Business & Inventions
America’s First Black-Owned Shopping Plaza Celebrates 50 Years
Progress Plaza in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is the country's first and o…
Business & Inventions
Reginald Lewis Was America’s First Black Billionare — Long Before Oprah and Bob Johnson!
Reginald F. Lewis was the first African American to build a billion dollar company.…
Business & Inventions
Meet the Former Slave Turned Real Estate Investor Who Owned Several Laundromats
Clara Brown was a pioneer, a community leader, a philanthropist, and the first Afri…
Business & Inventions
Meet the Founder of One of the First 5-Story, Black-Owned Luxury Hotels
George Thomas Downing was an entrepreneur who founded the first and largest Black-o…
Technology
Meet the First Black Electrical Engineer Who Owned More Than 60 Patents
Granville Tailer Woods was the first African-American to become a mechanical and el…
History & Exploration
The First African American Woman to Become a Pilot For a Major U.S. Airline
In 1978, Jill E. Brown-Hiltz was hired as a pilot for Texas International Airlines,…
Education & Politics
Rodney Harrison Makes History as the First African American NYPD Chief of Detectives in 175 Years
The New York City Police Department has appointed Rodney Harrison as Chief of Detec…
Business & Inventions
Meet Annie Malone, the Millionaire Black Hair Care Icon Who Owned Several Mansions
Annie Minerva Turnbo Malone was the first Black woman to become a millionaire. She …
Food & Beverages
Was Aunt Jemima a Real Person? Yes, She Was!
The woman we know as Aunt Jemima is in fact a real person, but her real name was actu…
Business & Inventions
Meet Maggie Lena Walker, the First African American Woman to Own a Bank
In 1903, Maggie Lena Walker founded St. Luke Penny Savings Bank in Richmond, Virgin…
Education & Politics
The First African American to Graduate College Was Alexander Lucius Twilight
The story of Alexander Lucius Twilight is an amazing one. When he graduated from fr…
Education & Politics
Charlotte E. Ray Was the First African American Woman to Become a Lawyer
The legal industry remains relatively hostile to African-Americans even to this day…
Business & Inventions
It Took Only 16 Hours to Destroy Black Wall Street — 1,000 Black-Owned Businesses and Homes!
Established in 1906, Black Wall Street (originally known as Greenwood Avenue) was a…
Business & Inventions
Meet the Founder of the Oldest and Largest Black-Owned Life Insurance Company
North Carolina Mutual is one of the most influential African-American businesses in…
Public Service
The History of the First African American Fire Company in Chicago
Engine 21 was Chicago’s first organized paid African American Firefighting Company. E…
History & Exploration
Meet Frank Wills, the Security Guard Who Discovered President Nixon’s Watergate Scandal
Frank Wills was an African American private security guard who was on-duty during t…
Business & Inventions
Meet Wall Street's First Black Millionaire
In the mid-1800's, Jeremiah G. Hamilton was a well-known African American figur…
Education & Politics
The Truth About America's First Black Public High School
Originally established in 1870, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School located in Washingto…
Sports & Entertainment
The Rise and Fall of Chicago's First Black-Owned Theater
In 1904, political operator and gambling boss Robert T. Motts opened the Pekin Thea…
History & Exploration
Meet the First Black Woman to Successfully Climb Mount Everest
In 2006, Sophia Danenberg became the first African American and the first Black wom…
Education & Politics
First African-American FBI Agent Finally Recognized 100 Years After Being Hired
After 100 years, the FBI has finally recognized James Wormley Jones as the agency&#…
Food & Beverages
The Potato Chip Was Invented by a Black Man Named George Crum
There are a few stories about the invention of the potato chip, but the most reliab…
Sports & Entertainment
Black Woman Makes Olympic History as the First to Be on the USA Triathlon Board of Directors
In October 2019, USA Triathlon, part of the United States Olympic Committee, made h…
History & Exploration
Black People Founded the City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California has a lot more Black history than most people realize. The …
History & Exploration
The First Americans Were Black Indians of African Descent
Dr. David Imhotep, a respected historian and the first person in the world to hold …
Sports & Entertainment
Joe Gans Was the First African American to Become a World Boxing Champion
Joe Gans became the greatest Lightweight boxer of all-time in 1902 when he defeated…
Film & TV
The First Televised Interracial Kiss That Made History and Changed the Entertainment Industry
In November 1968, an episode of the popular science fiction series Star Trek aired…
Sports & Entertainment
Lisa Willis is the First Female Coach in New York Knicks’ History
Lisa Camille Willis is a retired athlete who in September 2019 officially became th…
Sports & Entertainment
The First African American to Become the Fastest Man in the World
In the 1890s, Major Taylor was a young Black man who wanted to compete in cycling -…
History & Exploration
The History of Afro-Mexicans -- A Population of 14 Million That Can't Be Ignored
Afro-Mexicans have deep cultural roots in Mexico, but have been overlooked for cent…
Health & Science
Meet the First Ever Black Woman to be President of the American Medical Association
In June 2019, Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A., a psychiatrist from Atlanta, was sworn…
Education & Politics
Steven Reed Makes History as the First Black Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama in 200 Years
In November 2019, Steven Reed was sworn in as the new mayor of Montgomery, Alabama,…
Education & Politics
Mary Jane Patterson Was the First Black Woman to Graduate From College in the U.S.
