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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 owned a Black hair care empire called Poro that reported assets of $14 million in the year 19…

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, Virginia making her the first African American woman to charter a bank in the United States. Her ba…

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 prominent African American community located in the Greenwood District in the city of Tulsa,…

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 U.S. history. Founded in 1898 in Durham, NC by entrepreneur John C. Merrick, the company ini…

The History of the First African American Fire Company in Chicago
Engine 21 was Chicago’s first organized paid African American Firefighting Company. Established in the mid-1800's, the company only consisted of just six Black firefighters. …

Meet Wall Street's First Black Millionaire
In the mid-1800's, Jeremiah G. Hamilton was a well-known African American figure on Wall Street. Although his origins were lowly, possibly slave, he was reportedly the rich…

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 steamboats in 1864, but the U.S Patent Office rejected his application because he was Black.�…

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 of the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken original recipe. The controversy is whether or not the re…

Atlanta’s First Black Millionaire Started Out as a Barber
Alonzo Herndon is best known as the first African-American entrepreneur from Atlanta to become a millionaire. He was born in 1858 into slavery to a Black mother and white fathe…

A Black Woman Invented the First Home Security System With TV Surveillance in 1966
Marie Van Brittan Brown, born on January 7, 1922, was an African American nurse and inventor from Queens, New York City. In 1966, at the age of 44, she came up with the brillia…

A Stitch in Time: 4 Black Designers Who Made Fashion History
Ann Lowe designed Jackie Kennedy's wedding dress in 1953 Fashion designing is an art form that requires both passion and dedication. In order for the field to continue evo…

5 Black Inventors Who Made Their Mark on Society
Everything we use in our day-to-day life was once just an idea. It’s easy to forget the people who made these concepts a reality, but their legacies are undeniable. In celebrat…

The Oldest African-American Owned Business in the United States
Founded in 1881, E.E. Ward Moving & Storage is the oldest African-American owned business in the United States. What started as a stop on the Underground Railroad has flour…

Sarah Rector Was Just 11-Years Old When She Became the Richest Girl in America in 1913
Sarah Rector was born in 1902 in Taft, Oklahoma. She came from very humble beginnings, but later became the wealthiest Black girl in the country at the young age of 11. Her famil…

George Washington Carver Did Not Invent Peanut Butter -- But He Did Invent 300 Ways to Use Peanuts (and Sweet Potatoes)!
George Washington Carver was a scientist, an accomplished pianist, and a world renowned inventor. Many people think he invented peanut butter, but this is not true! He did, how…

The First 6 African Americans Who Escaped Slavery and Became Millionaires
Immediately following Emancipation, there were 4,047 millionaires in the United States — and six of them were African American. Between 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of…

The Recipe For Jack Daniel’s Whiskey Was Actually Invented By a Black Man — A Former Slave!
Jack Daniel’s is a very popular whiskey and alcoholic beverage that people all around the world have been drinking for more than 150 years. But many people are not aware of whe…

Meet the Black Woman Who Created VOIP — The Technology Behind Skype, Zoom and More!
Most people have no idea that Marian Croak, an African American woman, is credited with initiating and furthering the development of VOIP, also known as Voice Over Internet Proto…