*The London Anti-Slavery Society was founded on January 31, 1823. Also known as the Society for the Mitigation and Gradual Abolition of Slavery Throughout the British Dominions, it was commonly referred to as the Anti-Slavery Society. It was founded with a meeting of men at the King’s Head tavern in London. The Society aimed to […]
learn more*The Demerara Rebellion of 1823 began on this date in 1823. This uprising involving about 12,000 African slaves took place in the British colony of Demerara-Essequibo in what is now Guyana. The rebellion took place a few months after the founding of the Anti-Slavery Society and had a substantial impact on Britain. Although public sentiment […]
learn more*Quamina’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1778. He was a Black Guyanese slave and abolitionist. Quamina Gladstone (surnamed after his master) was a carpenter who lived and worked on the “Success” plantation in Demerara. Quamina was African-born from the Akan ethnic group in modern-day Ghana. He and his mother were sold into slavery […]
learn more*The Slave Compensation Act 1837 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, signed into law on December 23, 1837. Together with the Slavery Abolition Act 1833, it authorized the Commissioners for the Reduction of the National Debt to compensate slave owners in the British colonies of approximately £20 million for the freeing of […]
learn more*Sir John Gladstone, 1st Baronet, was born on this date in 1764. He was a white Scottish merchant, slave owner, and politician. Born John Gladstones on King Street in Leith, north of Edinburgh, Scotland, he was the eldest son of the merchant Thomas Gladstones and his wife, Helen Neilson. He was the second of the […]
learn more*The Berbice Rebellion began on this date in 1763. This was a year-long slave rebellion in Guyana that lasted into 1764. The Dutch colony of Berbice was owned by four Amsterdam merchants who founded the Society of Berbice as a public company listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The colony was unsuccessful compared to other […]
learn more*Alfred Masters was born on this date in 1916. He was a Black soldier. He was born in Wewoka, Oklahoma, and earned a B.A. in education at Langston University. Masters was one of the first Black members of the American Marine Corps. At his swearing-in on June 1, 1942, in Oklahoma City, he had his […]
learn more*LL Cool J was born on this date in 1968. He is a Black rapper and actor. James Todd Smith was born in Bay Shore, on Long Island, New York, to Ondrea Griffith and James Louis Smith Jr, also known as James Nunya. According to the Chicago Tribune, “[As] a kid growing up middle class […]
learn more*Junior Gilliam was born on this date in 1928. He was a Black baseball player and coach. Born in Nashville, Tennessee, James William “Junior” Gilliam began playing on a local semi-pro team at age 14 and dropped out of high school in his senior year to pursue his baseball career. He joined the Negro National […]
learn more*Nesuhi Ertegun was born on November 26, 1917. He was a white Turkish-American record producer and Atlantic Records and WEA International executive. Born in Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire, Nesuhi and his family moved to Washington, DC, in 1935 when their father was appointed the Turkish Ambassador to the United States that year. From an […]
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