Newspaper editor and columnist N. Don Wycliff is born in Texas.

Political commentator and essayist Shelby Steele is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Activist attorney Lynn Jones Huntley was born on this date in Virginia.

NAACP Executive & Producer Willis Edwards is born

Venture capitalist Cleveland A. Christophe is born on this date in Savannah, Georgia. Christophe is the co-founder and managing partner of the TSG Capital Group, one of the largest minority-run firms in the United States.

Attorney and public works specialist Betty Hager Francis is born on this date.

Television Executive Johnathan Rodgers is born.

Producer and casting director Reuben Cannon is born in Chicago, Illinois.

Educator and administrator Barbara Farmer is born in Newport News, Virginia.

Magazine editor Susan Taylor is born in New York City.

Public school superintendent Dr. Sylvester Small is born in Akron, Ohio.

Librarian, artist, curator and historian Thomas C. Battle is born on this date in Washington, D.C. Battle was named Director of Howard University's Moorland-Spingarn Research Collection in 1986.

Public relations executive A. Bruce Crawley is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Academic Administrator & Businesswoman C. Eileen Watts Welch is born.

Grammy-winning soul, pop, and Gospel singer Al Green was born on this date in Forrest City, Arkansas. Green's most known for his hit Love and Happiness.

William H. Hastie becomes the first African American to govern a U.S. State or Territory since Reconstruction when he is appointed Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Emma Clarissa Clement became the first Black woman named "American Mother of the Year" by the Golden Rule Foundation on this date.

Theatre Producer & Director Marjorie Moon is born.

CEO of the Boston Architectural Center Ted Landsmark is born in Kansas City, Missouri.

Phillip Clay is born in Wilmington, North Carolina. He will go on to be a highly successful urban planner and chancellor of MIT.

MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was born on this date in Wyancote, Pennsylvania. Jackson earned the nickname "Mr. October" for his baseball heroics during the postseason. He hit 4 consecutive home runs in the 1977 World Series. He won championships with the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees. He was AL MVP in 1973 and World Series MVP in the same year and in 1977. He hit 563 career home runs.

Percussionist Famadou Don Moye is born in Rochester, New York.

Chief executive of the Cook County Public Defender's Office, Rita Fry is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

Educator & Author Beverly Guy-Sheftall is born.

In a judicial victory for the civil rights cause, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Irene Morgan, a black woman, is within her rights when she refuses to move to the back of an interstate bus traveling from Virginia to Maryland.

World heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson died on this date in Raleigh, North Carolina. Johnson died from injuries suffered in a car accident. He was the first Black heavyweight champion.

Al-Tony Gilmore is born in Spartansburg, South Carolina. He will go on to become an executive with the National Education Association.

Music Director & Arranger Benjamin Wright is born.

Journalist DeWayne Wickham was born on this date in Baltimore, Maryland.

Museum Founder Lois D. Conley is born.

Physicist Shirley Ann Jackson is born on this date in Washington, D.C.

Theologian and educator Rev. Marshall Grigsby is born in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Astronaut Charles F. Bolden, Jr. was born on this date in Columbia, South Carolina. Bolden is a veteran of four space flights. He commanded a crew of seven aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1992, and commanded a crew of six aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1994. Bolden has logged 680 hours in space.

Lecturer and photojournalist Frederick Douglass IV is born in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Olympic long jumper Bob Beamon is born in Jamaica, New York.

University Administrator & Publisher Shirley James is born.

Art gallery owner George N’Namdi is born in Columbus, Ohio.

County official Nannette Kindle Mitchell is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

CEO of KRA Corporation Knowlton Atterbeary is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Fashion designer Veronica Jones is born in Camden, New Jersey.

Dancer, singer, theater, television, and film actor Ben Vereen was born on this date in Miami, Florida. Vereen is probably best known for his role as "Chicken George" in the television mini-series Roots. His other television and film credits include All That Jazz, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Webster.

Corporate executive J. Veronica Biggins is born on this date in Belmont, North Carolina.

Children’s Book Publisher & Author Wade Hudson is born.

Howard University political science professor Lorenzo Morris was born on this date Poughkeepsie, New York.

Police Chief Floyd Powell is born in Cresent, Oklahoma.

Corporate Executive & School Administrator Marcia Cantarella is born.

Photographer and author Chester Higgins, Jr. was born on this date in Alabama.

Founded by friends Margaret Roselle Hawkins and Sarah Strickland-Scott in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, The Links, Inc., is one of the largest charitable organizations of African American women in the nation, with over 10,000 members and chapters in two foreign countries.

Black Panther and Congressman Bobby Rush is born in Albany, Georgia.

President 0">Harry Truman forms the National Committee on Civil Rights whose directive is to investigate racial injustice and to recommend a course of action to combat it.

Record Store Owner George Daniels is born.

Art Collector & Environmental Chemist 1958">Patric McCoy is born.

Fashion designer Alvin Bell is born on this date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Ronald Jewell, businessman and founder of the African American Trading Company, is born in Newark, New Jersey

Artist Paul Goodnight is born in Chicago, Illinois.