*   Today in Black History - May 9   *

1750 - The South Carolina Gazette reports that Caesar, a South Carolina
        slave, has been granted his freedom and a life time annuity in
        exchange for his cures for poison and rattlesnake bite. Caesar and
        the famous James Derham of New Orleans are two of the earliest
        known African American medical practitioners.

1862 - General Hunter of the Union Army issues a proclamation freeing the
        slaves of Georgia, Florida and South Carolina.  A displeased
        President Lincoln annuls this act.  Lincoln stated, "General Hunter
        is an honest man...He proclaimed all men free within certain states.
        I repudiated the proclamation."

1919 - James Reese Europe joins the ancestors after being stabbed to death
        by a crazed band member (his drummer) after a concert at Mechanics
        Hall in Boston.  Europe was one of the preeminent jazz bandleaders
        of the early 20th century, beginning with his association with the
        team of J. Rosamond Johnson and Bob Cole in The Shoo Fly Regiment
        in 1906. Founder of the Clef Club, Europe joined the 15th, and
        later, 369th Infantry Regiments. The military band he formed during
        World War I was one of the most popular in all of Europe.

1936 - After a eight month occupation, Italy annexes Abyssinia (now
        Ethiopia). Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini announces in front of
        400,000 people at the Piazza Venezia in Rome that, by controlling
        Abyssinia, Eritrea, and Somaliland, Italy now has its own Empire.
        This is the beginning of a five year occupation, which will end in
        1941.

1952 - Canada Lee joins the ancestors in New York at the age of 45. A
        jockey and amateur boxer before turning to acting, Lee achieved
        wide acclaim for his portrayal of Bigger Thomas in the 1941
        Broadway play "Native Son" and for the film, "Cry the Beloved
        Country."

1960 - Nigeria becomes a member of the British Commonwealth.

1974 - The House Judiciary Committee formally opens its impeachment hearings
        against President Richard M. Nixon with representatives John
        Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) and Barbara Jordan (D-Tex.) among members of
        the committee.  Jordan, in particular, distinguishes herself as an
        eloquent and incisive contributor to the hearings process.

1977 - Mabel Murphy Smythe is confirmed as Ambassador to the Republic of
        Cameroon.

1987 - Chief Obafemi Awolowo, leader of the banned Action Group and leader
        of the Yorubas of western Nigeria and first premier of the defunct
        Western Region, joins the ancestors at the age of 78.

1987 - Eddie Murray, of the Baltimore Orioles, is the first baseball player
        to hit home runs as a switch hitter in 2 consecutive games.

1994 - South Africa's newly elected parliament chooses Nelson Mandela to be
        the country's first black president.

1995 - Kinshasa, capital of Zaire, is placed under quarantine after an
        outbreak of the Ebola virus.

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