* Today in Black History - November 9 * 1731 - Benjamin Banneker is born in Ellicott Mills (now Ellicott City), Maryland. He will become the builder of the first clock made in America. He also will become the key figure in the design of Washington, DC after Pierre L'Enfant quit and took his plans for DC with him. Banneker was able to save the project by reproducing the plans from memory, in two days, a complete layout of the streets, parks, and major buildings. From 1792 to 1802, Banneker will publish an annual Farmer's Almanac, for which he did all the calculations himself. He will join the ancestors in 1806. 1868 - The Howard University Medical School opens with eight students. 1868 - Arkansas Governor Powell Clayton, declares martial law in ten counties and mobilizes the state militia in a Ku Klux Klan crisis. 1923 - Dorothy Dandridge is born in Cleveland, Ohio. She will try vaudeville and a stint at the Cotton Club before finding her most noteworthy success as an actress. She will appear in such works as "Porgy and Bess" and minor movie roles before her big break in a series of low-budget movies including "Tarzan's Perils". While simultaneously maintaining a singing career, Dandridge will have her greatest success in "Carmen Jones" opposite Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey, Diahann Carroll, and Brock Peters, which will earn her an Academy Award nomination, a first for an African American actress. She will join the ancestors on September 8, 1965. 1925 - Oscar Micheaux's movie "Body and Soul" is released. It marks the film debut of Paul Robeson. 1931 - Eugene "Big Daddy" Lipscomb is born. He will become a professional football star with the old Baltimore Colts. He will enter the NFL without ever playing college football. He will be considered one of the greatest defensive tackles in NFL history. He will join the ancestors in May, 1963. 1935 - Robert "Bob" Gibson is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He will become a professional baseball player and pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. He will be the National League MVP in 1968. During his career, he will amass 3,000 career strike-outs, win the Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1970, win the Baseball Writers Award in 1968, pitch in the 1964, 1967, and 1968 World Series, and win Nine Gold Glove Awards. He will enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. 1961 - The Professional Golfers Association eliminates their Caucasians only rule. 1965 - Willie Mays is named the National League's Most Valuable Player. 1970 - William L. Dawson, Democratic congressman and party leader, in Chicago, Illinois, joins the ancestors at the age of 84. 1976 - The United Nations General Assembly endorses 10 resolutions condemning apartheid in South Africa, including one that says the white-only government is "illegitimate." 1982 - Sugar Ray Leonard retires from professional boxing for the first time, because of a recurring eye problem sustained in a welterweight title match. 1990 - Freedom Bank in New York City, one of the largest African American-owned banks in the nation, is declared insolvent. Its losses in 1988-1989 totaled $4.7 million, and it was expected to lose $2 million in 1990. A last-minute effort to revive the bank by raising funds from the local Harlem community will fail to meet the government-imposed deadline. ______________________________________________________________ Munirah Chronicle is edited by Brother Mosi Hoj "The TRUTH shall make you free" E-mail: <[log in to unmask]> Archives: <http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/Munirah.html> ______________________________________________________________ To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <[log in to unmask]> In the E-mail body place: Subscribe Munirah Your FULL Name ______________________________________________________________ Munirah(TM) is a trademark of Information Man. Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved by the Information Man in association with CODE One Communications.