1766 : James Forten was born in Philadelphia, PA,
(September 2, 1766 – March 4, 1842) was an African-American abolitionist, inventor, and wealthy businessman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born free in the city, he became a sail maker after the American Revolutionary War. After an apprenticeship, he became foreman and bought the sail loft when his boss retired. Based on equipment he developed, he built a highly profitable business. It was located on the busy waterfront of the Delaware River, in the area now called Penn’s Landing.
1864 : African-American Troops
William Tecumseh Sherman occupied Atlanta. In series of battles around Chaffin’s Farm in suburb of Richmond, Black troops captured entrenchments at New Market Heights, made gallant but unsuccessful assault on Fort Gilmer and helped repulse Confederate counterattack on Fort Harrison. Thirty-ninth U.S.C.T. won a Congress…
1884 : John Parker patents “Parker Pulverizer”
U.S. Patent # 304,552 September 2, 1884 “Follower-Screw for Tobacco Presses.” Official Gazette of the USPTO
1945 : The Ending of World War II
Japanese surrendered on V-J Day, ending World War II.
1945 : African-Americans In Armed Services
A total of 1,154, 720 Blacks were inducted or drafted into the armed services. Official records listed 7,768 Black commissioned officers on August 31, 1945. At the height of the conflict 3,902 Black women (115 officers) were enrolled in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WACS) and 68 were in the Navy auxiliary.
1956 : Demonstrations Against School Integration
Tennessee National Guard sent to Clinton, Tenn., to quell mobs demonstrating against school integration.
1966 : Professional baseball player, Frank Robinson was named MVP of the American League
Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He played for five teams from 1956 to 1976, and became the only player to win league MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues. He won the Triple crown, was a member of two teams that won the World Series (the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles), and amassed the fourth-most career home runs at the time of his retirement (he is currently ninth). Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982.
1975 : 1st Black Supreme Court Justice
Joseph W. Hatchett sworn in as first Black supreme court justice in the South in the twentieth century.
