*               Today in Black History - April 17               *


1758 - Frances Williams, the first African American to graduate from a
        college in the Western Hemisphere, publishes a collection of
        Latin poems.

1818 - For unknown reasons, Daniel Coker is expelled from the AME
        Church.  Coker had been a key organizer in the church's early
        history and was elected its first bishop, a position he declined
        possibly because of his fair complexion.

1947 - Jackie Robinson bunts safely for his 1st major league hit.

1978 - Thomas W. Turner, founder of the Federation of Colored Catholics,
        civil rights pioneer and charter member of the NAACP, dies in
        Washington, DC, at the age of 101.

1980 - Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, gains its independence.
        Reggae stars Bob Marley and the Wailers and others perform in
        the celebration festivities.  Robert Mugabe will be sworn in
        the following day as prime minister of the newly formed nation.

1987 - Julius Erving becomes the 3rd NBA player to score 30,000 points.

1990 - Reverend Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist, dies at the age
        of 64 in Atlanta, Georgia.

1991 - African American and African leaders meet in Abidjan, Ivory
        Coast, in the first Summit Meeting of Africans and African
        Americans.  The summit, organized by the Reverend Leon H.
        Sullivan, calls for closer ties between Africans and African
        Americans and urges Western governments to cancel Africa's
        foreign debt.  "Hold on, Africa!" the Rev. Sullivan says in his
        keynote speech.  "We are coming! Home of our heritage, land of
        our past, we can help.  We have 2 million college graduates in
        America.  We earn $300 billion a year.  Three centuries ago they
        took us away in a boat, but today we have come back in an
        airplane."

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        The source for these facts are "Encyclopedia Britannica,
        "InfoBeat," "I, Too, Sing America - The African American
        Book of Days," and independent research by the
        Information Man.
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