* Today in Black History - July 12 *
1864 - George Washington Carver, African American botanist, who
invented peanut butter, is born in Diamond Grove, Missouri.
He will receive a B.S. from the Iowa Agricultural College in
1894 and a M.S. in 1896. He will become a member of the
faculty of Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanics
in charge of the school's bacterial laboratory work in the
Systematic Botany department. His work with agricultural
products develops industrial applications from farm products,
called chemurgy in technical literature in the early 1900s.
His research will develop 325 products from peanuts, 108
applications for sweet potatoes, and 75 products derived
from pecans. He will move to Tuskegee, Alabama in 1896 to
accept a position as an instructor at the Tuskegee Institute
of Technology and remain on the faculty until his death in
1943. His work in developing industrial applications from
agricultural products will derive 118 products, including a
rubber substitute and over 500 dyes and pigments from 28
different plants. He will be responsible for the invention
in 1927 of a process for producing paints and stains from
soybeans, for which three separate patents were issued. Dr.
Carver will be honored by U.S. President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt in July 14, 1943 dedicating $30,000 for a national
monument to be dedicated to his accomplishments. The area of
Carver's childhood near Diamond Grove, Missouri will be
preserved as a park, with a bust of the agricultural researcher,
instructor, and chemical investigator. This park will be the
first national monument dedicated to an African American in
the United States. George Washington Carver will be bestowed
with an honorary doctorate from Simpson College in 1928. He
will be made a member of the Royal Society of Arts in London,
England. He will receive the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP
in 1923.
1887 - Mound Bayou, an all African American town in Mississippi, is
founded by Isaiah Montgomery.
1936 - Actress Rose McClendon dies of pneumonia in New York City. A
student at the American Academy of Dramatic Art in Carnegie
Hall, McClendon won fame for her roles in the plays "Deep
River", "In Abraham's Bosom", and "Porgy." She also founded,
with Dick Campbell, the Negro People's Theater and with Campbell
and Muriel Rahn, the Rose McClendon Payers.
1936 - Cornelius Johnson sets the world record in the high jump.
1937 - William Henry "Bill" Cosby is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He will become one of the most popular African American
entertainers, first in comedy, where his albums will earn him
five Grammy awards, then in Las Vegas and elsewhere. He will
later star in the television series "I Spy", which will be
the first of several successful television series.
1944 - Denise Nicholas is born. She will become an actress starring
in "Room 222's" as Liz McIntyre, "In the Heat of the Night's
" Harriet DeLong, "Baby, I'm Back", and "Ghost Dad."
1949 - Frederick M. Jones patents an air conditioning unit.
1951 - Governor Adlai Stevenson, calls out the Illinois National
Guard to stop rioting in Cicero, Illinois. A mob of 3,500
racists try to keep an African American family from moving
into the all-white city.
1958 - "Yakety Yak", by The Coasters, becomes the number one song in
the country, according to "Billboard" magazine. It is the
first stereo record to reach the top of the chart.
1959 - Rolonda Watts, talk show hostess, is born.
1960 - Congo, Chad & The Central African Republic declare their
independence.
1963 - Maryland National Guard troops impose limited martial law in
Cambridge, Maryland after open confrontations between
civil rights demonstrators and white segregationists.
1966 - A race riot begins in the city of Chicago, prompting the
governor to call in the Illinois National Guard.
1967 - Five days of rioting begin in Newark, New Jersey. Over twenty
three persons are killed. The racial uprising involves ten
of the city's twenty-three square miles. More than 1,500
persons are injured and 1,300 were arrested. Police report
300 fires. The Newark rebellion, the worst outbreak of
racial violence since the Watts riots (in Los Angeles),
spread to other New Jersey communities, including New
Brunswick, Englewood, Paterson, Elizabeth, Palmyra, Passaic,
and Plainfield. The New Jersey National Guard is mobilized.
1979 - Minnie Ripperton, a singer best known for her recording of
"Lovin' You," dies of cancer at the age of 32.
1980 - John W. Davis, civil rights activist and former president of
West Virginia State College, dies in Englewood, New Jersey
at the age of 92.
1991 - "Boyz in the Hood", a film written and directed by John
Singleton, premieres. A coming-of-age film set in gang-and-
violence-ridden South Central Los Angeles, its positive
message will earn Singleton critical acclaim and two Academy
Award nominations.
1992 - In an emotional farewell speech, Benjamin Hooks, outgoing
executive director of the NAACP, urges the group's convention
in Nashville, Tennessee, to show the world that it remains
vital.
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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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