*Rwanda gained independence from Belgium on this date in 1962. Separated from Burundi, the episode is commemorated as Independence Day, a national holiday. This came after decades of colonial strife resulting from the Berlin Conference of 1884. Modern human settlement of what is now Rwanda dates from, at the latest, the last glacial period, either in the […]
learn more*Edward Ceruti was born on this date in 1875. He was a Black attorney and racial justice activist. Edward Burton Ceruti was born, in Nassau, the Bahamas. His parents were Eliza Jane Anderson a mulatto and Edward Burton Ceruti, Sr., the family moved to the United States when he was four years old. According to the 1880 census, […]
learn more*Miller v. Board of Education was filed on this date in 1952. The plaintiffs were Black deaf school-age residents of the District of Columbia. The defendants were the Board of Education, its members, the Superintendent of Schools, the Board of Commissioners of the District and its members, the Federal Security Administrator, the Board of Directors […]
learn more*Don Miguel Hidalgo was born on this date in 1753. He was a Criollo Catholic priest, educator, and revolutionary military leader. Commonly known as Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla or Miguel Hidalgo, was the second-born child of Don Cristóbal Hidalgo y Costilla Espinoza de los Monteros and Doña Ana María Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, both criollos. On his […]
learn more*On this date in 2018, Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute was decided. This was a case before the Supreme Court of the United States regarding Ohio’s voter registration laws. Ohio law provides a process to remove an inactive voter from its list of registered voters. After a two-year break from certain voting activities specified by Ohio […]
learn more*On this date in 1862, the XIX Army Corps was formed. They were a regiment of the Union Army during the American Civil War. It spent most of its service in Louisiana and the Gulf, though several units fought in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. The XIX Corps was and assigned to Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks, the […]
learn more*The birth of Gordon “Whipped Peter” is celebrated on this date in c 1850. He was a Black slave in America who escaped and became the subject of photographs documenting the extensive scarring of his back from his overseers’ whippings. Gordon was born in Louisiana on a plantation owned by John and Bridget Lyons. He […]
learn more*On January 1, 1995, The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) went into effect. Also known as the Motor Voter Act, it was a United States federal law signed into law on May 20, 1993. After Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to address rampant voting discrimination against racial minorities, voting rights advocates argued […]
learn more*Nathaniel Banks was born on this date in 1816. He was a white-American politician and a military officer. Nathaniel Prentice Banks was born at Waltham, Massachusetts, the first child of Nathaniel P. Banks, Sr., and Rebecca Greenwood Banks. His father worked in the textile mill of the Boston Manufacturing Company, eventually becoming a foreman. […]
learn more*On this date in 2021, R. Kelly was found guilty of charges including sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, racketeering, and sex trafficking involving five victims. After more than 25 years of accusations and a federal court trial in New York that lasted seven weeks, the R&B singer faced a possible sentence of 10 years […]
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