People, Locations, Episodes

The Race Relations Act is passed

*On this date in 1965, the Race Relations Act was enacted. This was the first legislation in the United Kingdom to address racial discrimination. The Act outlawed discrimination on the “grounds of color, race, or ethnic or national origins” in public places in Great Britain. It also prompted the creation of the Race Relations Board […]

The First Black Federal Reserve Governor is Appointed

*On this date in 1966, the first African American became the governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

He was Andrew Brimmer (at the time) an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and had established the central bank of the Sudan.

He was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections is Decided

*On this date in 1966, Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663 (1966), was decided. This was a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia’s poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.   In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, eleven southern states established poll taxes to disenfranchise most blacks and many […]

The United States v. Guest is Decided

*On this date in 1966, the Supreme Court decided United States v. Guest, 383 U.S. 745. Justice Potter Stewart authored this landmark decision. The Court extended the protection of the 14th Amendment to citizens who suffer rights deprivations at the hands of private conspiracies, where there is minimal state participation in the conspiracy. The Court also held that […]

The First World Festival of Negro Arts is Held

*The first World Festival of Negro Arts was held on this date in 1966. Also known as FESMAN, it is a month-long culture and arts festival in Africa that takes place every ten years. The festival features poetry, sculpture, painting, music, cinema, theatre, fashion, architecture, design, and dance from artists and performers around the African Diaspora. […]

The First Black Wins Emmy Award for Best Actor

On this date in 1966, Bill Cosby received an Emmy Award for best actor in a television series.

Cosby won because of his role as an undercover agent disguised as a trainer/companion to an international tennis player in the show “I Spy.”

Guyana Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1966, Guyana gained independence from Britain. Located in Northeastern South America, Guyana’s recorded history began in 1499, when Alonso de Ojeda’s first expedition arrived from Spain at the Essequibo River through the Middle Passage. The Guyana story has been shaped by the many national and ethnic groups and the colonial policies […]

The ‘March Against Fear’ Begins

The March Against Fear began on this date in 1966. It was a major demonstration in the 20th-century American Civil Rights Movement in the South. Activist James Meredith launched the event on June 5, 1966, intending to make a solitary walk from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi, via the Mississippi Delta, starting at Memphis’s Peabody Hotel and […]

Botswana Gains Independence From Britain

*Botswana gained independence from Britain on this date in 1966. It was one of the many African countries exploited after the Berlin Conference of 1884. Botswana was near South Africa on the continent’s west side in June 1966. After 80 years as a British protectorate, Britain accepted proposals for democratic self-government.   In 1965, the seat […]

Stokley Carmichael Gives His ‘Black Power’ Speech

On this date in 1966, Stokely Carmichael (who later was known as Kwame Ture), then chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), gave his famous Black Power speech.

America’s First Black Senator Since Reconstruction is Elected

On this date in 1966, Edward W. Brooke was elected to the U.S. Senate.

Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican, became the first African American senator since the Reconstruction era in the United States and the first Black senator elected by popular vote.

The 1960s were years of racial violence, and in that year, 43 cities were hit, with 11 killed, more than 400 injured, and 3,000 arrested.

The next year, a record number of rebellions—as black people called them-—made 1967 “the worst year for riots in the United States.”

Barbados Gains Independence From Britain

On this date in 1966, Barbados gained independence from Britain. The country has been a member of the Unit (OAS) ever since.

In 1973, Barbados helped form the Caribbean Community, an organization that promotes social and political cooperation and economic integration. Barbados has enjoyed a stable democratic government and a smooth transfer of power between the two major political parties.

The New York Stock Exchange Admits its First Black Member

*On this date in 1967 The New York Stock Exchange (NYSEX) let in its first African American member, Clarence B. Jones.

Martin Luther King Jr. Gives His ‘Beyond Vietnam’ Speech

*On this date in 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his ‘Beyond Vietnam’ speech at Riverside Church in New York City. Given that this was exactly one year before his murder, this was a major turning point in many powerful entities’ views of this man’s influence to unite the country’s citizens. Below is the […]

Muhammad Ali Refuses His Vietnam Draft Notice

On this date in 1967, African American boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the U.S. Army and was eventually stripped of his heavyweight boxing title. A Muslim Ali cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo Vietnam military service. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in Louisville, Kentucky, the future three-time world champ converted to Islam […]