Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana puts an end to years of segregation when five African American students are admitted. This event marks the nation’s first tentative steps to establish integration.

Singer and actress Vanessa L. Williams was born on this date in Bronx, New York. Williams was the first Black Miss America winner in 1984. She has had a successful music and film career. Some of her film credits include Soulfood, Eraser, and Johnson Family Vacation.

Telecommunications lawyer Michael Powell is born on this date in Birmingham, Alabama.

Air Force Captain Ed Dwight, Jr. becomes the first African American to be accepted into the astronaut training program. He will be dropped from the program two years later.

Church leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, along with fifty-eight others, are arrested during a peaceful protest against racial barriers in Birmingham, Alabama. Hundreds of blacks and some police are injured during the resulting violent confrontation. This event sparks a cluster of arrests and police brutality that occurs throughout the next few months.

Sidney Poitier becomes the first African American male to win an Academy Award for his performance in Lillies of the Field.

Gloria Goins is born.

A Civil Rights demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama, turns violent as African American and white demonstrators face off with local authorities. More than twenty-five hundred citizens are arrested and jailed during the protest.

Arthur Ashe became the first African American male selected to play for the U.S. Davis Cup Tennis Team on this date.

Although Governor George C. Wallace physically blocks their entrance to the registration building, Vivian Malone and James Hood are the first two black students to be admitted to the University of Alabama. This historic event, captured on national television, marks the crumbling walls of segregation that had long prevented blacks from participating in many facets of everyday life.

After returning from a meeting, Medgar Evers is shot in the back in his driveway and dies. Although the killer's fingerprints are found on the weapon, he is not convicted of the Evers' murder until 1994.

South African and internationally known singer Miriam Makeba urged the United Nations to impose a complete boycott on South Africa on this date.

Celebrity photographer David Bodrick is born in Brooklyn, New York.

Rap pioneer Mohandas DeWese, a.k.a. Kool Moe Dee is born on this date in New York City.

Entertainer Whitney Houston was born on this date in Newark, New Jersey. Houston has had success as a solo music artist, film and television actress, and producer. Some of her hit songs include I Will Always Love You, The Greatest Love of All, and You Give Good Love. Her film credits include The Preacher's Wife, The Bodyguard, and Waiting To Exhale.

James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi on this date.

Inventor Garrett A. Morgan died on this date in Cleveland, Ohio. Morgan is best known for inventing the automatic traffic signal and the gas mask.

Author and teacher W.E.B. DuBois died on this date in Accra, Ghana. DuBois helped found the NAACP.

In the single largest political demonstration in United States history to date, between 250,000 and half a million people descend on the nation's capital to protest inequalities. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, and many other notable leaders of the civil rights movement are present.

Four schoolgirls – Addie Collins, Denise McNair, Carol Robertson and Cynthia Wesley – are killed when a bomb explodes in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The tragedy is considered the turning point of the Civil Rights Movement for years to come, precipitating a day of rioting and galvanizing the black community.

Cardiovascular Physician & Scientist 1867">Dr. Shawna D. Nesbitt is born.

After President Kennedy's assassination, Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation, calling for the passage of a Civil Rights Bill on this date in Washington, D.C.

High School Principal Ralph Simpson is born.