#OTD Outfielder Darryl Strawberry was selected as the first overall pick in the Major League Baseball draft by the New York Mets. Recording artist David Roughin narrates.

#OTD Activist Sojourner Truth began her journey of activism by changing her name from Isabella Baumfree.

#OTD Anthony Burns, who was captured under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and subsequently freed by abolitionists, was born in Stafford County, Virginia.

#OTD Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen was born.

Happy birthday, Louis Gossett, Jr! Recording artist Martha Wash celebrates the Academy Award winning actor on his 86th birthday!

#OTD Singer Deniece Williams had the number one song in the country with "Let's Hear It For The Boy."

#OTD Tap dance pioneer Bojangles was born in Richmond, Virginia.

#OTD Coleman Young, the 66th mayor of Detroit, MI and the first African American to hold the position, was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

#OTD Comedian Jackie "Moms" Mabley died of heart failure at the age of 81.

#OTD The United States Navy permitted new African American enlistees to serve in non-servant roles.