be released in 1954, and make it
to number 1 and will be covered shortly thereafter by Bill Haley and
the Comets. But before "Shake" will come the million-selling "Chains
of Love," which will reach number 2 on the Rhythm & Blues charts and
number 30 on the pop side, plus "Chill Is On," "Sweet Sixteen,"
"Don't You Cry," "TV Mama," and the number 1 smash, "Honey Hush."
Turner's chart success will continue after "Shake" with "Well All
Right," "Flip Flop and Fly," "Hide and Seek," "The Chicken and the
Hawk," "Morning, Noon, and Night," "Corrina Corrina," and "Lipstick
Powder and Paint." Turner will nearly dominate the Rhythm & Blues
charts from 1951 to 1956.
1946 - Reginald Martinez Jackson is born in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. He will
be better known as Reggie Jackson, star baseball player for the
Oakland A's and the New York Yankees. He will set or tie seven World
Series records.
1955 - Mary McLeod Bethune, educator and founder of the National Council of
Negro Women, dies in Daytona Beach, Florida at the age of 79.
1960 - Yannick Noah is born in Sedan, France. He will become a professional
tennis player. Arthur Ashe will spot his talents while on a three-
week, goodwill tour of Africa in 1971, and arrange for Noah to be
sent back to France to further develop his game. Noah will go on to
win the French Open in 1983, a Grand Slam event. During his career,
he will win 23 singles titles and be runner up at 13 others.
1971 - President Nixon rejects the sixty demands of the Congressional Black
Caucus, saying his administration would continue to support "jobs,
income and tangible benefits, the pledges that this society has made
to the disadvantaged in the past decade." The caucus expressed deep
disappointment with the reply and said the Nixon administration
"lacked a sense of understanding, urgency and commitment in dealing
with the critical problems facing Black Americans."
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The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
"InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American
Book of Days," "Before the Mayflower", "Black Firsts" and
independent research by the Information Man.
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