(Photo By Flickr User Cliff)
Black History Today for February 17th:
2011- Dave Duerson, a four-time Pro Bowl safety who played on Super Bowl winning teams with the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, shot himself in the chest in Sunny Isles Beach, FL on this day. He was 50 years old.
2002- "Always On Time" by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti, starts a two-week run at Number 1 on the US singles chart.
1997- Virginia House of Delegates votes unanimously to retire the state song, "Carry me back to old Virginia" , a tune which glorifies slavery.
1990- Actress, singer, and rapper Queen Latifah, made her chart debut with ‘Ladies First’ on this day.
1982- Jazz Pianist Thelonious Monk dies.
1980- Muddy Waters won his sixth Grammy Award for "Best Ethnic & Traditional Recording" on this day. Also, Basketball player Al Harrington, was born in Orange, NJ on this day.
1968- Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield MA, opened. Also on this day, Diana Ross & the Supremes "Greatest Hits," started a three week run at Number 1.
1967- Ronald De Voe, Singer of Bell Biv DeVoe & New Edition, born in Boston, MA and R&B, Jazz, gospel, and soul singer & songwriter Chante Moore was born on this day in San Francisco, CA.
1964- US House of Reps accepted Law on the civil rights.
1963- Michael Jeffrey Jordan, former basketball player, former minor league baseball player, actor, and entreprenuer, was born in New York, NY, on this day
1962- Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points vs St Louis. Also, Gene Chandler started a three week run at number 1 with the song "Duke of Earl" on this day.
1961- Singer-songwriter Brook Benton, headlined at the Apollo Theater on this day. Newcomer Aretha Franklin was the opening act.
1960- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. arrested and indicted for tax fraud in Alabama in Atlanta, GA on this day. It was the first time Alabama had ever prosecuted someone for perjury on a tax return. Testimony began May 25th, and on May 28th, an all-white jury returned a not guilty verdict clearing Dr. King of the charges.
1958- Chuck Berry’s "Sweet Little 16" charted on this day and made its way to #2 on the Pop Charts. Little Richard’s "Good Golly Miss Molly" also charted on this day.
1942- Activist and co-founder of the Black Panthers, Huey Newton, was born on this day in Monroe, LA. He was fatally shot in August of 1989.
1941- Joe Louis knocked out Gus Dorazio in two for heavyweight boxing title.
1938- On this day Mary Frances Berry, who will become the first woman to serve as a chancellor of a major research university, is born in Nashville, TN.
1936- James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown, Pro Football Hall of Fame Fullback, was born in St. Simons Island, GA
1933- R&B and Rock & Roll singer Bobby Lewis was born on this day in Indianapolis, IN. His recording of "Tossin’& Turnin" was number 1 in 1961 and sold over a million copies.
1918- Birthday of Rep. Charles A. Hayes, D-Illinois, who was born in Cairo, IL. In 1989, Hayes was re-elected to a fourth term in the House of Representatives. He was first elected September 12, 1983.
1902- Opera singer Marian Anderson was born in Philadelphia, PA. Also, original member of the Ink Spots, Orville "Hoppy" Jones, was born on this day in Chicago, IL and passed away in 1944 in New York City, NY.
1891- A. C. Richardson, a black inventor, invented the churn on this day
1870- Congress passed resolution readmitting Mississippi on condition that it would never change its constitution to disenfranchise Blacks.
