* Today in Black History - January 16 *
1776 - The Continental Congress approves General George Washington's
order on the enlistment of free African Americans.
1865 - General William T. Sherman issues his Field Order No. 15, setting
aside "the islands from Charleston, south, the abandoned rice
fields along the river for thirty miles back from the sea, and
the country bordering the St. John's River, Florida," for
exclusive settlement by African Americans. The order provides
that "each family should have a plot of not more than forty (40)
acres of tillable ground...in the possession of which land the
military authorities will afford them protection until such time
as they can protect themselves...." General Rufus Saxton, South
Carolina Freedmen's Bureau director, will later settle some
40,000 African Americans on forty-acre tracts in the area. In
South Carolina and other states, African American settlers will
be given possessory titles pending final action on the
confiscated and abandoned lands of Confederate rebels. Many
will never see their land, because President Johnson will
reverse the policy implemented by the Freedmen's Bureau.
1871 - Jefferson F. Long, of Georgia, is sworn in as the second African
American congressman.
1901 - Hiram Revels joins the ancestors in Aberdeen, Mississippi, at the
age of 73. He held the distinction of being the first African
American elected to serve in the U.S. Senate.
1938 - Lionel Hampton and Teddy Wilson become the first African Americans
to perform at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. Benny Goodman
leads a historic jazz concert, later considered to be one of the
first "serious" jazz concerts. Goodman refuses to perform without
the two African American members of his band. Carnegie Hall
officials will relent and the integrated band performs to critical
praise with Hampton on vibraphone and Wilson on piano.
1941 - The War Department announces formation of the first Army Air
Corps squadron for African American cadets. The 99th Pursuit
Squadron is formed and the Tuskegee Training Program is
established. The 99th will fly more than 500 missions and more
than 3,700 sorties during one year of combat before being
combined with the 332nd Fighter Group.
1941 - Dr. Charles Richard Drew sets up and runs the pioneer blood
plasma bank in Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. This
bank will serve as one of the models for the system of banks
operated later by the American Red Cross.
1962 - A suit accusing the New York City Board of Education of using
"racial quotas" is filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of
African American and Puerto Rican children.
1966 - Harold R. Perry becomes the second African American Roman
Catholic bishop in U.S. history.
1967 - Lucius D. Amerson, a former army paratrooper, becomes the first
African American sheriff in the South since Reconstruction, when
he is sworn in at Tuskegee (Macon County), Alabama.
1967 - The first Black government is installed in the Commonwealth of the
Bahamas.
1974 - Heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali, is named the Associated
Press "Athlete of the Year."
1978 - NASA names Major Frederick D. Gregory, Major Guion Bluford, and
Dr. Ronald McNair to its astronaut program.
1988 - Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, a self-styled oddsmaker and expert on
sports, is fired as a CBS Sports commentator after making
controversial remarks about athletes of African descent.
1989 - Racially motivated disturbances erupt in Miami, Florida after a
police officer fatally shoots an African American motorcyclist,
causing a crash that kills a passenger.
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