The Federal Bureau of Investigation, under J. Edgar Hoover, makes public its continuing investigation into the activities of black nationalist organizations, singling out the Black Panther Party in particular, Hoover viewing the group as a national security threat.

The Bureau of Census statistics show as the quality of life in poverty-stricken urban communities worsens, a continuous stream of middle-class blacks escape to higher-income neighborhoods and suburbs.

Angela Davis is fired from her teaching job by the California state board of regents for being a communist. The decision came on the urging of then-governor Ronald Reagan. The decision will be overturned by courts, but her contract will not be renewed.

John Burgess is installed as bishop of the Protestant Episcopal diocese of Massachusetts

A coroner’s jury in Chicago, Illinois rules that the police officers who shot and killed Black Panthers, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, were acting in self-defense.

Joseph L. Searles III becomes the first African American to become a member of the New York Stock Exchange, starting his training as a floor partner with the firm of Newberger, Leob & Company.

California is the first state to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday as a school holiday.

Blues musician Wayne Baker Brooks was born on this date in Chicago, Illinois.

Dentist and entrepreneur Dr. Catrise L. Austin is born on this date in Flint, Michigan.

Artist Cedric Smith is born on this date in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Research Physicist 1854">Darnell Diggs is born.

Kenneth A. Gibson was elected mayor of Newark, New Jersey on this date. He also became the first Black president of the Conference of U.S. Mayors during his career.

Author and newspaper columnist Louis E. Lomax died on this date in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. Lomax wrote for the Chicago American and the Baltimore Afro-American. Some of his books include The Negro Revolt and To Kill a Black Man.

Earl Graves' magazine Black Enterprise makes its debut on shelves. The magazine is the first to explore the issues faced by black executives and promotes expanding wealth for the entire black community. The Black Enterprise 100, featuring the top African Americans in business each year, is one of the magazine's most popular features.

Two black convicts are killed while attempting to escape from a courthouse in San Rafael, California. Angela Davis, a black radical and former professor at the University of California in Los Angeles, is implicated as an accomplice in the getaway. Davis manages to evade the police for two weeks before being arrested.

Electric guitarist and singer Johnny "Jimi" Hendrix died on this date in London, England.

A month-long epidemic of racial conflict over desegregation begins with shootings in Pontiac, Michigan; rioting and school-closings in Trenton, New Jersey; and civil disorder in Henderson, North Carolina.

Susan Taylor is hired at Essence Communications as a freelance part-time beauty editor.

General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. died on this date in Chicago, Illinois. Davis was the first Black general in the history of U.S. Armed Forces.

Playwright Charles Gordone was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play, No Place To Be Somebody, on this date.

Author and educator Reverend Dr. Miles Mark Fisher died on this date. Fisher served as pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. In 1953, he received the American Historical Association Prize for his book, Negro Slave Songs in the United States.