(Photo By Flickr User Bob n Renee)

Black History Today for February 12th:

1793- First fugitive slave law enacted by Congress.

1865- Henry Highland Garnet was the first Black to speak in the Capitol on this day; Garnet delivered memorial sermon on the abolition of slavery at services in the House of Representatives.

1900- James Weldon Johnson writes the lyrics for “Lift Every Voice and Sing”. With music by his brother, J. Rosamond; the song is first sung by 500 children in Jacksonville, Fla. It will become known as the “Negro National Anthem”.

1907- Gospel Great Roberta Martin was born this day in Helena, AR (died Jan. 18, 1969), Martin Worked with gospel greats like Thomas Dorsey and Theodore Frye. She became owner of one of the largest gospel publishing houses in Chicago, IL.

1909- The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on this day in New York City, NY by a group of black and white citizens committed to social justice.

1930- In Tuskegee, AL, the Rosenwald Fund made grants to the Alabama State Board of Health to help meet the cost of a study of syphilis in African-American men living in rural Georgia and Alabama.

1934- William Felton Russell, better known as “Bill” Russell (player-coach of the Boston Celtics basketball team in 1968 and 1969), was born in Monroe, LA.

1939- Augustus Nathaniel Lushington became the first African-American to earn a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.), earning the doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1897; died on this day.

1948- First Lt. Nancy C. Leftenant became the first Black accepted in the regular Army Nursing Corps.

1952- Congressional Medal of Honor awarded posthumously to Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton for heroism in Korea.

1956- The first black late-night talk show host in history, Arsenio hall was born.

1962- Bus boycott started in Macon, GA.

1983- Pianist James Hubert “Eubie” Blake died in Brooklyn, NY 5 days after his 96th birthday.

(Information courtesy of blackfacts.com)