*                       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.

1800 - John Brown, abolitionist and martyr at Harper's Ferry, is born in
        Torrington, Connecticut.

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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