Sports
This was the first African American Major League Baseball player.
Who is Jackie Robinson?
This astrophysicist who is said to have an IQ of 123 has received nine honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal, the organization's highest civilian honor. The International Astronomical Union recognized him by naming an asteroid after him. He has also written and narrated many popular books and shows about science, and astrophysics.
Who is Neil Degrasse Tyson?
This left-handed guitarist who many would say revolutionized rock and blues music, experimented with unconventional ways to play the guitar, such as playing a right-handed guitar upside down.
Who is Jimi Hendrix?
Born Michael, this person was such a gifted student that he skipped 9th and 12th grade and enrolled in college at the age of 15.
Who is Martin Luther King JR?
Fun Fact: His father changed both his and his sons names after being inspired by the Protestant Reformation leader Martin Luther after traveling to Germany.
Martin Luther King JR gave his "I Have A Dream" speech in this year.
What is 1963?
This person was the fastest woman alive in the early 1960s and won three gold medals in the 1960 Olympic Games.
Who is Wilma Rudolph?
This person leveraged her mathematical and programming expertise to invent an accurate model of the Earth which was used as the foundation for the creation of the Global Positioning System (GPS). She was the second black woman ever to be employed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame—one of the highest honors awarded by the Air Force.
Who is Gladys West?
This six time Grammy Award-winning singer whose genres included gospel, blues, rock and roll, jazz, R&B, and soul began her vocal training at 5 years old. Her 1962 single “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” inspired several other well-known artists to record and perform covers of it, including Ike & Tina Turner in 1964, The Kingsmen in 1965, and more recently, Christina Aguilera in 2010.
Who is Etta James?
A seamstress by trade, this activist was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in 1996, and was also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1999.
Who is Rosa Parks?
In this year, Rosa Parks' Bus Boycott happened.
What is 1955?
This tennis player is the only one to have won 10 Grand Slam singles titles in two separate decades; and the only tennis player in history (male or female) to have won singles titles at least six times in three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
Who is Serena Williams?
This American engineer, physician and NASA astronaut became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
Who is Mae Carol Jemison?
Often referred to as "The Black National Anthem," this song was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. It was used as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and was most recently sang prior to the Super Bowl.
What is "Lift Every Voice and Sing"?
Born Araminta Ross, this activist was born into slavery between 1820 and 1821. She escaped slavery in 1849 and was nicknames "Moses" as she never lost one of the nearly 300 slaves she guided to freedom. She was the first woman to lead an armed assault in the Civil War, was a union scout, a spy, a nurse, and also helped find a cure for dysentery.
Who is Harriet Tubman?
This organization formed Feb. 12, 1909
What is the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People - NAACP
This person was the first woman to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon event, and won the Jesse Owens Award in both 1986 and 1987 for the best track and field athlete in the US.
Who is Jackie Joyner-Kersee?
This person was a research chemist and pioneer in the chemical synthesis of medicinal drugs from plants, such as cortisone, steroids and birth control pills. He was inducted into the National Academy of the Sciences, National Inventors Hall of Fame and the American Chemical Society for his lasting work.
Who is Percy Julian?
This person wrote the bestselling memoir “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
Who is Maya Angelou?
In 1984, this person established the National Rainbow Coalition, whose mission was to establish equal rights for African-Americans, women, and members of the LGBTQ community. They also became the second African-American to run for the U.S. presidency
Who is Jesse Jackson?
In 1976, February was officially recognized as Black History Month by what US President?
Who is Gerald Ford?
Aside from being regarded as the greatest of all time in his sport, this athlete was also placed into the comic book world defeating Superman to save the world, starred in a broadway show, and recorded a grammy nominated album about tooth decay.
Who is Muhammad Ali?
Born into slavery, this person became a foremost botanist, inventor and teacher. He invented over 300 uses for the peanut and developed methods to prevent soil depletion. He was made a member British Royal Society of Arts — a rare honor for an American – and advised prominent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and President Teddy Roosevelt on agriculture and nutrition
Who is George Washington Carver?
Alexandre Dumas is famed for writing this novel about a young man named D'Artagnan in 17th century France.
What is "The Three Musketeers'?
Bonus points if you can name the three musketeers
This man organized temples, founded a newspaper, and led Temple No. 7 in New York City's Harlem. He was also appointed the national representative of Islam, the second most powerful position in the NOI (Nation of Islam).
Who is Malcolm X?
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered its verdict in __________________, ruling unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment’s mandate of equal protection of the laws of the U.S. Constitution to any person within its jurisdiction
What is Brown v. Board of Education?