December Black History Calendar
- Dec 1, 1987
Carrie Saxon Perry begins her term as the mayor of Hartford, Conn., becoming first Black woman mayor of a major U.S. city.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 2, 1884
Granville T. Woods patents telephone transmitter.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 3, 1847
Frederick Douglass publishes first issue of North Star.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 4, 1909
The New York Amsterdam News is founded by James A. Anderson.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 5, 1955
Martin Luther King, Jr. organizes Birmingham bus boycott, marking the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. December 6, 1932 Richard B. Spikes patents automatic gearshift. 1936 – Richard Francis Jones becomes first African American certified in urology.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 7, 1941
Dorie Miller , U.S. Navy, shoots down four Japanese planes during attach on Pearl Harbor.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 8, 1925
Entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 9, 1872
P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana becomes first African American governor in U.S.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 10, 1950
Dr. Ralph J. Bunche becomes first Black awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 11, 1938
Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner born. December 12, 1899 George F. Grant patents golf tree. 1950- Jesse Leroy Brown becomes first African American naval officer to die in combat. 1992 – President Bill Clinton’s Cabinet and White House appointments include five Black men and one Black woman.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 13, 1944
First African American servicewomen sworn into the WAVES.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 14, 1829
John Mercer Langston , congressman and founder of Howard University Law Department, born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 15, 1883
William A. Hinton, first African American on Harvard Medical School faculty and developer of the Hinton test to detect syphilis, born. 1994 – Ruth J. Simmons named president of Smith College.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 16, 1976
Andrew Young nominated by President Jimmy Carter to be U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 17, 1802
Teacher and minister Henry Adams born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 18, 1971
Rev. Jesse Jackson founds Operation PUSH.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 19, 1875
Educator Carter G. Woodson , “father of Black history”, born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 20, 1860
South Carolina secedes from the Union.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 21, 1911
Baseball legend Josh Gibson born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 22, 1943
W.E. B. DuBois becomes the first African American elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 23, 1869
Madam C.J. Walker , businesswoman and first African American woman millionaire, born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 24, 1832
Charter granted to the Georgia Infirmary, the fist Black hospital.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 25, 1760
Jupiter Hammon becomes first published Black poet with his poem, “An Evening Thought”.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 26, 1894
Jean Toomer , author of Cane, born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 27, 1862
African Methodist Episcopal Zion church founded in New Bern, North Carolina.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 28, 1905
Earl “Fatha” Hines , “Father of Modern Jazz Piano”, born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 29, 1924
Author, sportswriter A.S. “Doc” Young born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 30, 1842
Congressman Josiah Walls born.
Search Library of Congress - Dec 31, 1930
Odetta, blues and folk singer, born.
Search Library of Congress