Clifford L. Alexander, Jr., is named Secretary of the Army during President Carter's administration. He is the first African American to hold this position.

Henry L. Marsh III is elected first Black Mayor of Richmond, Virginia.

Political activist and SNCC worker Fannie Lou Hamer died on this date. She worked to secure voting rights for Black people.

In his second year of eligibility, Ernie Banks is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Alex Haley is awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for his epic Roots.

Nurse Eunice Rivers Laurie gave an oral interview on this date about her involvement in the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. She acted as a liaison between the researchers and the Black syphilitic subjects.

Joseph Howze is installed as a Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming the first African American to head an American diocese in the 20th century.

The Supremes performed for the last time on this date in London, England.

African American foreign policy advocacy organization TransAfrica was established on this date. It has had a direct influence on the United States' foreign policy toward nations in Africa and the Caribbean Islands.

Lynn Allen opens Lynn Allen's Gymnastics Center, Inc. on this date.

Steven Biko was arrested on this date in South Africa. Biko was the leader of the Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa.

Ku Klux Klan member Robert Edward Chambliss is indicted on this date for his role in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four little African American girls and wounded 20 others.

Ku Klux Klansman Robert Edward Chambliss is convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four African American girls in Birmingham, Alabama.

Karen Farmer became the first African American to be admitted into the Daughters of the American Revolution on this date. Farmer traced her family history and found out that one of her ancestors, William Hood, fought in the American Revolutionary War.