People, Locations, Episodes

Zumbi, Afro Brazilian Abolitionist born

The life of Zumbi in 1655 is celebrated on this date. He was an Afro Brazilian abolitionist and soldier.

The Komenda Wars Begin

*The beginning of the Komenda Wars is affirmed on this date in 1694. These wars lasted until 1700, largely between the Dutch West India Company and the British Royal African Company in the Eguafo Kingdom in the present-day state of Ghana, over trade rights. The Dutch were trying to keep the British out of the region to maintain […]

Maria Remedios, Abolitionist born

*The birth of María Remedios. is celebrated on this date in c1768. She was an Afro Argentine abolitionist and soldier. María Remedios del Valle was born in Buenos Aires in the second half of the eighteenth century. The details of her parentage are unknown, but according to her military record, she was a parda or pardo, one of the categories […]

Black Loyalist in Colonial America, a story

*Black Loyalists are celebrated on this date in 1775. They were African slaves who sided and fought with the British during the American Revolutionary War. They escaped the enslavement of Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because the Crown promised freedom. In November 1775, Lord Dunmore issued the controversial Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation. As […]

Blacks Are Barred From The Continental Army

On this date in 1775, the Continental Congress of the United States issued the order to bar Blacks from the army.

Hendrick Arnold, Military Scout, born

This date, 1804, is celebrated as the birth date of Hendrick Arnold, a Black military scout, guide, and spy during the Texas Revolution. Hendrick Arnold emigrated from Mississippi or Kentucky to Texas with his parents, Daniel Arnold, a white man, and Rachel, who was black, in the winter of 1826. The family settled in Stephen […]

Benjamin F. Butler, Military Officer born

*Benjamin Franklin Butler was born on this date in 1818.  He was a white-American major general, politician, lawyer, and businessman.   Born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best known as a political major of the Union Army during the American Civil War and for his leadership role in the impeachment of U.S. President Andrew Johnson. He was a colorful and often controversial figure on the […]

Aaron Fisher, Soldier born.

*Aaron Fisher was born on this date in 1895. He was a Black WW I soldier. He served over thirty years in the U.S. Army and received several military awards. Aaron Richard Fisher was born in the Lyles Station community in Gibson County, Indiana. He was the son of Macy Octiva (Barnhill) and Benjamin F. […]

Ulric Cross, a British Soldier and Diplomat, was born.

*Ulric Cross was born on this date in 1917. He was a Black British jurist, diplomat, and Royal Air Force (RAF) navigator. Philip Louis Ulric Cross was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad, to Reginald Rufus and Maud Iris Cross. He was the second child in a family of nine. At 11, he came […]

The 366th Infantry Regiment is formed

*The 366th Infantry Regiment was created on this date in 1917. This was an all-Black unit of the United States Army that served in World War I and II. Officers of this racially segregated Regiment included Lieutenant Cleveland L. Abbott, Captain Joseph L. Lowe, Lieutenant Aaron R. Fisher, and Captain E. White. The 366th Infantry […]

Ken Wofford, Tuskegee Airman born

*Kenneth Wofford Sr. was born on this date in 1922. He was an African American administrator and former Tuskegee Airman.

Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, Military Officer born.

*Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was born on this date in 1933. He was a Black Nigerian military officer and politician. Chukwuemeka “Emeka” Odumegwu Ojukwu was born in northern Nigeria. He was the son of Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, an Igbo businessman in the transport business; he took advantage of the business boom during World War II to […]

Algeria Gains Independence From France

On this date in 1954, Algeria gained independence from France.

For more than a century, the Algerian people fought a permanent armed, moral, and political struggle against the invader and all its forms of oppression. This began after the aggression of 1830 against the Algerian State and the occupation of the country by the French colonialist forces. In the conflict the National Liberation Front called for the mobilization of all the energies of the nation, the process of struggle for independence having reached its final realization stage.

The Nigerian Civil War Begins

*The Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Biafran War, began on this date in 1967. It was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra. This secessionist state had declared its independence from Nigeria earlier in 1967. General Yakubu Gowon and Biafra led Nigeria by Lieutenant Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. The conflict […]

The African and Caribbean War Memorial is unveiled

*On this date in 2017, the African and Caribbean War Memorial was unveiled. The United Kingdom’s national memorial to Afro Caribbean service personnel who fought in the First and Second World Wars is in Brixton, London. While the Imperial War Museum holds records for almost 70,000 memorials to the First and Second World Wars in […]