BlackFacts.com: Learn/Teach/Create Black History

March 22 is the Birthday of George Benson

In the late 1960s he sat in on Miles Davis' "Miles in the Sky sessions," and also put a personal spin on the tunes from the Beatles' "Abbey Road."

Benson has won ten Grammy Awards and often plays the dual role of expert improviser and vibrant entertainer. Rounding out his singular approach with a strong sense of swing, he is considered one of the greatest guitarists in jazz.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

Barbara Charline Jordan was an American lawyer, educator and leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction. 

She won a seat in the Texas Senate in 1966, becoming the first African-American state senator since 1883 and the first Black woman to serve in that legislative body. 

President Bill Clinton said that he had wanted to nominate Jordan for the United States Supreme Court, but Jordan’s health problems prevented him from nominating her.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

On March 21, James Baskett becomes the first African American to win an Academy Award.

He was an American actor and singer, known for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in the 1946 Disney animated feature film "Song of the South."  Baskett became the first live actor to be hired by Walt Disney.

In recognition of his portrayal of the famous black storyteller, Baskett was given an Honorary Academy Award, making him the first black male performer to receive an Oscar.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned over 70 years, appearing in film, television, and theatre.

In the fall of 1933, Horne joined the chorus line of the Cotton Club in New York City. She made her debut at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Panama Hattie (1942).  

She was at the March on Washington and spoke and performed on behalf of the NAACP, student non-violent coordinating committee and the National Council of Negro Women.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

March 20 is the Birthday of Rosetta Tharpe.

She was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and recording artist who attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture that was a precursor of rock and roll.

At the age of 23, Tharpe recorded for the first time. Her songs caused an immediate furor: many churchgoers were shocked by the mixture of gospel-based lyrics and secular-sounding music, but secular audiences loved them.

She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians, including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

Bessie Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native-American to hold a pilot license. She was born on January 26, 1892, the tenth of thirteen children of George Coleman, whose grandparents were Cherokee, and Susan Coleman, who was African-American.

At the age of 23, Coleman moved to Chicago, Illinois and took a couple of jobs at the same time, to save money in hopes of becoming a pilot. On November 20, 1920, she traveled to Paris and could earn her pilot license. 

In 1926 Bessie Coleman’s dream of opening a Flying School was finally within reach, and she was finally able to buy her own plane. Then, tragedy struck. On April 30, 1926, while preparing for an upcoming show in Jacksonville, she was killed in a flying mishap. 

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

On March 19, Jan E. Matzeliger patented his revolutionary shoe machine.

Matzeliger began work as a sailor on a merchant ship at the age of 19 and after about six years settled in Lynn, Massachusetts. He found employment in a shoe factory and became interested in the possibilities of lasting shoes by machine.

Matzeliger obtained a patent for his invention of an automated shoe laster in 1883, which not only revolutionized the shoe industry but made Lynn, Massachusetts, the "shoe capital of the world."

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

Florynce Rae Kennedy was an American lawyer, feminist, civil rights advocate, lecturer and activist.

Kennedy remembered a time in her childhood when her father had to be armed with a shotgun in order to ward off the neighborhood Ku Klux Klan.

After getting her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1951, Kennedy opened her own office, doing matrimonial work, and some assigned criminal cases.

She dedicated life to her law career and defending civil rights on “a pathologically, institutionally racist, sexist and classist society.” 

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

March 18 is the Birthday of Vanessa Williams.

She initially gained recognition as the first woman of African-American descent to receive the Miss America title in 1983.

In addition to singing and performing, Williams has had a successful career in films and television. For her role in the romantic comedy Soul Food (1997), Williams earned an NAACP Image Award.

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!

Audrey Geraldine Lorde was a self-described "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior and poet."  

Lorde was born in New York City on February 18, 1934. She attended Hunter College, and graduated in the class of 1959. In 1961, she furthered her education at Columbia University, earning a master's degree in library science. 

In 1980, together with Barbara Smith and Cherríe Moraga, she co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the first U.S. publisher for women of color.  From 1991 until her death, she was the New York State Poet Laureate. 

BlackFacts.com is the Internet's longest running Black History Encyclopedia. Our podcast summarizes the vast stories of Black history in daily episodes known as Black Facts Of The Day™.

Since 1997, BlackFacts.com has been serving up Black History Facts on a daily basis to millions of users and followers on the web and via social media.

Learn Black History. Teach Black History.

For more Black Facts, join Black Facts Nation at BlackFacts.com/join.

Because Black History is 365 Days a Year, and Black Facts Matter!