Born into slavery in 1840, Mary Jane Patterson was a pioneer in education and was t…
Sports & Entertainment
Jamie Foxx Makes History as the First Ever Black Lead in a Pixar Movie
A new animated film called Soul starring Jamie Foxx will be Pixar's first ever…
Sports & Entertainment
Before Making History in Baseball, Jackie Robinson Was Also a Talented Football and Track Star
Jackie Robinson is best known as the first player to break the color barrier in bas…
Health & Science
Black Surgeon Successfully Performs First Ever Transplant Surgery to Cure Deafness
A pioneering surgical procedure using 3D-printed middle ear bones, developed by Profe…
Music & Arts
This Choreographer Taught the Temptations and Other Motown Acts How to Dance
The Temptations is one of the most successful and important groups of Motown Record…
Education & Politics
Meet Ralph C. Bunche, the First African American to Win the Nobel Peace Prize
Ralph C. Bunche helped end a war, and was recognized for his efforts when he was aw…
Sports & Entertainment
Lola Falana, a Black Woman, Was the Original First Lady of Las Vegas in the 1970's
Las Vegas is home to some of the greatest and most talented performers alive today …
Technology
This Former Slave Invented a Unique Propeller For Steamboats But Wasn’t Allowed to Patent It
Benjamin T. Montgomery was a great inventor, who tried to patent his propeller for …
Technology
Meet the Black Inventor Who Created the First Digital Cell Phone
Many people attribute the invention of the smartphone to Europeans, but in fact, th…
History & Exploration
Did Black Bounty Hunters and Slave Catchers Really Exist?
In the film Harriet about the heroic life and accomplishment of Harriet Tubman, th…
Civil Rights
Martin Luther King, Jr. Was Arrested 29 Times For These So-Called Crimes
Everybody knows who Martin Luther King, Jr. is, and what he did as a civil rights h…
Technology
Meet the First Black Astronaut to Travel to Space in 1983 (Since Then 14 Others Have Done the Same!)
There were several Black astronauts before him, but Guion "Guy" Bluford w…
Health & Science
Did Colonel Sanders Steal His KFC Recipe From a Black Woman Named Miss Childress?
For decades, there has been an ongoing controversial discussion about the origins o…
Health & Science
The First Black-Owned Hospital Was Founded By This Pioneering Surgeon
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams III was a pioneering African American surgeon who is known…
Public Service
Meet the First Black Woman to Become a Federal Judge in the United States
Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to become a federal judge in the U.S., …
Education & Politics
George Edwin Taylor Was the First Black Man to Ever Run For President in the United States
George Edwin Taylor was the first African American man selected by a political part…
Technology
Meet the Black Man Who Invented Mobile Refrigeration and Owns More Than 60 Patents
Frederick Jones, an African American inventor and entrepreneur, is credited for his…
Music & Arts
Aretha Franklin Was a Teen Mom at Age 13 — But She Still Became the Queen of Soul!
Aretha Franklin, also known as the Queen of Soul, is considered to be one of the gr…
